Colin Powell leaked emails: Israel has '200 nukes all pointed at Iran'
25 replies, posted
[quote] Israel has 200 nuclear weapons, according to the latest revelation hidden in a cache of Colin Powell's leaked emails.
The former US secretary of state revealed the information in an email he sent to a colleague last year, which was obtained by the hacking group DCLeaks and published on LobeLog, a foreign policy blog.
Israel has a policy of nuclear ambiguity and has never talked about the type or size of its weapons, even if it has been an “open secret” that the US ally is well armed.
Some Israel watchers estimate the country has as many as 400 weapons but Mr Powell is one of the most authoritative sources to date.
He was writing to business partner and democratic donor Jeffrey Leeds regarding Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to US Congress, warning them against the nuclear deal with Iran which would limit Tehran's nuclear ability in return for lifting international oil and financial sanctions. The deal was nonetheless finalised last summer.
“Negotiators can’t get what he wants,” wrote Mr Powell in the email.
[/quote]
[url]http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/colin-powell-leaked-emails-nuclear-weapons-israel-iran-obama-deal-a7311626.html[/url]
Seems a tad excessive. I have to wonder what it costs to actively maintain that.
[QUOTE=Biotoxsin;51060865]Seems a tad excessive. I have to wonder what it costs to actively maintain that.[/QUOTE]
theyre probably mostly airdropped munitions, israel has never had a problem getting planes where they need to go, with some balistic missiles, just my guess though. nuclear bombs stack up pretty quickly
I wonder where Israel hides them all? I mean its not a big country surely a satellite in space would be able to spot the bunkers
[QUOTE=Complifusedv2;51060927]I wonder where Israel hides them all? I mean its not a big country surely a satellite in space would be able to spot the bunkers[/QUOTE]
You know, I've never actually thought about that until now. That's a really good question.
Israel has some diesel submarines with cruise missile capability, it's not too hard to put a nuclear warhead on one, and they're almost impossible to find
[QUOTE=Complifusedv2;51060927]I wonder where Israel hides them all? I mean its not a big country surely a satellite in space would be able to spot the bunkers[/QUOTE]
Something tells me you don't keep weapons of mass destruction on a surface level.
[QUOTE=Complifusedv2;51060927]I wonder where Israel hides them all? I mean its not a big country surely a satellite in space would be able to spot the bunkers[/QUOTE]
How would you be able to tell what was in a bunker from space?
[QUOTE=carcarcargo;51060965]How would you be able to tell what was in a bunker from space?[/QUOTE]
Well I mean you wont be able to tell if its nukes or not but I suppose most nuke sites would be in a large fenced off place and youd see signs of the doors and whatever. I mean I'm not army intelligence but there must be some way of spotting stuff like that
[QUOTE=Complifusedv2;51060927]I wonder where Israel hides them all? I mean its not a big country surely a satellite in space would be able to spot the bunkers[/QUOTE]
Suppose the bunkers are under otherwise innocuous looking buildings.
[QUOTE=Complifusedv2;51060977]Well I mean you wont be able to tell if its nukes or not but I suppose most nuke sites would be in a large fenced off place and youd see signs of the doors and whatever. I mean I'm not army intelligence but there must be some way of spotting stuff like that[/QUOTE]
it has a big neon sign up front that says nukes R us
[QUOTE=Sableye;51060885]theyre probably mostly airdropped munitions, israel has never had a problem getting planes where they need to go, with some balistic missiles, just my guess though. nuclear bombs stack up pretty quickly[/QUOTE]
Don't airdrop nukes require special hardware? Having those things ready to go must take a lot of man power.
[QUOTE=Sableye;51060885]theyre probably mostly airdropped munitions, israel has never had a problem getting planes where they need to go, with some balistic missiles, just my guess though. nuclear bombs stack up pretty quickly[/QUOTE]
Yeah people really overestimate the proportion of middle silos that countries have. For the US it's only a small, static piece to the nuclear triad. Planes and subs are much more effective and numerous.
[QUOTE=Biotoxsin;51061171]Don't airdrop nukes require special hardware? Having those things ready to go must take a lot of man power.[/QUOTE]
Depends on the size, really. They could have gone the route of lower-yield munitions with many more of each type they've developed, making it more tactically worthwhile to spam a bunch at whatever target they've got in mind rather than relying on a single weapon doing a similar amount of damage in one go- something with a higher chance of failure due to AAA/SAM sites, etc.
