From: b645zaw@utarlg.uta.edu (General Boycott)
Subject: *Poof* -- Bye-bye Chelsea... (What El Presidente is Learning.)
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Keywords:  Oh No... Mr. Bill
Organization: The University of Texas at Arlington
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 23:50:00 GMT

Have you wondered what Presidente Bill Clinto'n is discovering about the
world, and how it will change his outlook? What could he learn that
would come as a surprise? Do the Georgians have Stealth missiles? Have
the Israelis instituted bio-warfare programs in response to Iraq? Are the
X-KGB spies now working for the IRA or the Drug Cartels? Can any of this
be countered?

Perhaps PBC is learning nothing so exotic. Perhaps the truly scary know-
ledge are the trivial things. The things that often fly low under our
cognitive alert systems. Perhaps El Presidente is being told about the
"little bombs," the kind that will fit in a briefcase:

Excerpts from "The Neutron Bomb" published in IEEE _Spectrum_ Magazine
January 1991, pp. 20 & 22... (This is the flagship mag of the Institute
of Electronics and Electrical Engineers):

        [ * * *]

        In the summer of 1958, Sam Cohen, a strategic nuclear weapons
        analyst at Rand Corp., a military think tank in Santa Monica,
        Calif., began investigating the military possibilities of
        large thermonuclear warheads. During his research into the
        possible effects on high-flying bomber crews, he became
        impressed by the high neutron release accompanying the fusion
        reaction.

        He reasoned that if the outer uranium casing of a hydrogen
        bomb were removed, the neutrons released would travel great
        distances. Such neutrons would be capable of penetrating
        relatively well-shielded structures with lethal doses and
        incapacitating the people inside. Since fallout is due
        primarily to products of the fission reaction, removing the
        outer casing would leave only the initial small fission
        reaction, releasing only one-hundredth the radiation of
        a comparable fission weapon. Even so, the weapon would emit
        a large percentage of neutrons, making it considerably more
        deadly than a standard atomic or hydrogen bomb. Thus the
        enhanced radiation weapon (ERW) or neutron bomb was born.

        The concept of a weapon that could kill people but leave
        most structures intact had great appeal for some in the armed
        forces and government. When the idea was first proposed during
        the 1960s, the Kennedy administration decided against building
        neutron weapons because it might jeopardize the nuclear test
        moratorium that the United States and Soviet Union were
        currently observing. But when the Soviet Union broke the
        moratorium in 1961, this barrier was removed and by 1962 the
        first neutron device had been successfully tested. ERWs became
        an on-again, off-again item until the mid-1970's, when the
        Carter administration proposed modernizing the U.S. nuclear
        arsenal by installing neutron warheads on the Lance missile
        and artillery shells planned for deployment in Europe.

        [ * * * ]

        In August 1981, President Reagan fueled the political debate
        again by re-authorizing the production of neutron warheads for
        the Lance missile and an 8-inch artillery shell. Because of
                                 ^^^^^^
        strong opposition from Western Europe, Reagan ordered all
        neutron weapons to be stored in the United States, with the
        option to deploy overseas in case of war. The USSR publicly
        announced that while it, too, had tested neutron weapons,
        there were no plans to deploy them.

        [ * * * ]

        The current status of neutron weapons is something of a
        mystery, though. The U.S. nuclear arsenal is still believed to
        contain some 350 neutron warheads for the Lance missile and a
        similar number of 8-in. artillery shells....

So simple. I wonder how many the Soviets had, and who has theirs now??

Ah well, its far more likely one would die in traffic ....no real worry.
Still, it may change El Presidente's world view to discover that no matter
what type of defense (SDI) or security (round the clock SS agents) -- if
they want to nuke ya, or your family, or Washington DC, then there's no way
to stop those petite little bombs from being brought in.

Just a matter of time, I reckon. But no worry, really. There are worse
things than sudden death.

.poof

Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc