The Case for Nuclear Weapons in Iraq

[GRANGER]

The U.S. decision to employ nuclear weapons against Japan at the end of World War II was justified on two grounds: 1. It would save American lives. 2. It would shorten the war.

[GRANGER]

Well?

[Keith in Iowa]

Well what?

Stupid idea.

[Lunatic Fringe]

It was used to save the lives that would have been lost in an invasion. We've already invaded Iraq.

[NYTexan]

Your kidding, right?

The political ramifications would be enormous!


Our snipers are demoralizing them even now.

[xm177e2]

What exactly would we be nuking? Whole cities? That's a stupid idea. Is this post a troll?

[GRANGER]

We no longer have the will to win. We will waste American lives and treasure rather than offend those who have vowed to destroy us. The U.S. in decline, and You are There.

[TheOldRepublic]

I am afraid that we will have to suffer a nuclear attack of some kind on one of our cities in order for us to do that.

[baltodog]

Nuclear weapons are only for retaliation of a mass-destruct strike against us, or a pre-emptive strike to prevent a KNOWN, IMMENENT mass-destruct strike.

I'm an old school Titan II Missileer...the US has a 1st Strike policy based on posture, defcon, and SIOP.

I can tell you this: When we launch, it will be at a time when all hope for mankind is lost.

Don't make light of nukes...

[GRANGER]

Fallujah and Najaf would probably be enough. They are small towns compared to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[Senator Pardek]

There's moronic posts.
There's moronic posts in the form of mindless vanities.
And there's also this - it defies categorization for even the usually erudite ol' Pardek.

[GRANGER]

The hope for mankind is lost when you wake up to the call to prayer.

[meenie]

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". A preemptive nuke attack on Iraq would do _______ according to scripture and human philosophy passed down through the ages?

[victoryatallcosts]

Frankly, I'm not even sure if there would be city-for-city nuclear retalliation in that event.

Still, I think nuclear weapons should be used in the war at some point to ensure everyone understands the seriousness of the war, but I just don't see a target at the moment.

Tora Bora would have been the perfect place and time. Now, perhaps against the DPRK or (maybe) we could use them against one of those al-Qaeda "terror ships" on the grounds that it contains bioweapons which can't be allowed to spill into the sea. After all, we couldn't be proven wrong afterwards.

[PISANO]

Saving a MILLION lives is quite different from the situation in IRAQ where we have lost 500 in combat.

[MNJohnnie]

We no longer have the will to win. We will waste American lives and treasure rather than offend those who have vowed to destroy us. The U.S. in decline, and You are There.

Turn off the Hard Right ranters like Savage,Granger. Things are going just fine in Iraq. Read this article from Lt. Col North who is ACTUALLY on the ground there as opposed to the deluded ranting of uninformed, unqualified Talk Radio hosts.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ollienorth/on20040416.shtml

[NYTexan]

If you think that by setting an example of at minimum a tactical nuke or much more a theater device explosion will win the hearts and minds of the Innocent people we didn't hit, then you mind has been found wanting.

Nukes are a last resort weapon! It's not called MAD for nothing!

[xm177e2]

Najaf? You really are ignorant or insane. That's a holy Shi'ite city. Most Shi'a there don't even support Sadr. It would be like nuking Bethlehem because 5% of the Christians there were causing us problems. It would cause 99% of the Muslims in the world to rise up against us, as well as millions of other sympathizers, who would all be willing to carry out violent attacks. There would be riots here in the US, and it would almost certainly result in a John Kerry presidency. Iraqis would all work together to drive us out before we nuked any of their other cities. We would lose almost all of our international allies (especially the UK).

America would spiral into one of two extremes: right-wing isolationism (with crippling effect on our economy) or left-wing submissiveness (with John Kerry handing over national sovereignty to the UN).

Aside from that, though, it's a GREAT plan.

[baltodog]

huh?....

[xm177e2]

The hope for mankind is lost when you wake up to the call to prayer.

huh?....

I think he means the Muslim call to prayer. He's saying we should nuke them now because otherwise, all hope for mankind will be lost. It's not at all in touch with reality.

[TheOldRepublic]

Agreed. I think we could get a way with a small theater nuclear weapon in a remote place where large quantities of terrorists and their leaders are hold up. Wouldn't that send a very powerful message to other potential ner-do-wells?