Very pretty General, Very pretty. But can they fight?
I watched
The Dirty Dozen over the weekend and I have one question. How did they think they were going to sneak Jim Brown inside of Germany for a covert mission? I mean, it's not like the
giant african-american dude is going to blend in real well amongst the populace. At least Kojak was there. If I was a German in the 60's, I wouldn't have even let him in the country. He's probably killed a million nazi soldiers in all the movies he's been in.
What I've been working on...
Here's 1/3 of the essays that have been keeping me busy and away from the blog lately. I've been reading War As I Knew It and I'll probably post an entry about that in a few days. I'll also be bombarded with war movies over the weekend, so the creative juices should be flowing.
Blogger's software even copied the footnotes in. Awesome.
For the most part, Americans do not understand nuclear weapons or radiation, and as such, they have an irrational fear of them. A generation of children grew up fearing sudden nuclear destruction from the sky, thousands of people were affected by the events at Three Mile Island, and millions were terrified by the explosion in Chernobyl. This fear of all things nuclear, coupled with the inherent destructive and disruptive power of nuclear weapons, makes nuclear terrorism the ideal method for striking the United States.
How then is America to grapple with the terrorist threat? First the different types of nuclear attacks must be recognized. There is the possibility, however slim, of a terrorist organization obtaining an intact nuclear warhead and detonating it in a terrorist act. Barring the possession of a pre-built warhead, a terrorist organization could acquire the fissionable materials and construct its own nuclear bomb. If the acquirement of the material for a nuclear bomb presents an insurmountable hurdle for a group, they could instead pack radioactive material around a conventional weapon and create a dirty bomb. Finally, a terrorist group could simply attack a nuclear reactor in the attempt to release radioactive material and cause intense disruption.
The least probable situation for nuclear terrorism is also the situation with the worst possible outcome. A Hiroshima style bomb, detonated in the center of a large city could kill at least 100,000 people and probably more.
[1] Many more would die or become ill from radiation poisoning, countless others would swarm the roads in an effort to flee or to seek unnecessary medical assistance, and the entire nation would be devastated psychologically. The resulting price in cleanup, rebuilding, relocation and other economic costs would easily reach the trillion dollar mark
[2]. It would be an attack on a level that America has ever faced, an attack that no nation has faced since 1945.
At present there are at least 30,000 active nuclear weapons in the world
[3] , and while the vast majority of these weapons are secure, the very small chance exists for one to fall into the hands of a terrorist organization. A state would probably not supply a terrorist organization with an intact nuclear warhead because the weapon could be traced back to its country of origin, almost guaranteeing a swift and fierce retaliatory strike on the part of the US.
[4] A.Q. Khan’s actions in Pakistan are a worrisome but isolated example of how nuclear weapons could pass into the hands of terrorists from a sympathetic official. A direct assault on a facility housing a weapon would have a very low chance of success, but if the strike was attempted during a political crisis or coup, then a warhead might be stolen.
Even with a stolen warhead, terrorists would have to defeat the numerous safety systems built into it. Most modern warheads require a complicated digital code to arm, and others have sensors that will not allow the weapon to detonate if it does not reach certain altitudes and speeds that are part of its mission parameters. In other countries like Pakistan and India, weapons do not have advanced security features, but the nuclear material is stored separately from the warhead, rendering them useless unless both parts are stolen.
[5] Finally, if a terrorist group managed to defeat every safeguard, they would still have to transport the weapon to its target and detonate it successfully, adding another degree of difficulty.
If a terrorist group cannot defeat the security systems on a warhead, it might decide to take the fissionable material out and construct its own weapon, although Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) and plutonium could be obtained from various sites around the world as well. A terrorist-constructed nuclear bomb would probably have less destructive power than one built by a state, but it would be easier to obtain and use than a stolen warhead. Building a plutonium implosion style bomb is extremely complex and requires lots of testing; therefore it is much more likely that a gun style HEU bomb would be created by terrorists.
[6]Unfortunately, many areas in the former Soviet Union and Pakistan have HEU in locations of questionable security. HEU could be obtained from poorly secured weapons material storage areas, disreputable officials like Khan, nuclear facilities, or from research reactors. Since the weapon would be homemade, there would be no complex security measures to defeat, eliminating that problem for the terrorists. Delivery of the weapon would still pose a problem however, especially since a terrorist-built bomb would be much bulkier and have a less elegant design than one built by a state.
