Exclusive: Now that the U.S. has deployed a new nuclear weapon, the options presented to President Trump to respond to Tehran will automatically include a nuclear option.
Ten days before Donald J. Trump was elected president in 2016, the United States nuked Iran. The occasion: a nuclear war exercise held every year in late October. In the war game, after Iran sank an American aircraft carrier and employed chemical weapons against a Marine Corps force, the Middle East commander requested a nuclear strike, and a pair of B-2 stealth bombers, each loaded with a single nuclear bomb, stood by while the president deliberated.
Though the United States has never made any public or explicit nuclear threat against Iran, in the past year, it has deployed a new nuclear weapon which increases the prospects for nuclear war. The new nuclear weapon, called the W76-2, is a"low yield" missile warhead intended for exactly the type of Iran scenario that played out in the last days of the Obama administration.
. In its guidance to nuclear war planners just three months after 9/11, the White House added the"axis of evil" states plus Syria and Libya to Strategic Command's missions.
"They answered their own mail," one retired Air Force officer involved in the early Trump White House said of the national security directive. U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirits assigned to Air Force Global Strike Command prepare to take off from the runway at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., Oct 30, 2016, during exercise Global Thunder 17. AFGSC supports U.S. Strategic Command's global strike and nuclear deterrence missions by providing strategic assets, including bombers like the B-52 and B-2, to ensure a safe, secure, effective and ready deterrent force.
On October 30, 2016, a day before Global Thunder 17 ended, the USS Pennsylvania, a Trident ballistic missile submarine based in Washington state, surfaced in Apra Harbor, Guam. It was the first visit of a ballistic missile submarine to Guam in 28 years and only the third Trident submarine to make a foreign port visit since 9/11.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Trump loyalists back action in Iran, but still don't want 'endless wars'While waiting hours in line for her first Donald Trump rally, Jennifer Colburn, a staunch supporter of the president who has two sons serving in the military, said she hopes the president continues to de-escalate tension with Iran. 'I'm not a big fan of war,' she told ABC News, ahead of
Read more »
Fox News anchor questions Trump official over 'maximum pressure' strategy, noting Iran has become 'more aggressive''Instead of caving, Iran is moving step by step out of the nuclear deal and in recent months it hit six ships, attacked Saudi oil facilities and set fire to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad,' Chris Wallace pointed out.
Read more »
Esper: Trump believed Iran was targeting U.S. embassiesDefense Secretary Mark Esper said the president believed Iran was targeting U.S. embassies
Read more »
Former GOP Rep. Justin Amash says Trump 'sells troops,' White House 'made up' Iran threatThe independent Michigan congressman joined several Republican lawmakers in blasting the strike on Iranian general Qassem Soleimani without Congress' approval.
Read more »
Trump warns Iran not to kill protesters, door still open to talksTrump's salvo came as Iran's Islamic regime faced a challenge from angry street protests, having come to the brink of war with the US after a series of tit-for-tat confrontations.
Read more »
Defense chief admits he 'didn't see' evidence for Trump claim that Iran planned embassy attacksAfter Trump tells Fox News U.S. embassies were targeted, aides avoid contradicting him but disclose no intelligence to back his claim. Democrats cry foul.
Read more »