Seymour Hersh, the investigative journalist who broke the Abu Ghraib scandal, reported in the April 17th issue of the New Yorker that President Bush has real plans to use bunker busting tactical nuclear weapons on the Iranian underground uranium centrifuge sites. Apparently, Hersh had no trouble verifying his information, citing named and unnamed, active and retired sources. He cited a military planner, a high-ranking diplomat, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, a former senior intelligence official, a former high-level Defense Department official and many other sources. That, combined with Mr. Hersh’s impeccable reputation, makes his story as credible as it is frightening.

The bunker busting bombs do not work like underground nuclear tests. They create mushroom clouds, long-term radioactive contamination and surface blasts that can kill thousands. The pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons by the United States would change the world’s attitude toward nuclear warfare. Some of the moral barriers would have been removed and some nations might feel justified in following the American example. The result would be an accelerated world nuclear arms race. We would all have to learn to live with really serious fear.

Bush’s plans are not the usual contingency exercises. Serious steps toward implementation have already been taken. Aside from the nuclear sites, targets include airfields, missile sites, submarine ports, chemical plants and more. According to one estimate, the number of targets could exceed 400. All but the underground nuclear facilities would be attacked with conventional bombs. The well-fortified underground facilities, however, appear to be built on the same plan that the Russians use to protect their government in the event of an attack. They cannot be destroyed by conventional bombs.

Mr. Hersh’s Pentagon advisor source says that the Joint Chiefs of Staff and most Bush advisors are against the use of nuclear weapons in Iran. There is great controversy within the Pentagon on the issue because, according to the Pentagon advisor, the civilian neocons who want to use the nukes are a “juggernaut that has to be stopped”. It’s probable that the leak of information to Mr. Hersh is a part of that disagreement. Opponants might feel that the light of publicity would be a good way to halt the progress of this lunatic idea.

The usual propaganda push has started. An Iraq-like spin is in full gear. The Bush Administration is already pounding in the idea that Iran is trying to make nuclear weapons and must be stopped. They point out that Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, denies the holocaust and threatens Israel with attack. Condoleezza Rice calls him our most serious global challenge. Rummy calls him the leading supporter of global terrorism. So far, and for good reason, this sales spiel is getting little traction with Americans or our allies. Unfortunately, Bush does not need outside support for the bombing assault that he is planning.

The fact is that almost no nation would want to see Iran get nuclear weapons. Bush could get wide support if he worked through the United Nations to dissuade Ahmadinejad, and if he waited until Iran was closer to producing a nuclear weapon before taking action. At this point Iran has been able to enrich Uranium only to about a 4.8% concentration of the fissionable isotope. They would need a 90% purification to be able to make a bomb. Although the estimates vary widely, Iran is at least three years away from success.

The lower Bush falls in the polls, the more incentive he has to attack before the mid-term elections. With his legacy falling apart in Iraq, he imagines that he has one last chance to rally the people behind him and keep his neocon pals in power. We cannot be comforted by the thought that it would be totally reckless for Bush to use nuclear weapons in Iran. Bush has already proven himself to be totally reckless.

Any attack on Iran would unite the world against us. The Shiites in Iraq and Iran would join together to attack American troops. We could see more real acts of terror in this country. Our enemies might disrupt our flow of oil, investors could abandon our treasury bonds, and our economy could go into depression.