Plus some previous rumors have hinted at the Israelis utilizing dial-a-yield for their weapons, or at least some of them.
[QUOTE=Coyoteze;51060961]Something tells me you don't keep weapons of mass destruction on a surface level.[/QUOTE]
[t]http://cdn.history.com/sites/2/2015/07/hith-cuban-missile-crisis.jpg[/t]
Granted, that was 50 years ago, but it's not an irrational thing to think.
[QUOTE=Trebgarta;51061184]II mean, Is having nukes after getting nuked really important?[/QUOTE]
Actually, a guaranteed second strike capability is one of the most vital aspects of MAD, I think. You want the enemy to know that your nukes can strike back even if he launches first, so as to discourage preemptive attacks.
I'm absolutely horrified at the thought of this horseshit. Ive lived my entire life in a constant anxious fear of global nuclear warfare, and it's only getting worse. Now my son is going to get to grow up in this same shitstorm.
[QUOTE=LTJGPliskin;51061437][t]http://cdn.history.com/sites/2/2015/07/hith-cuban-missile-crisis.jpg[/t]
Granted, that was 50 years ago, but it's not an irrational thing to think.[/QUOTE]
That was before a single stealth bomber could whip out half your arsenal with precision guided bombs. If it's something you want kept not-exploded, it's going to be hidden somewhere.
[QUOTE=Sableye;51060885]theyre probably mostly airdropped munitions, israel has never had a problem getting planes where they need to go, with some balistic missiles, just my guess though. nuclear bombs stack up pretty quickly[/QUOTE]
They're not.
Israel has something like 100 Jericho ICBMs and an unknown number of submarine launched cruise missiles.
[QUOTE=Complifusedv2;51060927]I wonder where Israel hides them all? I mean its not a big country surely a satellite in space would be able to spot the bunkers[/QUOTE]
Jericho is a truck mounted missile.
[QUOTE=Biotoxsin;51061171]Don't airdrop nukes require special hardware? Having those things ready to go must take a lot of man power.[/QUOTE]
Why would they? At least any more than missile based?
[QUOTE=Pantz Master;51061200]Yeah people really overestimate the proportion of middle silos that countries have. For the US it's only a small, static piece to the nuclear triad. Planes and subs are much more effective and numerous.[/QUOTE]
Aircraft dropped nuclear weapons are so ineffective on the strategic level that the latest nuclear treaty between Russia and the US counts one nuclear aircraft with no limit on weapons the same as a single ICBM with one warhead.
[QUOTE=PrusseLusken;51061372]Or, believe it or not, most of the nukes could be mothballed while a smaller amount is kept ready or quickly made ready on order.[/QUOTE]
Nuclear weapons are incredibly expensive to make (both financially and from the perspective of international relations) that there is no way a small power like Israel would make them just to put in storage.
[QUOTE=ZakkShock;51061626]I'm absolutely horrified at the thought of this horseshit. Ive lived my entire life in a constant anxious fear of global nuclear warfare, and it's only getting worse. Now my son is going to get to grow up in this same shitstorm.[/QUOTE]
Israel and Iran nuking eachother isn't going to cause a global nuclear war.
[QUOTE=OvB;51061680]That was before a single stealth bomber could whip out half your arsenal with precision guided bombs. If it's something you want kept not-exploded, it's going to be hidden somewhere.[/QUOTE]
It should be noted that in that era an ICBM only had an accuracy of a few miles. Good enough to hit a city but not good enough to reliably destroy a lightly hardened launch site.
I believe Israel posses mobile missile launchers like the Lancer, Jericho, and ETC.
I'm sure since it's spent most of it's existence under the threat of attack by it's neighbors, Israel has taken the time to build facilities to store their weapons.
[QUOTE=Biotoxsin;51060865]Seems a tad excessive. I have to wonder what it costs to actively maintain that.[/QUOTE]
I think it costs less than NOT maintaining it.
[QUOTE=download;51063024]
Israel and Iran nuking eachother isn't going to cause a global nuclear war.[/QUOTE]
Thats a little naive to say, involving nuclear attacks on anything does not deesculate the situation
[QUOTE=da space core;51064643]Thats a little naive to say, involving nuclear attacks on anything does not deesculate the situation[/QUOTE]
No one is going to be being thinking after Iran and Israel nuke each other "Gee, I guess we should get onto it, eh?" :rolleyes:
The nuclear powers will bring up their alert status but neither nation has the capability to cause any significant damage to any other nation's weapons or their command and control. Everyone will ride through such an attack.
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