If the theft or construction of a nuclear bomb is beyond the capabilities of a terrorist group, the construction of a radiation dispersal devise (RDD) would be a more attractive choice. An RDD is simply a layer of radioactive material surrounding a conventional explosive. The explosion could be used to destroy something in a conventional manner, but primarily serves to distribute the radioactive material. In addition, an RDD is relatively easy to create due to the prevalence of radioactive material present throughout the world in peaceful applications.
[7] Because of the relative ease of obtaining the materials and constructing an RDD, this is the most probable threat for nuclear terror in America.
The last nuclear threat that faces America is that of an attack on a nuclear power plant. Most reactors in America are safe from attack; thick walls protect against explosives and guards maintain a secure perimeter. A September 11th style aircraft attack might not cause enough damage to the containment dome to cause a meltdown, but other important structures are not as hardened and could sustain critical damage. Plants are designed to have redundancy, but in the event of a catastrophic airliner attack, multiple systems could be destroyed at once, leaving the reactor unprotected from overheating or other hazards.
[8] Other buildings on the site contain dangerous radioactive materials that, in the event of a catastrophic explosion, could be spewed into the atmosphere as jet fuel burned.
If faced with a highly trained commando team, plant guards might not be proficient enough to stop them from entering the plant and causing damage. Also, nuclear power plants contain enough HEU and various other radioactive materials to make them a tempting target for theft. A sympathetic or coerced plant official may also let terrorists inside of a plant to steal or destroy. Finally, cyber terrorism is a threat to plant security. In 2003, an Ohio nuclear plant was infected with a computer virus due to outdated software. If a common virus can penetrate the computer network of a modern power plant, then a malicious code could have far more dangerous consequences.
There are many measures that the United States can take to protect itself from the four types of nuclear terrorism. To combat the threat posed by intact nuclear weapons, America must first change its own cold war policies. Tactical nuclear weapons, due to their small size, are the prime target of terrorist organizations. The US currently has several of these weapons deployed in Europe to face a threat that evaporated almost 15 years ago.
[9] If the United States, in conjunction with Russia, removed their tactical weapons from Europe into safer areas, the world would be more secure from a terrorist attack with a nuclear bomb.
With its close location to terrorist strongholds, questionable devotion to stopping fundamentalist Islam, and past indiscretions, Pakistan also poses a problem that must be addressed not only on the subject of warheads, but on proliferation overall. The United States should work diligently to improve Pakistani missile security and to gain better intelligence on the location of weapons and nuclear sites so that they can be monitored via satellite. The United States should also work to ensure that Pakistan’s government stays stable so that a fundamentalist Islamic regime does not come into power and into possession of powerful atomic weapons.
To address the issue of HEU proliferation and its use in terrorist-constructed weapons, America should continue working with Russia on non-proliferation. The Nunn-Lugar plan was an excellent start, but America and Russia need to focus more on HEU protection. Since plutonium is much harder to fashion into a nuclear weapon, HEU is the obvious threat. Reevaluation of current plans is also necessary. The Mayak Fissile Material Storage Facility is designed to hold 50 tons of Russian plutonium but could hold 200 tons of HEU, a full third of the HEU that the Department of Energy is trying to protect in Russia.
[10]Countries like Iran and North Korea should be put under increasing political and economic pressure to comply with non-proliferation agreements. Iran could easily slip nuclear materials to a terrorist organization and should be closely monitored by the IAEA and the UN. North Korea has also demonstrated its willingness to sell weapons to terrorists. It is unknown if North Korea would go so far as to sell a nuclear weapon, but the possibility remains. They should be watched and pressured not only by America, but by neighboring countries like China.
Since an RDD is the most probable nuclear threat that it faces, America should make a strong effort to control peaceful radioactive products. Many of the technologies that use radioactive compounds can be redesigned to use non-hazardous chemicals, or made to use a radioactive material that doesn’t lend itself to dispersion as well.
[11] America should also help countries around the world to collect and properly store “orphaned” radioactive compounds. America should also continue to set up monitoring stations to detect radiation in the air so that, in the event of an RDD attack, its location and intensity could be quickly determined.
[12] A proper estimate of the dispersion of radiation from the attack could also help in evacuations and containment.
Because it is likely that an RDD attack will take place, the US should prepare its citizenry of the dangers of radiation and the proper ways to deal with them. If the mystery and mystique of radiation is lifted by education, the problem will become much less severe. Like drills for fires, earthquakes, or severe storms; regular drills for radiation attacks will calm the public and, in the event of a real attack, there will be much less disorder. Along with education, the United States should stockpile anti-radiation drugs and continue to research new ways of treating radiation sicknesses.
