There has been much speculation around the internet (leading to some within the MSM) concerning whether or not God has issued instructions to Dubya concerning a pre-emptive nuclear strike against Iran. As with Iraq, I am sure that Dubya and Dead-eye Dick are only seeing the intel that matches their messianic and/or oil-driven intentions, but there is one juicy piect of intel available publicly that makes this endeavor seem more bat-shit crazy than anything about Iraq! This, of course, has not been touched upon by
anyone publicly to my knowledge!
More after the fold....
I know there was a great diary written previously on this by
STOP George, wherein the use of a "mini-nuke B61-11" against the Iranian Natanz nuclear plant was discussed. While the military is more likely to use the larger B83 (1.2 megaton) rather than the B61 (0.3 megaton) due to the depth and geography of the target, the post was dead-on in being concerned with the fallout.
As I was reading some papers on the subject, I came across this jewel! The Physcians for Social Responsibility ran a Dept. of Defense software simulation of the blast effects, taking into account the historically prevailing weather conditions, and came up with the following:
In this scenario, over 35 million people in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India would suffer significant radiation exposure of 1 rem per hour or above within four days of the use of the RNEP. At this rate, the 25 rem limit at which physical effects can be expected would be reached within 25 hours of first exposure, and the 100 rem limit at which more severe damage could be caused would be reached in only 4 days. (Given the lack of modern communications in this area, as well as the lack of advanced education available to the affected populations, it is unlikely that warnings would spread quickly enough to allow mitigating measures to be taken). Immediate effects would include skin burns and diarrhea secondary to gastro-intestinal cell damage.
Long-term effects could include cancers. Many, if not all, of the approximately 20,000 American armed forces, intelligence and diplomatic personnel deployed in Afghanistan would be at risk of exposure at these radiation levels. While U.S. personnel could be evacuated, and would receive sophisticated medical care if necessary, this would not apply to the local population in most of the affected area.
So there you have it. Does anyone know if the Preznit's limo has a 'Support the Troops' bumper sticker?
