In the works: A missile in US to hit anywhere in 1 hour

[OhioChick]

26 Apr 2010, 0229 hrs IST,AGENCIES

WASHINGTON: Haunted by the memory of a lost opportunity in 1998 to kill Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, even before he could hatch the plan to attack the World Trade Center in New York, US military planners have won President Barack Obama's support for a new generation of high-speed weapons that are intended to strike anywhere on Earth within an hour.

The non-nuclear weapons programme, called Prompt Global Strike, would feature hypersonic missiles that can deliver with such accuracy and force that they would greatly diminish America's reliance on its nuclear arsenal.

Yet even now, concerns about the technology are so strong that the Obama administration has acceded to a demand by Russia that the US decommission one nuclear missile for every one of these conventional weapons fielded by the Pentagon.

That provision, the White House said, is buried deep inside the New Start treaty that Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev signed in Prague two weeks ago.

The system is designed for tasks like picking off Osama in a cave, if it could be found; taking out a North Korean missile on its way to the launch pad; or destroying an Iranian nuclear site all without crossing the nuclear threshold.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5857458.cms

[Oregone]

1. This is great news!

It will feed, clothe, and house all of humanity

[Robb]

2. Heh.

You can http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4355769&mesg_id=4355772">say that http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8203694&mesg_id=8203763">again. :D

[Oregone]

3. Yep. Seeing a pattern?

:)

[OhioChick]

4. Sorry...didn't realize this was already posted. n/t

[bobbolink]

8. I feel warmer already.

~~~looking out at the snow falling on my car~~~

[LakeSamish706]

5. What I want to know is, who is POTUS listening to anyway? Is this part of his doing,

or are the military SR's spewing in his ear? WTF, get over war and get on with taking care of our citizens.

[inna]

10. It's an old neoconservative idea. I think Rachel covered it on Friday, iirc. nt

[Yeahyeah]

6. Osama won't even have time to get his robe Martinized now,boy!1!

Yeehaw!1!

[kenny blankenship]

7. One hour...or your money back.

[sandnsea]

9. If it gets the warmongers off the nuke addiction

It's fine by me.

[Wilms]

11. They still pushing that "planned in a cave" story?

Funny.

[AdHocSolver]

12. Each missile comes with a sympathy card to send to families who suffer collateral damage.

For a country that can't manufacture a voting machine that counts votes accurately, they are going to rely on a missile that can demolish a cave anywhere on the planet at the push of a button.

Since it isn't a nuclear weapon that destroys large areas of a country, there will be less reluctance to use it. When you consider all of the innocent bystanders who have died due to bad intelligence or inputting of the wrong coordinates, how is this super missile going to be an improvement over remote controlled drones?

This super missile is just more "Dr. Strangelove" wackiness.

[SoCalDem]

13. Yawn... been there, done that.. 1961 flashback..n/t

[Rectangle]

14. Finally.. something that actually helps the the poor working guy.

:sarcasm:

[MadHound]

15. And how many billions are being wasted on this,

That could go to helping out folks here at home instead. This is just plain sad, collapsing our empire Soviet style, spending our resources on the military while domestic programs, and people, go without here at home.

[OhioChick]

16. Exactly. n/t

[Bigmack]

17. .... and next we get a really cool death ray....

that can zap the bad guys anywhere on earth. And next, an invisible airplane... and then a really cool gun that can shoot around corners.. and then....

Jesus Fucking Christ! What is wrong with people? We can't get a decent health care bill passed and it looks like we can't control Wall Street AT
ALL, but we sure can piss away money on shiny new weapons.

[Yeahyeah]

18. And here I am still waiting for my flying car.