Bomb Iran? U.S. Requests Bunker-Buster Bombs

[RiverStone]

ABC News
10/24/07

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."

What urgent need? The Pentagon referred questions on this to Central Command.

ABC News called CENTCOM to ask what the "urgent operational need" is. CENTCOM spokesman Maj. Todd White said he would look into it, but, so far, no answer

more:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3771522&page=1


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Please forward to all war enablers...:nuke:

[LakeSamish706]

1. I don't think it is a case of "If they are going to hit Iran" its more a question...

of when! And when they do it will not be a pretty site.

[NoodleBoy]

2. they've been trying to get this for a long time now

I'm still not convinced that they're going to attack Iran.

And if anyone calls me a war enabler to my face, they're liable to walk away missing a limb.

[LakeSamish706]

3. I will rephrase my post to say that if Cheney has any say in the mater...

the US will hit Iran.

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. What, then, will it take to convince you?

And if it is not in the plans, what makes it 'urgent' for current appropriations?

[NoodleBoy]

5. like I said, they've been trying to get these--or more of them--for a while

but too much of Congress has been against these weapons for a long time. The only way to try to get them open to them is in the form of an emergency appropriations bill, where they hope they can distract the american people with "look at teh Congress it's hurting the troops!!" if Congress changes the bill around enough.

Every time the country has gone to war in the last 30 years, there have been dozens of signs of it, all of which point to immediate invasion. when enough of these line up, it becomes painfully obvious to alot of people, which is one of the reasons why, in 2003, when Bush made the false ultimatum to Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq or have Iraq invaded, alot of people stood up and screamed "Bullshit!!!!" because there was no way Bush was not invading Iraq-- so much had been planned, there was no going back.

So far, I've not seen enough of the little indications that would point irrefutably to an attack on Iran. As far as I can remember, the closest we came to it was January 2007 or thereabouts, when Bush and his cronies tried blustering in press conferences about how bad Iran was (which is usually one of the early steps to the runup to a war), but, unlike in 2002, when they did the same thing with Iraq, the American people didn't buy it.

Apart from that, I've been seing people suggest Iran is going to be attacked "soon" for two years. I remember specifically a post from, maybe even 2005, I don't know, it was awhile ago, titled "Attack on Iran Imminent." the only proof the poster had for this was the he "thought" it was going to happen, and he wouldn't explain more.

I hate when people reference books on the internet, but a very good book that describes the major conflicts of the 20th century, their causes, and preparations undertaken by various countries involved, is "Why Nations Go to War" by John Stoessinger.