While the quality of human intelligence has not improved in the most worrisome nations like Iran, North Korea, Packistan and Saudi Arabia the creation of new type of weapon will allow catastophic attacks with less time to think about the cosequences. An article in Bloomberg
"U.S. May Arm Subs With Conventional Warheads for Quicker Strike"details the new plans to covert nuclear subs to use Trident ballistic missiles for first strike capabilities using conventional payloads.
Bloomberg
"The fiscal 2007-2011 defense budget plan calls for building as many as 96 conventional warheads for installation on 24 of the Navy's roughly 336 nuclear D5 Trident missiles, according to a 33-page Dec. 20 memo signed by Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England. Each missile carries up to four warheads.
The U.S. would have to work out notification procedures with its allies as well as China and Russia to prevent a nuclear misunderstanding, said Stan Norris, a senior analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council and the author of an annual compilation of U.S. nuclear forces.
``While there are advantages, especially in being able to hit a target within 20-30 minutes, there are important questions that will need answers,'' he said.
`How Differentiate?'
For example, ``how would Russian early warning radars differentiate between conventional missile attacks aimed at say al-Qaeda caves on the Afghan-Pakistan border and those aimed at Russian missile silos?'' Norris said. ``Is it possible that the U.S. would notify Russia or China of an impending attack to avoid the possibility of Russian or Chinese misinterpretation?''
Arkin agreed. ``Before we start shooting ballistic missiles at countries we had better work to resolve the question of false warnings and accidental nuclear war, particularly if North Korea were ever a target,'' he said.
The U.S. presently can launch non-nuclear strikes using B-2 bombers based in Missouri or Tomahawk cruise missiles off submarines and surface vessels. Neither weapon travels as fast as a sub-launched ballistic missile.
This new strategy ``places the ballistic missile submarine on the front line of U.S. offensive capabilities,'' Arkin said. ``Trident missiles will be able to place a conventional warhead on target in only 12 minutes, far quicker than any other long- range weapon.''
Any strikes would be coordinated by a new joint-service unit that the U.S. Strategic Command set up in November at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska."
The ability to stike fast against a dangerous enemy is something we can agree is a valuable capability,yet it is frightening to risk nuclear war with a country such as Russia or China (if the ballistic missle launch is interpreted as a stike on a vital interest of theirs) when our intelligence is so poor. At the same time we have not been able to awaken the American public to have them understand there was no 9/11 connection for the war in Iraq and that there were no WMDs there either. We continue to sleep walk while this administration continues to gather more power at home and internationally.