Opinions on Plugging Oil Leak

I obviously don't know what I'm talking about, so you might just consider passing this entry in my blog and wait for a more informed opinion at a future date. But with this catastrophic continuing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico going on for more than five weeks and with no end in sight, I have a suggestion to end it.

A few days ago I was chatting with a buddy at work when the topic came up and I said, "Why not just nuke it?" That would surely seal the breach and end the leak. And if the possibility of radiation from a nuclear explosion bothers some people, then why why detonate the most powerful conventional bombs (of the order of those dropped in late 2001 while fighting Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan)? I think the results would be the same.

Anyway, my pal thought I had a good idea, although I felt a little bit like Archie Bunker spouting off about something I knew little about. Then, just a couple of days later on one of my rare viewings of Fox News Channel, somebody who claimed to have credentials in the area posed the same solution, claiming that the Soviet Union had bombed their own undersea oil lines several times in the past to seal them. But this "expert" stated that he doubted BP would ever consider this a viable possibility, for doing so would destroy their investment and end their chances of making money from the drill as it is. How cynical! But maybe true...

Anyway, suppose that whatever high-tech, intricate solution that BP tries to stop the leak fails and the government has to resort to a bombing of the ocean floor. And further suppose that this is successful in stopping the spill. Can you imagine the political repercussions coming from this? After all, that would mean that this unprecedented environmental disaster could have been prevented at the start from assertive, bold government intervention and that the current leadership let us down and maybe will let us down in the future. A gnawing, unpleasant feeling I have...