Is Venezuela such a serious threat to the US that we need bunker buster bombs to protect us?

"Clearly, we need a new penetrating bomber with the range, payload, survivability and lethality to project our nation’s power.” - Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Michael Moseley, regarding the $88 million item tucked into the $196 billion emergency funding request for the wars in Iran and Iraq. The funds will be used to modify the B-2 stealth bomber so they can carry a 30,000 pound bomb, described as a super "bunker buster."

This must have to do with Iran. On October 24th, ABC News reported White House Bomber Request Leaves Some Wondering if U.S. is Preparing Action in Iran: “Tucked inside the White House's $196 billion emergency funding request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is an item that has some people wondering whether the administration is preparing for military action against Iran.

“The item: $88 million to modify B-2 stealth bombers so they can carry a newly developed 30,000-pound bomb called the massive ordnance penetrator, or, in military-speak, the MOP. The MOP is the the military's largest conventional bomb, a super 'bunker-buster' capable of destroying hardened targets deep underground. The one-line explanation for the request said it is in response to an ‘urgent operational need from theater commanders.’”

Wait a minute! The threat now appears to be Venezuela, according to The Nuclear Threat Initiative. In an article posted on October 24th, Growing Venezuelan Threat Justifies New U.S. Strategic Bomber, Air Force Officials Testify: “The Air Force has set 2018 as a target to complete the new aircraft, which could complement the current fleet of B-2 stealth bombers while replacing older B-52 and B-1 aircraft…. [scroll down the link to the article]

“The new design would continue to fill the role of a nuclear weapon-delivery vehicle that long-range bombers have served since the start of the Cold War, a Northrop Grumman official said last year (see GSN, Dec. 8, 2006).

I can’t tell if the B-2 stealth bombers are being modified to carry 30,000 pound conventional bombs or are going to be used “nuclear weapon-delivery vehicles.” Maybe both.

“Lest anyone think this reality is a long way off either in physical or temporal terms, Venezuela’s leaders have embarked that country on a path that might deny us access to that country or its neighbors in the near future,” they [Wynne and Moseley] said, referring to reports that Caracas has struck a deal to purchase surface-to-air missiles from Russia. 'Clearly, we need a new penetrating bomber with the range, payload, survivability and lethality to project our nation’s power.'"

[all emphases mine]

(photo: SSFireworks.com