Tornado Alley (PROG)

[F6]

chunga1 -- firmly in the category of 'for better or for worse' -- I believe Crazy Chucky ( http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=39464950 ) is (almost certainly deliberately/disingenuously) wrong in leaving out the obvious third possibility, as if Obama has ruled it out -- that being, of course, the possibility of a U.S. attack on Iran

(or perhaps Crazy Chucky has just lost touch with the notion of a President not gratuitously signaling potentially imminent military action -- though that's hardly sufficient to explain the animus or mania of his framing)

it has struck me for some time now that the continued unresolved status of Iran and its nuclear ambitions has been a significant (publicly) unmentioned factor influencing Obama's shorter-term decisions on troop levels in both Iraq and Afghanistan, slowing redeployments out of Iraq and supporting increased deployments to Afghanistan


( http://lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/iran_rel_2001.jpg , via http://lib.utexas.edu/maps/iran.html )

further:


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Is the U.S. Preparing to Bomb Iran?


Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has been sparring with President Obama over whether Iran is developing the technology to build nuclear weapons.
(ABC News Photo Illustration)

Is the U.S. Stepping Up Preparations for a Possible Attack on Iran's Nuclear Facilities?

By JONATHAN KARL
Oct. 6, 2009

Is the U.S. stepping up preparations for a possible attack on Iran's nuclear facilities?

The Pentagon is always making plans, but based on a little-noticed funding request recently sent to Congress [ http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=8762375# ], the answer to that question appears to be yes.

First, some background: Back in October 2007, ABC News reported that the Pentagon had asked Congress for $88 million in the emergency Iraq/Afghanistan war funding request to develop a gargantuan bunker-busting bomb called the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP). It's a 30,000-pound bomb designed to hit targets buried 200 feet below ground. Back then, the Pentagon cited an "urgent operational need" for the new weapon [ http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3771522 ].

Now the Pentagon is shifting spending from other programs to fast forward the development and procurement of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator. The Pentagon comptroller sent a request to shift the funds to the House and Senate Appropriations and Armed Services Committees over the summer.

Click here [ http://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/reprogramming_memo_091006.pdf ] to see a copy of the Pentagon's request, provided to ABC News.

The comptroller said the Pentagon planned to spend $19.1 million to procure four of the bombs, $28.3 million to accelerate the bomb's "development and testing", and $21 million to accelerate the integration of the bomb onto B-2 stealth bombers.

'Urgent Operational Need'

The notification was tucked inside a 93-page "reprogramming" request that included a couple hundred other more mundane items.

Why now? The notification says simply, "The Department has an Urgent Operational Need (UON) for the capability to strike hard and deeply buried targets in high threat environments. The MOP is the weapon of choice to meet the requirements of the UON." It further states that the request is endorsed by Pacific Command (which has responsibility over North Korea) and Central Command (which has responsibility over Iran).

The request was quietly approved. On Friday, McDonnell Douglas was awarded a $51.9 million contract to provide "Massive Penetrator Ordnance Integration" on B-2 aircraft.

This is not the kind of weapon that would be particularly useful in Iraq or Afghanistan, but it is ideally suited to hit deeply buried nuclear facilities such as Natanz or Qom in Iran [ http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/iran-fires-missile-tests-secret-nuclear-facility-disclosed/story?id=8688979 ].

Copyright © 2009 ABC News Internet Ventures

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-preparing-bomb-iran/story?id=8765343 [comments at http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/us-preparing-bomb-iran/comments?type=story&id=8765343 ]


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Rising Oil Prices May Be the Forerunner to War
Traders’ fears that an impending attack on Iran by either the US or Israel is related to the rise in oil prices.
Oct 16, 2009
http://www.minyanville.com/articles/oil-prices-war-iran-iraq-israel-falling-dollar-minyanville/index/a/24969


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(items linked in):

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=38832024 and preceding and following

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=38278675 and preceding