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Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

theintercept.com

121–130 of 287 posts

Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#121
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Analog is the future. Steampunk nuke ops.

There is truth in this comment. Parts of the Russian government have reverted to using mechanical typewriters in lieu of computers, which are too susceptible to malicious hacking. Also, the US Navy started instructing enlisted seamen how to navigate at sea by the stars, in case GPS stops working.

> Also, the US Navy started instructing enlisted seamen how to navigate at sea by the stars, in case GPS stops working.

Is the threat model there that someone hacks the GPS signal, or that someone shoots down the GPS satellites? Lots of countries have ASATs these days.

Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#122
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If much of the world wants you dead (your words, not mine) then maybe it's time to look in a mirror. Edit: HN commenters are so thick. First of all GP says everyone hate Israel. So that must include you the reader of this comment. If you actually take that shit serious and then have a problem with my comment instead all I can say is that you should look in a mirror too. It's a fat lie. Not everyone hates Israel. Actu…

Israel is a democracy, has human rights, conducts elections, has free trade and great tech scene, currency is stable and they've got one of the best intelligence agencies. Israel's population is some 9 million which is half of Beijing city and little bit larger than SF Bay Area. Let's contrast it with fundamentalist Iranian islamic government, hell bent on developing nuclear weapons despite of non-proliferation treat…

Iran is a danger, but Saudi Arabia isn't?

Israel is occupying Palestine, mobility controlled by checkpoints and passes a la South Africa, and actively takes actions to ensure that non-jewish people do not gain a majority in the country.

Israel extends a "right of return" only to displaced people who are of a certain ethnicity.

Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#123
post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the US genuinely wanted to prevent Iranian weapons research, they wouldn't have simply walked away from the deal regulating it. The Trump administrations goals were complicated (and largely self-contradictory, and in most cases just poorly-informed), but they were not motivated by a practical desire to prevent proliferation. This is what everyone knew was going to happen. The interesting question is if "this" (an…

"they wouldn't have simply walked away from the deal regulating it." The deal did not 'regulate' Iran - is the argument being made. Many people feel that the oversight requirements were not stringent enough, and that Iran would effectively pursue nukes along with economic liberalism.

> Many people feel that the oversight requirements were not stringent enough

This might be true! But it was replaced with a situation where there are no requirements at all. And here we are. If you have a better policy idea you need to implement the better policy and not just take your toys and go home.

Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#124
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's be honest though, had Iran carried out such attack we would have called it a terrorist attack. I know you're about to go on about how awful Iranian regime is and they SAY they want Israel gone. But remember, Israel actually DOES carry out associations.

Terror attacks are against civilian targets - hence terrorizing civilians. An attack like this is military - which could be carried out by terrorists or a govt. The difference is important.

Are nuclear scientists civilians? Would it be acceptable for Iran to assassinate Israeli nuclear scientists in Israel?

Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds like how the Galactica survived in the 2003 BSG reboot. All of the critical systems (fire control, navigation, life support, etc.) were standalone & not networked. The baddies took out all of the new ships & defense networks with a computer virus, and the old Galactica couldn’t be hacked that way. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlestar_Galactica_(fictiona...

What does it even mean to “not be networked” and on a Galactic spaceship? I can imagine all of those systems need to communicate within their domain somehow, so they need to be connected. You could make a point that they have “not been connected to the internet”, but then it only takes one node to become a bridge between WAN and LAN and you are Pwned. It’s even worse now because there’s a tendency in software develop…

I think the various ship subsystems were isolated and they used analog voice telephones to request various ship operations from crew in those sub areas.

Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One nuke and Israel will just be gone, completely. lolwut? Absolute nonsense. A 60kt nuke, size of the largest India has ever tested, wouldn't even dose like half of Tel-Aviv's land area, let alone the whole country. https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/

This is a hilarious position to take. Israel should relax because losing 5% of its population (and another 5% due to later side effects), which includes most of its export and good portions of its youth, technically wouldn't destroy every part of the country.

Sorry, but I didn't say that. OP ludicrously exaggerated for rhetorical purposes the destructive power posed by a single nuke and I corrected it.

Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#127
post #38

So who takes responsibility when one of these attacks results in a meltdown? And why does Iran not have the right to build their own atomic bomb when the US, Russia or China have them and are building new ones? We ALL should be reducing nuclear weapons including the US. But sadly the US has not been taking a leadership role recently Edit: Nice to see that my global nuclear disarmament comment is getting downvoted. /s

Iran is a theocracy that has stated multiple times a desire to "Wipe X off the face of the earth", where X is another country / race / religion.

[deleted]

Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#128
post #51

> To mark the event and send a message to its negotiating partners, technicians at Natanz began to operate a small batch of IR-6 centrifuges as well. The majority of centrifuges at Natanz are a model known as IR-1, which is much less efficient at enriching uranium than the IR-6 design. The nuclear agreement signed with Iran in 2015 (known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA) limited it to using only I…

They probably want 1 bomb so they can join the elite group of countries that make big decisions at the UN.

Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#129
post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not without scheduled Instagram breaks you won't.

These are bold words coming from someone browsing HN during work hours (making massive timezone/ work schedule assumptions).

could just be speaking from experience, on their scheduled HN break

Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#130
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If much of the world wants you dead (your words, not mine) then maybe it's time to look in a mirror. Edit: HN commenters are so thick. First of all GP says everyone hate Israel. So that must include you the reader of this comment. If you actually take that shit serious and then have a problem with my comment instead all I can say is that you should look in a mirror too. It's a fat lie. Not everyone hates Israel. Actu…

Elaborate on what you think they should see in the mirror.

Ask GP. His words not mine. Or are you agreeing to his FUD that everyone, including you, hate Israel?
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