Posted on 07/14/2006 7:25:04 AM PDT by Ultra Sonic 007
A Brief History of MADness
Mutually Assured Destruction.
MAD.
It is a doctrine that came into being during the Cold War. The superpowers on the world stage consisted of two nations: the United States of America and the Soviet Union.
The USA: a capitalist constitutional republic that believes that the government should serve the people, protecting the inalienable rights given to us by God.
The USSR: a union of countries ruled by communism that believes that the government dictates what is best for the people, and that the government determines the rights of the people.
Two polar opposites. Both were mortal enemies of each other.
And they both possessed nuclear weapons.
The power of Fat Man and Little Boy resonated far beyond Japan. The might of the atomic bomb resonated into the future, creating nightmare scenarios of an all-out nuclear war. This seemed ever more likely to occur once the Soviet Union revealed that it too possessed nuclear weapons in August of 1949. However, it wasn’t until delivery systems improved that the possibility could become fully realized. With the advent of ICBMs in 1959, the two superpowers could literally fire a missile at its enemy and blow the designated target to kingdom come.
Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (of the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations) was one of those who fully described what the concept of MAD meant. It was the idea that one side, should it instigate an event or action that would be deemed hostile to its enemy, would not be able to survive an ensuing attack. Both the United States and the Soviet Union possessed nuclear weapons far more powerful than the Little Boy that annihilated Hiroshima or the Fat Man that crushed Nagasaki (and, along with it, Japan’s will to continue fighting in World War II). Mutually Assured Destruction meant that the Soviet Union could not attempt a nuclear attack on the US without risking a deadly reprisal…and vice-versa. The fears of such an occurrence were probably never closer to reality than they were during the infamous Cuban Missile Crisis.
The two superpowers were at a standstill; they could not fight each other directly. Doing so would risk the destruction of each other in a nuclear holocaust. That’s why, during the Cold War, the armed forces of the United States and its ideological allies fought against the ‘Red’ communists (or, as they were so lovingly referred to, commies. I think it fits.) in proxy wars. The most famous of these proxy wars is, most likely, the Vietnam War. But there were many others. The Korean War. Nicaragua. The Ogaden War, fought between Soviet-backed Ethiopia and the US-backed Somalia. Among others.
Eventually, however, the might of the United States and the freedoms and liberties it supported were too great for the iron-fisted Soviet Union to withstand. Eventually, the Iron Curtain fell, and the United States remained the world’s only superpower. And yet, the concept of MAD still lingered in people’s minds, nearly as much as those old ‘duck and cover’ videos (which seem quite silly in hindsight…but back in the days where fear of an atomic holocaust was high, I suppose anything to lessen the paranoia and fear was a good thing.). The United States may have remained as the world’s only superpower, but nuclear weapons continued to spread to other nations. Fortunately (for the most part), they are what you would call ‘sane’ nations; they knew the consequences of what would happen should they try and instigate a possible nuclear war. And be honest; everyone knows the French don’t have the guts to do such a thing anyway.
Humor aside…there is something that needs to be learned. Something that needs to be shouted across the airwaves and across the world.
A country that is under Islamic rule should never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon. Because if that happens, then MAD will no longer apply.
MADness of a Madman
Let’s take a look at the President of Iran.
His name is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Now, his crazed lunacy is well-documented. He is into anti-Semitism, like most (if not all) of the Muslims in the Middle East. It is also well-known that he would like for Israel to be destroyed…or “wiped off the map”, as the saying went. He also denies that the Holocaust had ever happened. His regime is also one that sponsors terrorism. But you knew that. Clearly, this is not a stable individual.
And this is why his pursuit of nuclear technology is so frightening.
When you think about it, Iran possessing a nuclear weapon would mean MAD goes right out the window. At least, in the way we think about it. The reason is because that these people are of a mindset that what they are doing is the work of Allah. They would gladly die to wipe out we ‘infidels’. This is no more evident than with the continuous suicide bombings that occur throughout the Middle East on a daily basis.
Make sure you understand that: these are people who will gladly blow themselves up JUST to kill as many people as possible. They expect to die, their only hope being to take as many with them as they can.
Think about that mentality. Now think about how that mentality is shared by millions of people.
Now do you understand?
An Islamic nation with nuclear weaponry is a nation willing to use those nuclear weapons, consequences be damned. Suicide bombings have continued on, Oslo Accords be damned. A nation of those willing – and EAGER – to die for the elimination of their enemies is a nation with nothing to lose…and, or so they (wrongly) believe, everything to gain.
That is why peace with these people will not be possible. Those who follow the Qur’an to the letter do not care about reprisals. It is only enough to take out the ‘infidels’. As long as they can do that, nothing else matters to them. Look at these passages for a first-hand look.
Qur’an Verse 8:12:“When your Lord revealed to the angels: I am with you, therefore make firm those who believe. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them.”
Qur’an Verse 9:5:“But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleager them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem.”
Sayed Mohammed Musawi, head of the World Islamic League in London, insists, “there should be a clear distinction between the suicide bombing of those who are trying to defend themselves from occupiers, which is something different from those who kill civilians, which is a big crime.”
Really? So all the suicide bombings that killed Jews in Israel were out of ‘self-defense’? Sure. I believe you.
See the thought processes of these people?
They will do whatever it takes to kill us.
The Soviet Union may have been our mortal enemy for decades, but they acted out of self-preservation. They wanted to survive long enough to come out on top. They wanted to be the lone superpower in the world, a world ruled by communism. These utter nutbags (or lunatics, crazies, madmen, insert-favorite-insult-here) want a world ruled by Islam…but the difference is that they don’t care for self-preservation. They don’t care if they die. That is why Mutually Assured Destruction does not scare them.
