Thursday 9 September 2004

Today's Quick Quiz

How long will it take someone to blame the Israelis and/or CIA for Nuking the Australian Embassy?

Jakarta Blast Cloud

Note : Joe Vialls doesn't count. He's already blamed a Mossad/CIA "Micro-Nuke" for the Jakarta Marriot bombing, the Bali bombing, the Baghdad Hotel bombing...

By the way, the smallest nuclear weapon ever made was the W54 physics package on the US's 1950's weapon, the Davy Crockett. It was not popular with the soldiers, as the maximum range of the smallest launcher was a little over a mile. It was even less popular with the politicians, who soon realised that giving a Colonel the ability to start a nuclear war was a Bad Idea(tm). It was deployed from 1961 to 1971.

Just in case anyone gives Joe's interesting theories any credence, his favourite film clip is of the SADM, withdrawn from service as late as 1989 (and using the same physics package as the Davy Crockett). Note also that because of the nature of really small nuclear weapons, the initial radiation is very dangerous compared with all other effects. Anyone within 150 metres of such an explosion would collapse immediately and die within hours at most.

There's lots of data available online about suitcase nukes, and nuclear weapons generally. Not that they has anything to do with the Jakarta bombing, any more than the CIA, Mossad, or Santa Claus do.


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