Bomb..Bomb Iran.

It's an Allahpundit 'Hmmmmmmm' special.

A particularly intriguing one in my opinion.

Why now? The notification says simply, "The Department has an Urgent Operational Need (UON) for the capability to strike hard and deeply buried targets in high threat environments. The MOP is the weapon of choice to meet the requirements of the UON." It further states that the request is endorsed by Pacific Command (which has responsibility over North Korea) and Central Command (which has responsibility over Iran).

The article notes that this isn't the first appearance of a request for the MOP, the so awesomely named Massive Ordnance Penetrator, but draws a connection between the initial 2007 funding request and the Pentagon's seemingly ramped-up 'Urgent Operational Need'.

It's a fair connection and great news.

This will get you started on the specifications of the largest, non-nuclear weapon in the world.

It looks like this story goes back to August 2 of this year.  Reuters said then:

The Pentagon is seeking to speed deployment of an ultra-large "bunker-buster" bomb on the most advanced U.S. bomber as soon as July 2010, the Air Force said on Sunday, amid concerns over perceived nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran.

Is there new evidence we haven't seen yet that made the Pentagon speed up its deployment from July 2010? We've certainly heard rumblings of it from France and others since then. And polls seem to demonstrate public approval of such action against Iran.

Is there a tactical connection here between the President's apparent waffling on Afghanistan and a potential move on Iran's underground nuclear sites? I would initially think that having more troops in the region would be a good thing if the Pentagon is worried about a retaliation. 

I'd watch for Obama to give McChrystal his needed 40,000 troops relatively soon, seeing as how it will take a substantial amount of time to mobilize and transport that large a force overseas.  

This news will filter to Iran in short order I would expect as well. Is there a corresponding offensive maneuver in the North Korea vein waiting for us?

We'll find out. Stay tuned.

Russ

Update on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 4:55PM by Russ

Allah connects the dots.

 

Wait a minute....Maybe...yes, yes....Wait a minute...on second thought....no, no....wait a minute....

 

Too late. Sorry Israel.

Russ