Because to them, it would be even BETTER to die. After all, that makes them martyrs. Martyrdom is their equivalent of the Holy Grail…but with 72 virgins. They would be happy, nay, ECSTATIC, to die in a nuclear war that they start.
The only logical solution is to keep nuclear weapons out of their hands.
Because if they get their hands on them, kiss Israel goodbye. Along with the rest of the ‘infidels’. Because they don’t care if they get blown up in the process. After all, they blow themselves up everyday; why would they be afraid of letting someone else do the job for them?
Ping.
MAD is out the windows not becasue Iran's President and the jihadis are nuts, but because if Iran attacked the US with a nuke, the Assured Destruction would not be Mutual.
MAD is also out the window because the US is fast becoming like the USSR of old: the government decides the rights of the people.
The Soviets were not suicidal, and neither were we. This is the basis of MAD. This no longer applies when suicide is the OBJECT of one of the constituents of the policy. War is inevitable.........
MAD doesn't work vis-a-vis Iran. But it can if you face reality. The reality is this, without Russia and China Iran is powerless. Russia and China are hellbent on either engaging us in open war or weakening us by any means possible, you know, the Cold War Part Duex. OK, fine, its time to stop pussy footing around with these two and call it like it is. Tell China and Russia that since they want a new Cold War you will give them one.
If Iran is their client state they must control it. How about this for starters if Iran or North Korea for that matter launches an attack directly or indirectly against the U.S. or its allies, it will be regarded as a DIRECT attack upon the U.S. by Russia and/or China. If that attack is nuclear, then Russia and China are basically enabling Iran to end the world.
See how fun it is for Russia and China then. If Putin wants to re-start the Cold War, I suggest that he remember that at least the old Soviet Union had an iron fisted control over its client states.
"Tell China and Russia that since they want a new Cold War you will give them one. "
Silly person... then what would we sell at WalMart?
There are always other options for cheap goods, always. Global strategy is fluid. Nixon played the China card, Bush can play the Vietnam card. This notion that China is the only country capable of producing cheap goods is silly. As a matter of fact, talk about MAD China would be more devastated than us if we were to revoke MFN status and shift our trade to elsehwere.
"There are always other options for cheap goods, always. "
That's a swing and a miss....
Much of the goods coming out of China are either coming from American owned factories, or joint ventures with American companies. Given that lobbies control our government, you have a better chance of winning your state lotto than seeing our government take an aggressive stance with China.
Nice post, son.
Sounds like the Christian thing to do would be to help our neighbor achieve his goal.
After all, martydumb is the ONLY* way they can get into heaven. Well that and something about kissing a turd colored rock in the middle of the desert might maybe improve their chances of eternal bliss.
So lets send muuhhamhead (Pigs be inseminating him) to his reward, before he sends us to ours!!!
All should be reminded that there are over one billion Muslims on the planet, and that tomorrow there can be six hundred million!!
Kind of like expecting government to do anything about oil prices and financing of terrorists with US dollars paid for fuels.
While the most radical in Iran would sacrifice their country to further Islam, I doubt many military leaders would willingly commit nuclear suicide. The bomb is more important to the Iranians as a blackmail weapon than in actual use. North Korea is another case and I would worry that the robot like thinking cultivated for 50+ years by the "Dear Leader" could lead to launching a nuclear weapon at Japan or the US or a massive artillary attack on Seoul.
Yet we almost DID face MAD without even knowing about it. The incident didn't come to light for 15 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov
Stanislav Yefgrafovich Petrov (Russian: Ñòàíèñëàâ Åâãðàôîâè÷ Ïåòðîâ) (born c. 1939) is a retired Russian Strategic Rocket Forces colonel who, on September 26, 1983, averted a potential nuclear war by refusing to believe that the United States had launched missiles against the USSR, despite the indications given by his computerized early warning systems. The Soviet computer reports were later shown to have been in error, and Petrov is credited with preventing World War III and the devastation of much of the Earth by nuclear weapons. Because of military secrecy and international policy, Petrov's actions were kept secret until 1998.This incident is one of several high-risk decisions that were made by strategic nuclear forces over the years of the Cold War, often at the last minute, by administrative personnel far from the chain of command.
Here's a page about Petrov.
If I had to grade this paper in my English class, you'd receive an A+ for cogent delivery, clear writing, a tightly organized argument, and an ability to make history come alive in the mind of the reader. Excellent work. Thanks for posting this.
I've been thinking the same thoughts about Islamofascism since reading Huntington's book "The Clash of Civilizations." An all-out nuclear war seems to be the goal of these people, not something to be avoided. I would have never believed at some point in my life to consider the Communists sane or logical, but your argument is sound. I could see the capitals of Europe wiped out in a nuclear exchange and armies of Moslems marching north and west to claim the terrority even as those cities burned.
On the other hand, I also have this vision: after several cities in the United States are nuked, the president comes out and says that he's very sad about Mecca and Medina turned into glassy craters in the desert, but he couldn't do anything to stop that captain in a submarine from disobeying orders and acting in an irrational manner. Heh heh heh.
Given the current and prevailing possibility of another Cuban Missile Crisis 2.0 taking place in Ukraine, does the world need to wake up concerning MAD not still being applicable?
Needless to say, this particular idea from a post over 16 years old is far less refined than how I would put it now.
Given that it explicitly dealt with the matter of nuclear weapons vis-a-vis radical Islam (Ahmadinejad-era Iran, specifically), the current situation with Russia/Ukraine is not applicable.
As far as Russia is concerned, MAD is still very much a reality.
Understood, just asking questions.
Appreciate your thoughts.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.