Why Does America Have Nuclear Weapons?

November 14, 2015 | Vanity

[moose07]

A Sovereign nation full of lunatics who really wouldn’t mind being turned to glass after they have achieved their goal of removing Israel from the face of the Earth.
There is a time and a place for everything, it is knowing when that time has arrived and having the nuts to carry it through.
By not carrying it through you get the problems we have now.
One bomb in 1979 and this wouldn’t be happening.

[ilovesarah2012]

Your response made more sense than any others. Thanks.

ISIS will not stop and contrary to Obama, is growing and this Paris attack is a great recruiting event. Either we want to stop them or we don’t.

[ilovesarah2012]

My post is about what we will do to stop an enemy that has no rules and how far we would/should go to protect our own people and civilization in general.

I am not trying to learn about nuclear weapons. I am trying to learn about how we save the world

[TomGuy]

Primarily, a deterrent.

Secondarily, retaliation.

==

A half-century ago, Russia and the US basically agreed to stand and watch, as they have mutually shared destruction capabilities.

Radicals, jihadis, etc., are a different story. If, for example, a group set off a ‘dirty’ bomb or actual nuke inside the US, the Prez would be obligated to retaliate.

==

Something like 10 nations have nuclear capabilities. Some other groups are trying to acquire them. The more nations and groups who have them, the more likely they will be used.

Recall that early in the GWBush administration, India and Pakistan were at the brink of a nuclear war.

[ilovesarah2012]

We shouldn’t ever nuke anyone, especially muslim countries, because it makes them real mad and they fight back. We should just pull out of the ME and let them kill each other. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen, right?

[Kirkwood]

We're not fighting a war in which nuclear weapons are a deterrent. First, terrorists and their supporters actually want to die because dying in a jihad fulfills both their personal goal as well as the larger goal of contributing to the destruction of western culture. Second, these people are integrated within our own society. Do you want to drop a bomb on yourself? Dropping a nuke on some city in the Middle East does not wipe out any specific weapons production factories and factory workers, nor does it prevent terrorists from having access to weapons. The threat of a war in which nuclear weapons is a deterrent still exists, and that is why we keep them on hand.

[FourPeas]

Perhaps you should indicate it, then. Broadly open-ended questions invite the responder to take it many different ways.

[mulligan]

So you can asked stupid questions.

[ilovesarah2012]

You really have a thick skull. You and several others missed the point but I’m not surprised. Do you want to eliminate ISIS or their caliphate or not? How far should we go to do that? That is the question. And my “ignorance” had nothing to do with electing Obama, you moron. Look at my posts to see my feelings on him. No wonder ISIS isn’t afraid of us.

[ilovesarah2012]

Exactly.

[Flag_This]

Nukes aren’t the answer for our current situation. Sorry if you can’t grasp that.

[ilovesarah2012]

Perhaps we could deter those who are arming ISIS and financing them. Cut the head off of the snake.

[Kirkwood]

I'm not sure of what those stats are supposed to mean in this discussion. The world is very different from 70 years ago. Also we ended WWII using atomic weapons, which are like pea-shooters compared to nuclear weapons. Today one missile can carry all the destructive power of WWII combined.

[ilovesarah2012]

How do you know? What makes you right?

[ilovesarah2012]

Good. We’ll only need a couple of missiles then.

[sportutegrl]

You skipped a step involving the Rosenberg traitors.

[magellan]

"If we can have nuclear weapons, why can't Iran?"

They can. So could Nazi Germany. And that is the problem.

We could not allow Germany to get the atomic bomb during WWII. That is why we had a two-fold strategy: The Manhattan Project--get the atomic bomb before Germany; and mobilize the nation with overwhelming conventional force to attack Germany with thousands of conventional bombers, then invade Europe and conquer Germany.

Iran is led by an apocalyptic Shia Islamic theocracy. It seeks to accelerate their version of the apocalypse by starting a world war.

Why Iran's Top Leaders Believe That the End of Days Has Come

If Iran gets the atomic bomb, they are more likely to use it, than to simply possess it for deterrence. Also, if Iran gets the bomb, Saudi Arabia, a historic and theological enemy of Iran, will buy an atomic bomb (probably from Pakistan).

My fear is Iran will try to use a primitive atomic bomb to attack Israel from the Mediterranean Sea. Iran does not need a missile and a miniaturized atomic bomb. A primitive atomic bomb on cigarette boat with a suicide bomber driving the boat could be used against Tel Aviv or Haifa.

[alexander_busek]

Thank God they've never been needed

Except for, yuh know, twice.

Regards,

[Kirkwood]

There is no head to the snake.

I’m not sure why you keep trolling here instead of spending the time educating yourself.

[alexander_busek]

The MAD (Mutual Annihilation and Destruction) and treaties stopped it mostly.

"MAD" is an acronym for Mutually Assured Destruction.

Regards,