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Toxic Shock 071
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presents
The Bummers
by Gross Genitalia
Toxic File #71
Centre of Eternity 615.552.5747 40 Megs
750+ files / HQ of Toxic Shock
[TS][TS][TS][TS][TS][TS][TS][TS][TS][TS][TS][TS][TS][TS][TS][TS][TS][TS][TS]
The following article is from "Greenpeace" bimonthly magazine. If you are
interested in joining Greenpeace, send a contribution of $20 or more to
receive their colorful, and VERY informative bimonthly magazine. Please note
that contributions to Greenpeace Action are not tax deductible. Sned your
check, made out to Greenpeace, along with your name, address, city, state, and
zip to:
Greenpeace Action
1436 U Street NW, Suite 201A
Washington, DC 20009
Or, if you're not ready to make a contribution yet, call the following number
to receive an equally informative catalogue from Greenpeace telling you a
little about their organization, actions, and efforts. Call the Greenpeace
Literature Hotline at:
1-800-333-7717
If you have any other questions regarding Greenpeace call the Customer Service
line at:
1-800-327-3223
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THE BUMMERS:
12 NUCLEAR BOMBS THAT COULD RUIN THE 90s
By William M. Arkin
"Greenpeace" Bimonthly / Vol. 15 #3 / May-June 1990
The MX, Midgetman, and the Trident II D5 get all the headlines. The B-2
stealth bomber, which costs more than its weight in gold, is turning budget-
minded heads in Washington. But you probably didn't know that there is a
war-fighter's dozen of obscure, expensive and completely irrelevant nuclear
weapons moving toward active duty, an arsenal of Cold War dinosaurs that are
oblivious to the thaw in international affairs. Together they have a price
tag of some $20 billion - $15 billion of which could be saved if they were
cancelled today.
Two of these bummers, the Follow-On To Lance and the Navy's Tomahawk sea-
lainched cruise missile, have been discussed by Congress. Three others are
included in the upcoming Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between the
Soviet Union and the United States, but they slip through a loophole and are
excluded from the 6,000-warhead limit each side agreed to as the goal of START.
In other words, they are half on and half off the table. The rest are
proceeding out of public scrutiny; there are no plans to include them in any
negotiations or agreements in the future.
Each has its rationale, however thin and outdated, but on close examination
the bummers appear more and more to be part of a last-ditch effort to keep
the Dpartment of Energy's massive nuclear weapons production complex in
business. Without a variety of bombs in the pipeline, only one, the
Trident-II D5, would be in production in the '90s. Here is a handy reader's
guide to the Pentagon's dirty dozen.
1. ADVANCED CRUISE MISSILE
--------------------------
Purpose: Launched from bombers, this high-tech missile is designed to sneak
by radar in the Soviet Union better than the missile it replaces,
which was deployed less than 10 years ago to sneak by radar. There it
will land directly on missile launchers, airfields and other military
facilities.
On duty: late this year or 1991.
Home base: Michigan, North Dakota, Texas, Washington.
Savings if cancelled: nearly $6 billion.
2. SHORT-RANGE ATTACK MISSILE II (SRAM-II)
------------------------------------------
Purpose: Launched from bombers, this missile will accurately blow up air
defenses in the Soviet Union so the B-2 bomber can get through to
blow up cities and other targets with nuclear bombs like the B83
Modern Strategic Bomb (see Bummer #3); will also seek out and
destroy mobile missile launchers and command centers.
On duty: now being tested for production in 1993.
Home base: Kansas, Missouri, Texas, North Dakota, South Dakota.
Savings if cancelled: $2.4 billion.
3. B83 MODERN STRATEGIC BOMB
----------------------------
Purpose: This blockbuster, equal to 70 Hiroshimas, will deliver the second
half of the one-two nuclear punch, leveling cities and other targets
deep in the Soviet Union after the SRAM-II (see Bummer #2) levels
defenses in the countryside.
On duty: now in full-scale production
Home base: Arkansas, California, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, North
Dakota, South Dakota, Texas.
Savings if cancelled: depends on how many B-2 bombers get off the ground,
but production costs are $250 million a year, or about
$1 million per bomb.
4. SHORT-RANGE ATTACK MISSILE-TACTICAL (SRAM-T)
-----------------------------------------------
Purpose: Fired from warplanes, this missile is designed to do Bummer #2's
job in Eastern Europe (home of Lech Walesa and Vaclav Havel). Also
useful for aiming at North Korea.
On duty: now in development, to begin production in 1995.
Home base: Nevada, New Mexico, Italy, South Korea, United Kingdom, West
Germany.