Because of the size and transportation parameters of a nuclear weapon, a shipboard warhead detonated while at a major port could be terribly destructive. While the loss of life would be lessened, the destruction of infrastructure, the contamination of the area, and the general loss of confidence would severely weaken America. By 2003, America had a few prototype portal scanners that could scan entire cargo containers and had trained several thousand customs agents to identify nuclear materials.
[13] The United States needs to continue to research new ways of detecting radiation in cargo containers. The Megaport
[14] program needs to be continued and expanded so that more cargo gets inspected before it reaches the America’s shores.
In conclusion, the United States faces a myriad of potential nuclear threats from terrorists. A terrorist organization could detonate a stolen or homemade nuclear weapon in an American city, launch any type of radiation dispersion attack, or attack nuclear facilities in many different ways. The United States can never guarantee 100% security, but the worst type of attacks can be made so costly and risky that terrorists would opt to go with less destructive methods like RDDs. The effect of those weapons can be considerably lessened by preventative measures, education, and training. By facing the threat head-on, America can lessen the fear associated with nuclear weapons, and by reducing the terror that these weapons provoke, defeat the purpose of the terrorists themselves.
[1] The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism, pg. 51
[2] The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism, pg. 52
[3] The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism, pg. 47
[4] The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism, pg. 57
[5] The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism, pg. 61-63
[6] The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism, pg. 136-7
[7] The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism, pg. 260
[8] The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism, pg. 215
[9] The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism, pg. 95
[10] The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism, pg. 150
[11] The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism, pg. 290, 305-6
[12] The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism, pg. 296
[13] The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism, pg. 90
[14] The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism, pg. 83
I still live
Fear not loyal readers, I still live! I managed to fix my computer. Pretty amazing considering my level of technical expertise. I have been swamped with end of the year busyness. I have a 7 page essay about nuclear proliferation due on Thursday and then two 10 page essays due next week. Not to mention the rapid pace of Latin class shows no sign of slowing even as the year winds down.
I have a bunch of stuff to blog about, but I can't find any time to write. I was home this weekend for
YSU's graduation so I didn't have time to write. My dad somehow finagled an associates degree in the arts, so there was much rejoicing. We even had a turkey dinner.
Anyways, I'll try to find a spare hour or so to devote to writing. I always get inspired about something to write at like 1:30 in the morning or as I walk to class. I think my brain gets a kick out of jerking me around.
Treason
Article III. Section 3. Clause 1.Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.How come Jane Fonda never got in trouble for treason? She clearly committed it. A few weeks ago a veteran spit on her at a book signing, and I just read today that some guy who owns a movie theater refuses to show her new movie. It got me thinking. She gave the NVA propoganda material, did the Toyko Rose routine on the radio for a while, and then called POWs liars and said they were never tortured. That pretty clearly falls under giving aid and comfort to the enemy. And it wasn't like she was just a dumb teenager either, she was in her 30's when she did it. I wonder if it was because Nixon was trying to get re-elected and didn't want half the country mad at him. That's probably why.
Nukuler
I had an interesting day to say the least. As part of my WMD class, we took a tour of the OSU nuclear reactor. It's a 500 kilowatt open reactor, so it's basically 4kg of Uranium (19.5% U235) in a 20 foot deep swimming pool with really thick lead walls. We got to go stand at the top and look down. It really is open, as in, you can touch the reactor water. It was pretty scary even though I knew that I was theoretically safe. Looking down at that haunting blue glow filled me with a general sense of unease.
It was pretty though. The Cerenkov radiation sends particles through the water faster than the speed of light in water (3.0x108 meters per second, roughly 75% the speed in a vacuum.), resulting in a blue glow. It was like... kind of a cross between a lightsaber glow and an X-ray. The fuel rods and the frame and other stuff had that black on gray look like X-rays do, but it was blue. It's hard to explain. I'd show you a picture, but the OSU reactor's website is down. Ah-ha! Yahoo's image search found me one that isn't on an OSU server. Huzzah!
Reactor!I felt really dizzy when we were standing over the reactor. It was pretty violent dizziness too. I had to close my eyes the one time and shake my head. I figure it was just the culmination of 21 years of tv shows and movies about people getting their skin melted off when they got close to a reactor core. It eventually went away, but my mouth tasted funny for an hour or so after I left. If I start losing my hair in big clumps, OSU is getting sued.
It was a weird moment though. Like when a physics teacher lays on a bed of nails or does that thing where they swing a bowling ball tied to the ceiling and trust in physics not to get a broken nose and a mouth full of shattered teeth. They can tell you how safe it is until the cows come home, but there's something inherently frightening about standing 20 feet above an active fusion reactor with only deionized water to stop the radiation. You could see the heated water rising off the core in real faint thermal streams. It was just weird.
