The madness is acclerating. ..

The Bush administration has a new euphemism to play with - the "Modern Pit Facility" (MPF). Sounds harmless enough? The word "pit" is an insider term for the plutonium cores that are used in nuclear weapons. The new US$4 billion MPF factory will be able to produce between 250 and 900 "pits" per year. By comparison, China's entire nuclear arsenal now stands at around 500 "pits".

At the same time, the US military is developing hand-held nuclear devices for troops on the battlefield.

This is radical politics gone ballistic. It blows the Intenational Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty out of the water. It also destroys any moral argument the USA can use to argue against other nations developing nuclear weapons - what will the US do if another country develops nuclear weapons? Invade them before they can finish the project? Nuke them?

While the fire-power, costs and sheer political ruthlessness involved with the MPF are staggering, the problems with nuclear weapons remain un-solved. What will the USA do with the nuclear waste? More importantly, as the IRA said after a failed assasination attempt on Margaret Thatcher: "We only have to get lucky once. You have to be lucky every day." What happens when terrorists or a rogue nation get lucky?

Imagine September 11th with nuclear bombs instead of airplanes.