Get News & Views Updates
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
US Sold Bunker-Busting Bombs to Israel: Report
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama secretly authorized the sale of 55 powerful bunker-busting bombs to Israel, Newsweek magazine reported Friday.
President Barack Obama released bunker-busting bombs to Israel in 2009, Newsweek reports (AFP/Navy Visual News/File, Felix Garza Jr.) Israel first asked to buy deep-penetrating GBU-28 bombs in 2005, but were rebuffed by then-president George W. Bush. At the time the Pentagon had frozen joint US-Israeli defense projects, fearful that Israel was transferring advanced military technology to China, Newsweek said.
However in 2007 Bush informed then-Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert that the bombs would be ready for delivery in 2009 or 2010, even though the Israelis wanted them immediately.
Obama released the bombs in 2009, the magazine reports, citing unnamed officials familiar with the still-secret decision.
Newsweek, citing unnamed US and Israeli officials, said in its online edition that Israel has developed its own bunker-buster technology, but that it was cheaper to buy the US weapons.
The 2,000-pound bombs are designed to destroy hardened targets, which could be used to strike Iranian nuclear sites.
The Pentagon declined to confirm or deny the report but press secretary George Little said "the United States remains committed to helping Israel provide for its own security and we remain committed to helping Israel maintain its qualitative military edge."
Comments
Note: Disqus 2012 is best viewed on an up to date browser. Click here for information. Instructions for how to sign up to comment can be viewed here. Our Comment Policy can be viewed here. Please follow the guidelines. Note to Readers: Spam Filter May Capture Legitimate Comments...
71 Comments so far
Show AllOk so what is your solution? If it isn't negotiations, then what?
Well, here's a hint: Negotiations won't work as long as Israel doesn't have reason (not delusion, but reason) to feel existentially threatened by its neighbors. And even then, Israel won't negotiate in any meaningful sense of the term.
It will not be another conventional ground war, like you describe or obsolete war.
In a modern war Israel would suffer unacceptable loses even in a war with just Iran alone.
The targets would not be tanks, they would be the cities first with thousands of missiles and not the kind Hamas has been using.
Justice and peace can only be achieved by negotiating with a Palestinian State and the others States in the region.
Israel and the USA are not invulnerable any more and this Moslem war, our longest never ending war should be enough proof.
Well your contention would be even worse than my scenario. We know that Iran doesn't have any nuclear weapons, so their attacks on Israeli centers would be minimal at best. Conventional weapons really don't do that much damage in the amounts that Iran could deliver by missiles or rockets. They won't be able to get a single plane over Israel of course. The response though would be tragic with hundreds of thousands dead if not millions.
War, real all out war in the ME, would be a catastrophe for the Arabs and other Moslems and not great a great thing for Israel, but the killing would be massively disproportionate and I like the Arabs too much to wish that on them.
Negotiations are the only way to get to peace. No military conflict will every yield peace there.
There's simply no question but that in an all-out war, most of the deaths would be Arab, and Israel would have the much better chance of winning. On the other hand, Palestinians know that they're going to die in unequally large numbers one way or another, even if the current "peace" prevails, and, freed of their pro-American/Israeli dictatorships, most Arabs/Muslims might be willing to take their chances.
In any case, everyone with a rudimentary sense of honesty, common sense, and history knows that Israel will not negotiate in any meaningful way.
I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions from this.
OF course, peace but you don't really know what kind of weapons Iran has in store or if Israel started nuking what would stop Pakistan from hitting them as prevention or Russia or China.
Israel would have taken out Iran already if they could get away with it.
Unacceptable Destruction and uncertainty is the new MAD.
If "[n]egotiations are the only way to get to peace" then there will be no peace. Israel does not negotiate in good faith so pushing negotiations instead of UN action or any other course is to support the IDF and its murderous policies..
Of course, you know that what I'm saying is correct but you're being paid to advance the zionist viewpoint while pretending to care about the Arabs.
Israel will continue to slaughter and displace Arabs whether there are any negotiations or not.
Shame on you.
q
Just maybe Borat Obomber gave the Israelis those bombs so they could quickly blow up their own 200 or so "nuculer" WMDs.
