It looks like the Bush administration’s plans to develop ‘mini-nukes’ are dead:
The US has abandoned controversial plans to develop a nuclear “bunker-buster” warhead, a key Republican senator has said.
Sen Pete Domenici said funding for the bombs - part of the Energy Department’s 2006 budget - had been dropped.
He said research would now focus on conventional penetrating weapons.
The warhead had been the focus of intense debate in Congress, with opponents arguing against the US developing new nuclear arms.
An administration official, speaking on condition on anonymity, confirmed the move to the Associated Press news agency.
Considering the fact that the administration had made it clear that these nukes were intented to be used in a first-strike capacity (presumably against terrorists and “rogue nations”, as if this wouldn’t make the U.S. one of them), this is a significant step back from the brink of insanity. After sixty years of stuffing the nuclear genie back into the bottle, the last thing we need is to do something that lets it out for good.
We can only pray that it holds.
Okay, so maybe George Bush only strongly dislikes the poor, at least when he’s under political pressure to not hate them:
Under pressure from a suprisingly unanimous and steadfast coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans - moderate Republicans! - the White House crumbled today and agreed to reinstate the Davis-Bacon Act for construction projects along the Gulf Coast.
Via Kevin Drum at Political Animal.