Savings if cancelled: $1 billion.
5. B61 TACTICAL BOMB
--------------------
Purpose: Little brother of Bummer #3, this bomb will be dropped on field
targets such as military units or storage depots during a war in
Eastern Europe or Korea as well as on targets along the Soviet Union's
Black Sea and the Pacific coast.
On duty: in full-scale production.
Home base: California, Hawaii, Louisiana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada,
Virginia, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, South Korea, Turkey
(watch out Armenia and Azerbaijan), United Kingdom, West Germany
and assorted aircraft carriers.
Savings if cancelled: unknown, but production costs are roguhly $200 million
a year.
6. FOLLOW-ON TO LANCE
---------------------
Purpose: Designed to be launched from (West) Germany to destroy military units
and storage depots in places like (East) Germany. When the two
countries unify, Czechoslovakia will act as stand-in.'
On duty: in development, to begin production in 1997.
Home base: California, New York, South Korea, West Germany, Italy.
Savings if cancelled: $750 million to $1.25 billion.
7. 155 MILLIMETER FIRED ATOMIC PROJECTILE
-----------------------------------------
Purpose: This little gem will be called into service when Bummer #6 can't do
the job. Based in West Germany, Italy, and Turkey, it can only be
tossed about 20 miles, which means in will land in - you guessed it -
West Germany, Italy, or Turkey.
On duty: production to begin this year.
Home base: California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Greece, South
Korea, Italy, West Germany, Turkey.
Savings if cancelled: $500 million.
8. TOMAHAWK NUCLEAR LAND ATTACK MISSILE
---------------------------------------
Purpose: Launched from ships and submarines, this missile is designed to bounce
the rubble after nuclear war has started. It is also aimed at naval
bases and coastal airfields in the Soviet Union.
On duty: 1984, in full-scale production.
Home base: California, Hawaii, Virginia, South Carolina, New Jersey, Sardinia,
Italy, warships and attack submarines.
Savings if cancelled: $1.25 billion.
9. B90 NUCLEAR DEPTH/STRIKE BOMB
--------------------------------
Purpose: A neat three-for-one package, this bomb can blow up submarines as
well as surface warships and bases anywhere along the coasts of
Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union or the Korean Peninsula. The B90
is the Navy's last nuclear hurrah, as they are deep into the process
of shelving all the other nuclear weapons earmarked for ocean combat.
On duty: in development, to begin production in 1993.
Home base: Alaska, California, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, Virginia,
Italy, United Kingdom, aircraft carriers.
Savings if cancelled: $1 billion.
IN DEVELOPMENT:
10. EARTH PENETRATOR WARHEAD
----------------------------
Purpose: After a nuclear war starts and the SRAM-IIs have cleared the
countryside and the B83s have razed the cities, this burrowing
wonder will prove to the Soviets that all that stuff about
invulnerable underground shelters is hokum.
On duty: no time soon, but they're trying.
Savings if cancelled: unknown.
11. HIGH-POWER MICROWAVE WEAPONS
--------------------------------
Purpose: These bombs will fill the atmosphere and outer space with electronic
noise to make sure that, in the event of a war, no one can fly,
communicate or surrender.
On duty: more like on the drawing board.
Savings if cancelled: at this point, some strategist's lunch hour.
12. HYPERVELOCITY GLIDE VEHICLE
-------------------------------
Purpose: To go very very very very fast.
On duty: Hopefully never.
Savings if cancelled: sleepless nights.
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Obviously the last three were bullshit mockery of this country's race to get
the biggest guns and the first name in nuclear technology. It makes me wonder
if ALL these bombs were parodical, but some had pictures of the disassembled
bombs and the actual things being worked on.
The race for power is bullshit. But can we discontinue these weapons? An
arms treaty will not accomplish shit at this point. If we were to go to war,
what defenses would we have? We can't live without the protection (kinda
like having a period without the pads, or toxic shock without medication!),
but we simply can't live WITH it. The arms race is pushing us deeper and deeper
into debt. If we continue, countries will declare war on us for constantly
borrowing money and never repaying it. Simple.
This country is fucked. Let's overthrow the government. Be watching for
future issues of the Flaming Fetus. It's time we, the citizens of this
Great Heap Nation of Cow Manure did something, and did something RIGHT.
Join Greenpeace, write your congresspersons, write editorials for the local
newspapers. Make your opinions public. Let's fight the war against war
together.
- Gross Genitalia
(C)opied right from Greenpeace bimonthly magazine.
My opinions are mine and mine only. Agree with them or die you schmoozer.
(c)July 6, 1990 / Toxic Shock. [#71]
