Did the US Nuke Syria?

[Exsubmariner]

So Al-Jazeera is reporting.....

[ QUOTE ]
The sources were quoted as saying that Israeli F-15 and F-16 jets provided cover for the US planes.

The sources added that each US plane carried one tactical nuclear weapon and that the site was hit by one bomb and was totally destroyed.



[/ QUOTE ]

So I look at the linked story and notice the photo in the lower right of the page....



and think "I've seen that kind of crater before."



At Nagasaki.

Edit: here is the Nagasaki Crater without the Ground Zero Marker. Note the shape of the hypocenter and the shadows.



Discuss.

[iron81]

I really don't buy this. Between satellites and seismographs, you can't detonate a nuclear weapon anywhere on earth without people noticing.

[Taso]

Al-Jazeera is usually right.

[Exsubmariner]

Is that a level?

[Taso]

[ QUOTE ]
Is that a level?

[/ QUOTE ]

Absolutely.

[AlexM]

[ QUOTE ]
Is that a level?

[/ QUOTE ]

You have to ask?

[Exsubmariner]

I'm kind of skeptical, too. There are perhaps conventional weapons that will do this sort of damage.

A nuclear reactor is steal and concrete and uranium. From a conventional weapon, I would expect there to be lots of debris. If you could find a higher resolution image, I might be able to identify something. But, it looks like there is nothing but complete atomization at the site. No debris at all.

I have been to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, however, and the image of the site struck me as being remarkably similar.

As for satellites and seismographs, I think the Isreali's have a strong corner on that market in that part of the world. It will be interesting to see if this develops and what data from Europe shows.

[pvn]

[ QUOTE ]
So Al-Jazeera is reporting.....

[ QUOTE ]
The sources were quoted as saying that Israeli F-15 and F-16 jets provided cover for the US planes.

The sources added that each US plane carried one tactical nuclear weapon and that the site was hit by one bomb and was totally destroyed.



[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]

(total speculation and talking out of my ass)

Could be a daisy-cutter?

Then again, tactical nukes can be pretty small. It might be difficult to tell the difference between a tiny tac nuke and a daisy cutter from seismographs etc.

If Israeli jets really provided cover, I would guess that the delivery plane was something big and slow-moving, which would imply daisy-cutter over tac nuke, wouldn't it?

[Exsubmariner]

[ QUOTE ]
If Israeli jets really provided cover, I would guess that the delivery plane was something big and slow-moving, which would imply daisy-cutter over tac nuke, wouldn't it?


[/ QUOTE ]

A C-130 is needed to carry a MOAB.


That's pretty slow.

A B-52 is usually the kind of vehicle certified to carry tactical nukes. They are vulernable at low altitude, which would increase the accuracy.

I seem to recall an incident recently where a B-52 was carrying tactical nukes over US airspace in violation of a treaty.....

[ALawPoker]

Exsub, you have military experience. What are your thoughts on the likelihood?