March 17, 2013
-
Nuclear War?
Things seem to be getting interesting. The following countries currently have, or are on the brink of having nuclear weapons: US, UK, France, Russia, Israel, China, India, Pakistan, and coming on line: Iran and North Korea. The last two or three of those mentioned have been pretty aggressive toward their neighbors.
Under what conditions do you belive a country would be justified in waging nuclear war? Why….or why not?
Comments (2)
While Iran has a nuclear program, it is not a hostile one. A quick review (written during the most recent Republican primaries) is here:
http://virtus1.xanga.com/758034417/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-bomb/
All US intelligence agencies (as reported in the National Intelligence Estimate) and the IAEA report that Iran has not had an active program since Bush’s administration in the early 1990s. When these agencies say “non verification” they mean that there is no evidence and these agencies are looking for evidence very thoroughly. Unfortunately, US “news” outlets seem only to read press releases from pro AIPAC sources or from government employees who are deeply in the pocket of defense contractors.
Finally, North Korea has had no workable solution for their technical problems and are great at producing really big duds. The science is in…the scariest boogie man is the creepy war monger in the White House.
As it is, nuclear war is indiscriminate warfare targeting civilians which by the long established rules of Casus Belli is a crime against humanity.
Historically, Iran has not mounted an invasion of its neighbors since the late 18th century (in their last war, Saddam’s Iraq attacked Iran.
That does not mean, however, that Iran does not want to establish mid-East hegemony, and sees nuclear bomb capability as the fastest way to do this. Also Iranian political-religious politics are an important part of the mix.
North Korea, on the other hand, is a more serious threat – It’s over-aged, under experienced generals have propped up a 28-year-old nitwit who believes their propaganda and is convinced that all of Korea is rightfully his. They have a tough army – but probably could not depend on Chinese support this time. They have fired off a nuclear device and successfully launched two-stage rockets. They apparently got their know-how from Pakistan – which presents other problems for everybody.
It’s amazing that the world has not seen nuclear war in the past 68 years, considering the current members of the “nuclear club”
The real danger is that a nuclear-armed country, such as Israel, may feel threatened and see nuclear warfare as its only solution.