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U.S. bunker-buster request prompts Iran attack fears
By Susan Cornwell
10/24/07 - - - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some Democratic lawmakers
questioned on Wednesday whether a new Bush administration
request for $88 million to fit "bunker-busting" bombs to B-2
stealth bombers was part of preparations for an attack on Iran.
The proposal was included as part of a nearly $200 billion
request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that the Bush
administration sent to Capitol Hill on Monday.
The request included $87.8 million for further development of
the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, a conventional bomb
designed to destroy hardened or deeply buried targets.
Many of Iran's nuclear development facilities are believed to be
underground. The United States accuses Iran of trying to develop
a nuclear bomb while Tehran insists its nuclear program is only
for power generation.
A Bush administration summary said the request was needed for
"development of a Massive Ordnance Penetrator for the B-2
aircraft in response to an urgent operational need from theater
commanders," but gave no details.
"My assumption is that it is Iran, because you wouldn't use them
in Iraq, and I don't know where you would use them in
Afghanistan, it doesn't have any weapons facilities underground
that we know of," said Rep. Jim Moran, a Virginia Democrat who
is on the House defense spending committee and intends to argue
against the request.
"I suppose you could try to bomb out a cave (in Afghanistan),
but that seems like taking a sledgehammer to a tack. A little
excessive," Moran said in a phone interview.
Another Democrat, Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington, said the
bunker-buster request worried him because of the rising tide of
criticism of Iran coming from the Bush administration. Last
week, Bush warned that a nuclear-armed Iran could lead to World
War Three.
"The drumbeats of war are beating again, this time against Iran
and we have to step in while there is still time," McDermott
said through a spokesman.
'BURIED TARGETS'
One congressional aide said, however, that the proposed program
to fit the bombs to the B-2s might not be finished until 2009 or
2010 -- after the Bush administration has left office.
Asked what the bunker-buster had to do with the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, a senior defense official briefing reporters on the
war funding request earlier this week said: "Look in terms of
better capabilities of bringing better, quicker precision
ordnance on the target."
"You have buried targets, for example particularly in
Afghanistan, that you're concerned about and so, to me, I think
there is in fact a direct link in terms of the kinds of
possibilities that might be there in this sort of capability."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice repeated the
administration's position on Wednesday that Bush prefers
diplomacy to resolve problems with Iran, although she said all
options are on the table.
The Democratic majority in Congress, which opposes prolonging
the Iraq conflict, is in no hurry to give Bush more war money.
House appropriators said earlier this month they would not even
consider the new war funding request until early 2008, and they
want to link it to a plan to bring troops home.
(Additional reporting by Andrew Gray)
© Reuters 2006. All rights reserved.
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