Well, I guess I can cross off another line from my "Things to do before I die" list. That's a plus.
I really liked the control room though. All the machines had that 1960's feel to them. It was like the end of Terminator 3 when they went into the fallout shelter built for VIPs. I wanted to press things, but I figured that I'd probably be thrown out of school for fiddling around with the multi-million dollar nuclear reactor.
My hard drive is still out of commission. I had all kinds of files on there pertaining to my thesis too. Hopefully I can go get some new cables and install it into my computer tomorrow. It was originally in an external case from back when I had my laptop, so when it broke I opened up the case and pulled out the hard drive itself from amongst the casing. I really hope it works. I have like... 2 years of digital pictures of my friends and family on there.
oh noes!
Sorry for the lack of updates. My computer decided it would be funny to break. 160GB of files all lost. Whee! I'll try to get back into the swing of things in a few days.
Sigh...
Reeeeeeeeeeeeediculous
I got my big paper back from Dr. Lewis today. It was about the flaws in the Biological Weapons Convention. I got an 86% and a page full of comments. The only problem is,
they're unintelligible. All his papers are like that. I'd like to improve because I'm only a few points from an A, but it doesn't look like I'll be doing it by reading the comments. Looks like I'll have to go into office hours.
Oh! After emailing my proof to Ms. Mazon, I went to her office, signed my permission slip, took it to the arts and sciences building, and am now the latest student in History 768. Woooo! I also dominated my Latin quiz today. I don't know what it is with that class. Some chapters I completely dominate while I stumble over others. Its weird because each chapter builds on the last, so if I didn't do so well in chapter 10, why am I finding chapter 11 easy?
And finally, I'll be attending the Mershon Center tomorrow in what I assume will be an intense 85 degree heat. And since
no one listens to me, my drink will no doubt be warm!
The lecture is on WWI aviators. I'll be able to have flashbacks to that movie where Hannibal from the
A-Team flies for the Germans. Mr. T wasn't in that movie because he's afraid of planes.
Yellow-bellied?
On Saturday night my pal Sean used coarse language to describe a lady-friend of mine, and as I moved to rectify this situation, he fled. I called him "a yellow coward" and demanded that he apologize. On Sunday I remembered what I said and began to wonder why the term "yellow" meant cowardly.
I wonder if it is as simple as a reference to a certain bodily fluid. I remember reading or hearing a description of hoplite warfare that depicted green troops being so overcome with fear that they lost control of their bowels. Perhaps it refers to people who are jaundiced and therefore weak.
Maybe it's racist. As opposed to a more "heroic" direct and decisive Greek-style battle, Asian armies used more creative tactics that could be interpreted as deceptive and cowardly. Although the Japanese army didn't seem adverse to banzai charges in World War II...
It probably doesn't have a rational basis though. It'll end up being something totally obscure and probably not even related to what it means now.
Tomorrow I'll finally be able to get the permission slip to Dr. Millett for the 768 class. I went to see the undergraduate advisor to pick up a slip so I could drop it off in the mailbox, and she said I needed a note. So now I have to print out the email that Dr. Millett sent me and make an appointment to see her tomorrow. I wonder how many people try to lie about getting into graduate level classes. Apparently it's a big problem because she doesn't trust me enough to take my word for it. Sigh,
bureaucracies.
Wooooooooo!!!!
The emperor Claudius knew they were up to something. He knew they were busy little bees. And one night he sat down with one of them and he looked at her and he said, "Tell me what you've been doing busy little bee or I shall strike down those dearest to you. You shall watch as I bathe in their blood." And the emperor was heartbroken. The little bee had wounded him more deeply than anyone else could ever have done.I have indeed been a busy little bee, and I hope that I have not wounded any of my readers, and if I have, I hope that the wounds were not deep. Busy busy busy. Busier than a one-legged man in... well, really any kind of contest that involved mobility, but an ass kicking contest would be the hardest.
Well... it depends on what an ass kicking contest truly is. If it involved kicking a donkey, yes, that would be very hard for a one-legged man. If it involved physically kicking someone in their rear, again, this would be difficult for a one-legged man. But if it were a contest whose aim was to brutally assault someone without being limited to just kicks, the one-legged man could have an easy time of it. He could be a karate master, able to disable his foes with a quick chop to the neck. Perhaps the man could be sitting in a chair, or have a prosthetic leg of some sort that gives him, at the least, a stable platform from which to punch, and at best, a clear advantage due to his increased mechanical kicking power. I have been so busy in fact that I have had to use the bathroom for a full 4 hours, but I've held it.
