Rolling Stone: Was $88 million for bunker busters in emergency Iraq funding to invade Iran?

[Reno.Muse]

It is funny how everything that the Bush administration has done up to yesterday takes on a completely different meaning now that we know they were lying in their ramping up to "bomb, bomb, bomb " bombing of Iran.

10/24/07, 11:06 pm EST
Bunker Busters + Stealth Bombers = Iran Attack?

From ABC:

Tucked inside the White House’s $196 billion emergency funding request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is an item that has some people wondering whether the administration is preparing for military action against Iran.

The item: $88 million to modify B-2 stealth bombers so they can carry a newly developed 30,000-pound bomb called the massive ordnance penetrator, or, in military-speak, the MOP.

The MOP is the the military’s largest conventional bomb, a super “bunker-buster” capable of destroying hardened targets deep underground. The one-line explanation for the request said it is in response to “an urgent operational need from theater commanders.”

more here:

http://www.rollingstone.com/nationalaffairs/index.php/2007/10/24/bunker-busters-stealth-bombers-iran-attack/

[Windy]

1. Pretty sad when you have to depend on Rolling Stone for great investigative reporting

Not that I'm not grateful to them for their excellant exposes and all....


Keep it coming.

[Reno.Muse]

2. yeah, it's crazy! But Cheney must have been chomping at the bit to bomb Iran

before the NIE report came out. Why did it finally come out anyway?

[Cha]

6. I love Rolling Stone for their

political commentary..their 40th Anniversary Issue was stellar..George Clooney, Jon Stewart, ..all these interviews with people who know what's going on and their thoughts on are our future.

What's sad is that newsweak and time are such fascist fishwraps.

[Mnemosyne]

3. Definitely needs a

:kick:

Are we still missing a nuke from Minot? The number kept changing, very suspicious.

[Cha]

4. The friggin Democrats better

not let this happen.

[OzarkDem]

5. Dems in Congress must know it

and now that they know we're in on it, they can pull it out of the budget.

[Blashyrkh]

7. I would like to disassociate myself from the we in your first sentence.

"It is funny how everything that the Bush administration has done up to yesterday takes on a completely different meaning now that we know they were lying in their ramping up to "bomb, bomb, bomb" bombing of Iran."

I've known them to be lying long before this silly report came out. They've been lying about Iran like they have lied about every single god damn thing they have done. Stop acting like these are new revelations and we "all know the truth" now. I've known the truth for years. Plenty of others know the truth too.

Also, using "were" as in "were lying" implies you think they've stopped, or will stop. They are lying and will continue to lie. Finally, your sentence implies that "we" (read: you) weren't sure they were lying before this report emerged. I was.

[progressive_realist]

8. Amen

It's not like they published their entire plan before Shrub even took office. Oh wait, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pnac">yes they http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clean_Break:_A_New_Strategy_for_Securing_the_Realm">did.

Funny thing about the current NIE is that it asserts unequivocally that Iran did have a nuclear weapons program, although no evidence of such has ever been revealed. So even this supposedly anti-Administration document may turn out to be a trojan horse. Why did they decide to release it now, and why do they all seem unperturbed by it? I expect new "evidence" will come to light very soon that suggests that the Iranians have restarted their program. And that will be all the more believable now that everyone "knows" they had an active program just a short time ago.

But what do we know? We're just cynics. We'll never know the comfort and security of the herd, crashing blindly back and forth after each new "revelation" :eyes:

[Blashyrkh]

9. I've got my ideas, but they are considered too tin-foily for DU.

Basically, should something nuclear just happen to explode, the background is in place for claiming the device originated in Iran. There is a massive anti-Bush report (that's key) that states Iran has a nuclear program. It's leave the door open for a whole lot of "we *knew* they were lying. None of you believd us, but here's the proof, the mushroom cloud we mentioned a few years ago." The population will cheer the nuclear-powered invasion of Iran.

But all this is dependant on something nuclear just happening to explode. Like 9/11 just happened.

[Reno.Muse]

10. beat "my" ass, will ya?

[Blashyrkh]

12. Que?

[slipslidingaway]

11. A War Crime In Motion

http://kucinich.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=78312

"Kucinich Warns Of Bunker Buster Attempt On Iranian Nuclear Research Labs

Washington, Nov 8 - In a debate on Defense spending on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives today, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) warned against a bunker buster bombing of Iranian nuclear research labs.

“It has been well reported that there is a provision in this bill that will enable the modification of B-2 stealth bombers so that they can drop what is called a ‘bunker buster’ or Massive Ordinance Penetrators (MOP) that would destroy deep underground targets,” Kucinich said.

Kucinich voted against the conference report for Department of Defense FY08 spending because it includes $10 million to convert the 30,000-pound MOP for use on the B-2 bomber.

“Defense analysts have suggested that there is one reason and one reason only why this request was expedited by the Administration and that is retrofit these B-2 bombers so that they’ll be able to drop 30,000-pound bombs on Iranian nuclear research facilities,” Kucinich said.

“We cannot approve the Department of Defense Appropriations Conference Report without thinking about the consequences of the Administrations’ approach. If 30,000 pound bombs – bunker busters – are dropped on nuclear research labs, the release of radiation would create a humanitarian and ecological disaster.

“This is a war crime in motion. Dropping the bunker busters would have human health effects that could be catastrophic.

“Congress needs to think about the implications. Congress needs to oppose a strike in Iran. Diplomacy is the preferred path. That is why I am opposing this conference report today.”