When the news broke about the DOD plan to explode a WMD in southern Indiana -- see the diary by ManfromMiddletown
DoD might test a Weapon of Mass Destruction in Indiana in 2007 -- Barry Welsh, immediately issued a
press release condeming the plan to explode 1.4 million pound bomb in an Indiana limestone quarry as
"idiotic and dangerous."
Barry's went on:
"I believe in a strong Homeland Security and, if we have to defend our state of Indiana from our national Department of Defense, so be it. That is what we must now do, fellow Hoosiers. To even talk about such a bomb because of the limestone in the area, without regard to the people in this region is asinine. I call upon all of you who share my outrage to join me in demanding operation `Divine Strake' in Indiana to cease and desist, becoming nothing more than another example in a long list of Republican leaders misuse of our military."
I'm curious how long it will take other Indiana pols to stand up to this outrage. In the meantime, I'm glad Barry is out there.
It has been a long-standing goal of radical neo-conservatives to repudiate the policy of the United States not to make "first use" of our nuclear weapons arsenal. This "Divine Strake" test is a step toward use of so-called tactical nuclear weapons in Iran. If pursued, this policy would destroy the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and rob the United States of moral standing around the world. The test could be blocked by Senate action when when the military appropriations bill, H.R. 5631, comes to the Senate floor, Tuesday, September 5.
Lugar understands nuclear non-proliferation issues, but will he oppose this dangerous step? Will Bayh stand up for reason on this, or will he sell out to his "strong on defense" presidential ambitions?