" we remain committed to helping Israel maintain its qualitative military edge."
Wow, is that what we're doing? I am just amazed at what this new century has wrought. How someone can even say that with a straight face is unbelievable.
Let me see if I've got this straight.
The Military-Industrial-Congressional-Complex (MICC) is giving billions in annual tribute to its Likud masters. It gets the latest in weaponry, the most modern aircraft. The MICC turns a blind eye to Israel's several hundred nuclear missiles and pretends they don't exist, even when Israel says it will use the "Samson Option" if it ever looks like it will be defeated. (I.e. nuke every capital within reach of its missiles.)
At the same time, the MICC is arming Saudi Arabia with the latest in weaponry and aircraft. (My Dad used to say that was, "Let's you and him fight.")
These two deadly enemies have come to an agreement (The enemy of my enemy is my friend) to allow IDF to base their aircraft at a Saudi airbase as a staging area for their bombing of Iran.
So we keep arming them both, awaiting the day when Iran is no more. Then the uneasy truce will end and Israel and the Saudis will be at each others throats again.
The MICC will happily wait and supply both until the open war breaks out. Then we will send in the drones and peacekeepers to end the violence, take the Saudi oil, and take their "campaign contributions" from Likud, meanwhile paying Likud the usual annual tribute.
Remember, as the Godfather said, "Nothing personal, just business."
again, thank you for the gangster metaphor.
rest assured, i'm certain someone handed r perry a copy of the playbook.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century
since the current president is such a quick study, the copy at the WH may be a little dusty. irregardless - whoever becomes president in 2012, will abide by the same strategy - occupy the lands w/ the most coveted natural resources and block your perceived adversary's opportunities to exploit/develop these resources. it's a very simplistic gestalt, but sadly there's no indication that geopolitics functions in any other way (it's true MNC's muddle the issue a little). as you noted...
as the Godfather said, "Nothing personal, just business."
...peace...
The article states:
"Newsweek, citing unnamed US and Israeli officials, said in its online edition that Israel has developed its own bunker-buster technology, but that it was cheaper to buy the US weapons."
Three Israeli's walk into a military Walmart and ask the store-greeter, "Where can we find the GBU-28 bombs?"
"Ahhh! Those would be in aisle 17 just across from the DIME weaponry."
"Oooh Efrayim! Can we get some of those too!"
"Quiet! English identities only you fool, like we have in our passports!"
"I am so sorry Mr Shakespeare. I promise I will remember."
"Alright, we'll get some GBU-28 bombs, some DIME weapons, and do you have any DU ammunition on sale?"
"We ALWAYS have plenty of DU stuff on sale right here in the USA. It's one of our best ways of getting rid of a nuclear byproduct when we're making our nuclear weapons and we make a great profit off of it."
"How industrious of you. We have a buy-one-get-one-free coupon here somewhere too......ahhh yes, here it is. I got it from a mister Eric Prince."
"I'm sorry that offer has expired."
"That bastard! - Put him on our list Mr Shaka Zulu."
"Yes Mr Shakespeare."
As the three of them walk past with their very large shopping cart, the last Israeli, a short creepy little man looks up at the store greeter and the greeter nods, "Sorry to hear about the Iranian attack on your Embassy."
"Just up you fool! -- That's not until next week!"
Brilliant! -- and oh so accurate . . .
This story appears fishy. I recall reading about this in 2006. At the time, I think the number was cited as being around 46, coming from Lockheed.
This blog post points to a bunch of links from older articles (various sources) from that time, mentioning the sale.
http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2011/09/23/nyt-israel-got-first-gbu-28-bunker-busters-in-2006/
Our media is curiously reluctant to investigate how much of Homeland Security has been outsourced to Israel, and any other country as well. We know that Homeland Security offices in Pennslyvania have done just that.
I do know that a certain governor in New Jersey hired a state "homeland security czar" who wasn't even an American citizen. He was, however, an Israeli. Silly treasonous governor, should've at least been boinking an American.
Our government is now controlled by big business and so is the media, press, most news magazines, less Mother Jones and a few others... That control by big business is Fascism. Next step after fascism is a dictator.