...
...
I fear I may have just become too familiar with some of my readers and for that I apologize.
The source of my busyness has been almost entirely academic in nature. I have had 2 essays to write, a Latin midterm and then a subsequent vocabulary quiz to study for, and there was much scheduling to do for next fall. My tentative schedule for Fall 05 looks like this:
Monday-Friday at 8:30-9:18 I will have Latin 102. I wish it wasn’t so early. I’ll be at
UV, so I’ll have to get up early and catch a bus. I’m used to having the luxury of staggering out of bed and running to class. I just guess I can’t ignore the alarm clock next year. I’m going to get ahead of the curve by buying a Latin book on Amazon. I’ll work on it all summer and by the fall; I’ll already know most of the stuff we’ll go over in class. My Latin teacher told me that he did something similar. He went to Rome the summer before his senior year and learned a lot on his own and with a group, and then his senior year of Latin was cake because he already knew it all.
Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:30-3:18, I’ll have The Vietnam War with
Dr. Guilmartin. I had an independent studies class with him in the fall of 2003 after I did my tour of duty at the WWII Museum. I read so many books, but I learned a lot. I like his style, and it’s only a 300-level class, so I can learn just for the fun of it instead of cramming my head full of data and writing like a fiend.
On Wednesdays, I have History 768 with
Dr. Millett. It’s a grad class and I’m an undergrad, so I had to ask his permission. I emailed him on Wednesday and waited around wondering if I’d get in. I got a reply today and Dr. Millett said that he knew who I was and that I could handle the class. I did a little dance and almost spiked my mouse.
I’m such a history nerd. I’m excited about taking a difficult class where I’ll be thrown in with people who have already gotten into grad school. I figure it’ll be good for me. I can see if I can cut it before I get to grad school, and if I get an A in there, along with praise from the instructor, I’m sure that it will help with my admissions process with OSU. Woo me!
I went to the lecture at the
Mershon Center on Wednesday. It was really interesting.
Eliot Cohen spoke about the effect military service has on leaders when it comes to war. I found his arguments very convincing. He said that there is no real connection between military service and effective leadership. Generals typically make poor democratic leaders because they are used to having their commands obeyed and unquestioned; something that does not happen in a democratic government. Presidents who were junior officers know a little, but not enough to guide their strategy. Look at Hitler. He was a corporal who tried to command his armies directly. Sometimes he got lucky, but most of the time he sacrificed countless German soldiers in harebrained schemes. Presidents with little to no military experience can make excellent wartime leaders. Dr. Cohen compared Lincoln, who was in the Blackhawk wars for a month or so, and Jefferson Davis, who served with the Army for years. In this case, the leader with very little military experience was the one who turned out to be the best wartime leader.
I saw a bunch of people there again, and I had a delicious turkey sandwich with Munster cheese. It was awesome. I don’t like the pop situation over there. They have a big thing of ice, empty cups, a scooper, and cans of pop. Here’s my idea. Take the cans and put them in the ice. Then they’re cold and people don’t have to spend time putting ice in the cups. Also, you’d save tens of dollars on plastic cups! Ehh, no one ever listens to me.
I feel bad because I haven’t had a chance to work on my thesis paper in a while. I think I’ll work on it mostly during the summer. I’ll work in the day, write a little bit before dinner, and I should be done in a month or so. All the source material is online (thanks
http://www.newadvent.org/ !) so I won’t have any trouble with being away from the library. Also, since UV makes us check in on Sept 1st, I’ll have almost a month of sitting around in my apartment before school starts. I can polish the thesis up even further.
Well, it's time to do my laundry, then I have to go run the Rifle Club (Fridays, 4:30, basement of Converse Hall!), and then since it's my birthday, I shall seek out liquid refreshment.
May 6th!
I think I have Dr. Strangelove syndrome. I turned on the History Channel and they had some Nazi rally on (omg what a surprise!) and I threw up the Nazi salute with my right hand and then immediately slapped it down with my left. Go me!
Also, it is my birthday. Any gifts can be sent to Box 361, 161 Curl Drive, Columbus Oh, 43210.
I've regained enough morale to try and retype that huge entry I had from Wednesday. I'm doing it all in Word and then copying it to the blogger interface.
Busy little bee.
Hey that's great. Blogger just deleted a long post that took me 2 hours to write. Thanks for nothing you worthless piece of crap.
