Andy9o8 2
Dozens killed hundreds injured in Indian terrorist attacks Americans & Brits being hunted tonight
By
Skyrad, in Speakers Corner
Squeak 17
QuoteBut it does make you think. Suppose somehow those same terrorists got a hold of some nuclear material and used it against India. You think it would be so easy to show restraint then when evidence points to Pakistan? Something like that could end up as a full fledged nuclear war.
In this case, I doubt if the Pakistani government itself was involved but the ISI is another matter.
I agree. In my mind, the next use of a nuclear weapon in anger - and it's just a matter of time - is more likely than not to be in the India-Pakistan theater.
it doesn't make me think that at all
the same could have easily been said anytime over that last 50 years from any nuclear nation.
As for someone else using a a nuke in anger.. Well why should you Yanks be the only ones to party with them. Seems only fair to share the fun.
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Andy9o8 2
QuoteI agree. In my mind, the next use of a nuclear weapon in anger - and it's just a matter of time - is more likely than not to be in the India-Pakistan theater.
it doesn't make me think that at all
the same could have easily been said anytime over that last 50 years from any nuclear nation.
I respectfully disagree. In sum, nuclear war between the US & the USSR during the Cold War was averted by each side's belief in/recognition of the Mutual Assured Destruction principle. China was very unlikely to go nuclear against anyone after they first acquired nukes. Israel was always highly unlikely to use their nukes unless their destruction was virtually imminent absent their use. And who the hell was Brazil ever likely to nuke? India/Pakistan aside, that's pretty much it as far as the Nuclear Club over the past few decades goes.
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By the way, nuclear war during the Cold War almost did occur, and we were a lot closer to it than we realized at the time. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the presumption that none of the nuclear weapons that had been placed in Cuba were operational yet led JFK's top military brass to advise him to use air strikes and a land invasion of Cuba. As we know, JFK didn't follow that advice, but he was sorely tempted to. But according to inside information declassified by the Russians after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, a few nuclear weapons already were operational, and had an invasion been launched, they likely would have been used against US forces.
I am not sure I follow your argument. You’re more worried about third world governments using nukes more so than the old school super powers? Are those in the India and Pakistan less human and caring, or more angry and spiteful than that of the NATO and the old Soviet Bloc? I should think not, but I have been wrong about many things before.
If there is a concern I would have it would be more of the destabilization of the former Soviet states and the possibility of a high yield device falling into bad hands via that route. I don’t see another government using a nuke again in anger.
I don’t know if it is really just a matter of time…
I recall thoughts like that when I was a little rug rat in Kindergarten and first grade… we would drill for nuclear attack; don’t look at the light, duck and cover under the desk and wait for the next announcement (guess I am getting old to remember this).
Point is, we seemed to be on the brink of nuclear war for decades and it didn’t come to pass. I just can’t believe that the fingers on the buttons of those arsenals would really press the “go” button.
I don't worry about global nuclear war at the hands of superpowers (the fear during the Cold War) nearly as much as I worry about regional nuclear war at the hands of non-superpowers. The reason I say it's only a matter of time is basic logic: over time, most technology that does not become completely obsolete tends to proliferate throughout the world. It also often tends to miniaturize in physical size over time. Applying those general principles (especially the first one) to nuclear weapons technology, it is not unreasonable to make the projection that further usage is likely to eventually occur.
By the way, nuclear war during the Cold War almost did occur, and we were a lot closer to it than we realized at the time. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the presumption that none of the nuclear weapons that had been placed in Cuba were operational yet led JFK's top military brass to advise him to use air strikes and a land invasion of Cuba. As we know, JFK didn't follow that advice, but he was sorely tempted to. But according to inside information declassified by the Russians after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, a few nuclear weapons already were operational, and had an invasion been launched, they likely would have been used against US forces.