If accidental nuke in US, then what?

Question

Very short story on TX nuke nearly detonated -
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20061215-124703-2900r

This may be BS, but what reaction would you expect? Would we be confused - under attack? Paralyzed - North Korea, Iran, don't know, can't act?

Answer 1

That was an interesting news story.
On a previous occasion the military accidentally
dropped a nuclear bomb on
a house in Carolina, destroying it with a non-nuclear explosion,
and another time they dropped one in a harbor in Spain (didn't explode).

What would happen if one did go off?
Let us consider historical parallels.
The battleship Maine blew up in Havana harbor.
The US blamed it on Spain & started a war.
Many years later, divers proved it was an accident (boiler explosion) & Spain had nothing to do with it. Oops.

A giant explosion destroyed Texas City Texas.
This was due to two ships blowing up, one filled with
ammonium nitrate (explosive fertilizer), comparable
to an A-bomb. In this case, it was known what happened.

The Vietnam War was started thanks to the "attack" on
US ships in the Tonkin Gulf. Years later, investigations
revealed the attacks probably did not even exist. The
whole thing was due to misread sonar signals amplified
by huge lies told by Pres. Johnson and secy of war McNamara.
No damage occurred to US ships.
It was at night and the alleged attackers were over a mile away.
McNamara contradicted himself massively over the years about what happened,
and Navy documents uncovered more contradictions, but the bottom line was there was no evidence the attack happened.

So I guess based on this, the answer is "I do not know what
would happen" but it is likely that a lot of lies would be told.

Answer 2

I doubt the story is BS, or is that what you referred to? UPI is a reputable news organization. The fine imposed, which they mentioned, is too easily verifiable to make that up.

During the Cold War, there were many false alarms about ICBMs flying over the Pole toward us, any one of which could have triggered the US into sending our first wave toward Russia & China. It never happened because the cool heads prevailed & checked out the situation after unlocking but before pushing the nuclear button.

Five years ago NORAD & all our other military response teams said they lost track of 4 hijacked airliners & never found them again until they reached their targets. This is absolutely beyond belief. If that nuke had exploded, the military would know exactly where it came from. If Bush had tried to say it came from somewhere else, even most of the American Sheeple would know better.

Answer 3

It would make a big mess, but it would be a "dirty bomb," not a nuclear explosion. Some disgruntled employee was playing a little loose with the truth and jerking the reporters' chain.

Answer 4

I have never head of the "watchdog" group referred to in that article so I don't know what political ax they have to grind. I am curious, however, as to why we are so reluctant to believe the official spokesman but we seem to always believe the anonymous source.

Answer 5

I'm sure Cheney has thought of such an "accident" blamed on some other country as a pretense for invading. It wouldn't happen in Texas though - Dick would have it go off in Massachusetts or San Francisco.

Answer 6

The gubmint would put a spin on it,so we could blame Mexico?

Answer 7

Hmmmm... I think Iran would take credit. Yes, I think lil kim would, as well.

Answer 8

There's only one thing you can be sure of - no one of any importance would be to blame.

Answer 9

It's BS. Can't happen.

Answer 10

if the nuke does go off...you can kiss your...XXXX....good bye

right?