The Bush administration has authorized the sale of as many as 100 large bunker-buster bombs to Israel. One expert said the move should serve as a warning to Iranians with nuclear ambitions.
This ‘sale’ although authorized is hard to trace because Israel is not really paying for the bombs.
Israel is not actually paying for the bombs, the money comes from the several billion dollars a year in economic and military aid the United States gives to Israel.
TNT Dust, Anemia and the Israeli Bunker Busters by James Dunnigan October 6, 2004 Discussion Board on this DLS topic In a $319 million deal, Israel is buying some 5,000 smart bombs from the United States. Included in the sale are 500 penetrating “bunker buster” bombs. These could be used against Iran's underground nuclear facilities, or the large number of underground facilities Syria has built over the years. The 500 BLU-109 bunker busters can penetrate 16 feet of concrete. The deal also includes 2,500 2,000 pound bombs, a thousand 1,000 pound bombs and 500 500 pound bombs. Meanwhile, the American plant that produces the these bombs recently halted production. It seems that high production of bombs have exposed workers to unusually high amounts of gases given off by TNT (the explosive used in most bombs.) This in turn caused many workers to develop anemia. This is a condition that is known to be caused by too much exposure to TNT fumes, but the bomb plant has not seen a case of this anemia in over 60 years. The plant will remain closed until the source of the anemia can be found. This probably won’t have an effect on the Israeli bomb order, which is not expected to be delivered until next year. In any event, Israel can take delivery of the “smart bomb” guidance kits and attach them to “dumb” bombs they already have. The only bombs the Israelis don't already have are the bunker busters, and those could be taken out of current U.S. Air Force inventories. Then again, maybe not, as the American supply of bunker busters is earmarked for use against North Korea if there should be a flare up in that part of the world. Finally, Israel is not actually paying for the bombs, the money comes from the several billion dollars a year in economic and military aid the United States gives to Israel. http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:qeHywyjC0nAJ:www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/200410623.asp+isr...
British FM: Israel and Iran Both Potential Threats 16:12 Mar 12, '06 / 12 Adar 5766 By Ezra HaLevi
England's Foreign Minister Jack Straw says the world should worry about disabling Israel's nuclear capabilities as much as it is concerned with preventing Iran from going nuclear.
Straw said Thursday that Britain is seeking a "nuclear-free Middle East." He said that Iran and Israel were the only two countries left that posed "potential threats" now that Iraq and Libya's nuclear aspirations have been neutralized.
The foreign minister, who has made headlines in the past criticizing the Jewish state, conceded that removing the Iranian threat was indeed more urgent than the Israeli one. "If you want to see a nuclear-free Middle East, you've got to remove that threat from Iran, including the rhetorical threat to wipe Israel off the face of the map," Straw told British Channel 4 television. "Once you've done that, then we can get on to work in respect of Israel."
Former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon faced criticism from defense officials in Israel over the weekend after he spoke at the Washington D.C. Hudson Institute, saying the military option against Iran's nuclear project was viable. He responded to the criticism on Israeli television Friday. "I spoke about the West's military option," he said. "Whether it is U.S. forces, NATO or the Israeli army that deal with the Iranian capability - there is a military capability that would set back the program for many years.”
Meanwhile, Iran threatened Saturday to use its oil as a weapon if the UN Security Council imposes sanctions over its nuclear program. "If they politicize our nuclear case," Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi said, "we will use any means. We are rich in energy resources. We have control over the biggest and the most sensitive energy route of the world."
Iran is the second largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). It has partial control over the narrow Strait of Hormuz, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, through which crude oil is transported from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq to the world market.
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
