Nuke

A couple of nuclear items in the news caught my eye this morning. The Times reported that Israel is planning an attack on Iran's enrichment facilities (which Israel denies, of course). Meanwhile, the US administration has apparently decided to blend two designs for modernized bombs competitively recommended by the two American nuclear weapons labs.

I would be shocked to find out that Israeli leadership had been so negligent as to not study options for attacking Iran's nuclear facilities. Of course they have such plans, which is entirely different from saying that Israel has such intentions, or even that they think they could succeed. This "news" about Israel planning to attack is just part of the game.

The new American hybrid weapon design is supposedly based on one lab's design that was actually tested way back when, but with certain untested safety and security innovations from the other lab. That's not much information, but I tend to think it would be dumb to forgo modernization of the American nuclear arsenal. I'm afraid, though, that that's exactly what we'll do as a result of senselessly "surging" in Iraq, leading to the Democrats retaining control of both houses of congress and winning the executive in a couple of years. Bye bye new and improved nukes.

But what do I know? One of the few things I feel confident about is that geopolitics, like the climate, is growing more chaotic and extreme.