Christopher Brownfield

Christopher Brownfield describes his early life in the Navy and how he, a submariner, ended up in Iraq. In My Nuclear Family: Coming of Age in America’s Twenty-first Century Military, he writes about his years serving on a nuclear submarine, his ship’s secret missions in the global war on terror, and why his faith in the entire operation began to erode. He also describes working with General Petraeus and developing plans for energy efficiency, development, and counterinsurgency in Iraq.

BP hit another bump in the road in its attempts to the cap the oil leak when a saw got suck in a riser pipe on Wednesday. This setback comes after many failed attempts to plug the well, including the first containment dome, the "top kill" approach and the "junk shot" technique. The current operation, known as the Lower Marine Riser Package, could capture most of the leaking oil but could allow for some to continue to escape along the margins of the apparatus.

With so many failed attempts, some are calling for a radical last-measure solution: using a nuclear explosive to destroy the well and stop the leak. The option would be politically and environmentally risky, but it may not be entirely out of the question. President Obama has already dispatched a team of five nuclear physicists to the Gulf, though there have been no mentions of considering a nuclear approach.