Why is Bush asking for massive bunker busting bombs and modifications to B2 Stealth bombers so that they can carry them in his latest request for funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan? It’s not like these weapons are currently needed to fight “Al Qaeda” in either Iraq or Afghanistan, and even if they were, our complete control of the air over both countries means we wouldn’t need to use stealth bombers. Which means that they can only be intended for one purpose: an attack on Iran, which still has an operational air defense system for which stealth warplanes would be needed.
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.” […]
There doesn’t appear to be any potential targets for a bomb like that in Iraq. It could potentially be used on Taliban or al Qaeda hideouts in the caves along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, but there would be no need to use a stealth bomber there.
So where would the military use a stealth bomber armed with a 30,000-pound bomb like this? Defense analysts say the most likely target for this bomb would be Iran’s flagship nuclear facility in Natanz, which is both heavily fortified and deeply buried.
When the the Pentagon and CENTCOM were contacted about this “urgent need” ABC’s reporters were given the run around by military spokespersons. However, it seems quite clear that the oinly reason to modify Stealth bombers to carry these large bunker busting bombs would be to attack Iran. Doesn’t mean an attack is necessarily imminent, but it also stronly suggests that Bush intends to attack Iran before his term of office is up. If Congress allows this funding to go forward without questioning the need for this particualr item they will be enabling our “Decider in Chief” to take matters into his own hands whenever he feels like it.
So, maybe you should contact your Congressional Representatives and inform them about this peculiar request, and remind them that the last thing we need or desire at this time is another “preventive war” in the Middle East against a country that currently poses little if any threat to our security. Here’s are links where you can reach your Senators and Representatives, respectively:
and his a list of Congressional email addresses: LINK.
If you don’t know the identity of your Congressperson, go to the following link and click on your state to find out: LINK