Who's Next?

Link via Diana Hsieh.

From the increasingly messy Middle East comes this report that Israel’s nukes might be designed for practical use, not just deterrence.

Here’s the key passage:

A large fraction of the Israeli arsenal consists of neutron bombs. These produce a relatively small explosion and less radioactive fallout than other designs. Their primary mechanism of destruction is a deadly burst of high-speed neutrons, which destroys all living tissue within miles. Because of this design, Israeli bombs could even be used against their immediate neighbors without Israel suffering much from the radioactive cloud they produce.

Remember, the first rule of military intelligence is (in my opinion) that means demonstrate intentions.

Not to say that Israel is nuke-happy. Far from it. But if true, this analysis certainly demonstrates that Israel takes self-defense more seriously than even some hawks like me ever thought.

NOTE: Diana Hsieh is a sister Colorado resident, an intelligent post-Randian (I think), and a charming blogger. I’ll be blogrolling her Noodlefood site just as soon as I’m done with this post.

ANOTHER NOTE: The headline comes from an old, old, funny, funny Tom Lehrer song about proliferation called, appropriately, “Who’s Next?”