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Old 09-04-2002, 01:39 PM   #7
MaggieL
in the Hour of Scampering
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Jeffersonville PA (15 mi NW of Philadelphia)
Posts: 4,060
Re: Re: And so it begins

Quote:
Originally posted by russotto

As for dropping one on Tel Aviv -- Saddam probably isn't that stupid. Israel almost certainly has better delivery systems than Iraq...
Depends on your definition of "better".

For instance, the delivery system used in the *first* WTC bombing, the OkeCity Murrah Building attack, and countless bombings within Israel over the last few years would do just fine.

OK, hypothetical scenario: a low-yield fission bomb, say tens of kilotons, detonates at ground-level in Tel Aviv. No aircraft or missles were tracked incoming before the strike. Isotope analysis fails to identify the source of the fissionables. A scenario as ugly as it is plausible, and the deterrance of retaliation is pointless unless there is a clear target *for* retaliation. It's still possible to detect the effort to manufacture of WMD at a distance. But once they are produced, you can forget about tracking them in deployment.

Welcome to Dar-al-Harb and the world of asymmetric warfare.
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