Just another Reality-based bubble in the foam of the multiverse.

Friday, March 09, 2007

Mercenary Peacekeepers

Not just your average oxymorons.

Not only are the masterminds of the War on Terra going for the livers and pancreas when they should be trying to win hearts and minds, they're awfully persistent with their misadventures.

Noah Shachtman just keeps noting some very interesting events:

Congress could not have made itself any clearer: Do not build a whole bunch of conventionally-armed Trident ballistic missiles to go after terrorists, it told the Pentagon. The idea is half-baked, the scenarios you have come up with are far-fetched, and the weapon -- which looks and flies almost exactly like a nuke -- could very well start World War III. To force you to comply, we are cutting your funds for this program by 80%. Go put your thinking caps back on before you ask for more cash. Oh, and get a National Academies study done, too. And a haircut.

But when it comes to these "Global Strike" weapons, the Defense Department doesn't seem to be able to take no for an answer. According to Inside Defense, "the Navy has budgeted $175 million for the project in fiscal year 2008 -- nearly $50 million more than the service requested in FY-07 and $150 million more than Congress actually appropriated for the so-called Conventional Trident Modification, or 'CTM,' during the current fiscal year." (My spies are giving me slightly different budget breakdowns; but the pig-headed idea is the same.)


Like using mercenaries for police actions, using conventional explosives in missiles that might be mistaken for nukes is willfully stupid if keeping the peace is the plan.

It isn't. Keeping the cash rolling in to the Base is the objective. To do that, chaos is the plan .

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