Do you think a nuclear weapon will be used in war or terrorism in our time?

by free2beme 55 Replies latest jw friends

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  Reefton Jack

  When the Soviet Union broke up in the early 1990s, a lot of sophisticated military equipment and ordinance was available for purchase - whether sold officially / legally or on the Black Market.

  You would have to ask how much control could have possibly been excercised over the security of their nuclear weapons during that time? Soviet nuclear weapons - including the lower yielding "tactical" ones - were deployed in countries which overnight became laws to themselves.

  Add to that the fact that a primitive yet effective atomic bomb (e.g. of the Hiroshima type) is not that difficult to make. The major obstacle used to be getting hold of the necessary weapons-grade uranium to make the device. But with the upheaval that went on after the collapse of the Soviet Union, how much of that material went missing?

  I am only surprised that a nuclear device has not already been used by terrorists. We all well remember a certain group of people that was deranged enough to crash an air-liner into a high-rise building in a terror attack. If they are crazy enough to do that, then they are crazy enough to use a nuclear device for the same purpose!

  Jack.
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  Double Edge

  Isreal won the six day war, because of a mistake made by their enemies. That mistake has long since been corrected, and they could not win a conventional war if it was held today, against all the surrounding countries.

  Of course, that was what the "surrounding countries" thought when they went up against Israel and LOST in 1948, 1967 and 1973. It was the Israeli Air Force that 'settled' Sadam building a nuclear plant in the early '80s. Unlike those previous conflicts, Egypt and Jordan wouldn't get involved.
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  eyeslice

  I have to agree with Gregor; a "dirty bomb". At some point this is going to happen in New York, London, Paris, Madrid or Tel Aviv. A sign of the times perhaps?
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  eyeslice

  I have to agree with Gregor; a "dirty bomb". At some point this is going to happen in New York, London, Paris, Madrid or Tel Aviv. A sign of the times perhaps?
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  Gregor

  free2b. Yes, Israel has nukes. But your implying that they would use them if they were losing a conventional war. (The mistake their enemies made in the 6 day war is that they were not a cohesive, functioning coalition and their military leaders were a bunch of cronies with no real military experience. Nothing's changed. That's why they resort to terrorism). Israel showed great restraint in the Gulf war when Saddam was lobbing huge missiles into their country, any one of which could have contained nerve gas. They stayed completely out of that conflict because the US didn't want to lose Saudi cooperation to clean it up themselves. I see the real worry as N. Korea, Iran and Pakistan. If they even twitch like they are going to use a nuke their countries will be turned into a puddle of glass, innocents and all.
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  metatron

  Some aspects of nuclear terrorism are vastly exaggerated. The further that the Soviet Union recedes into history, the less likely it is that their

  weapons will be used by terrorists. I am unaware of any hard proof that "suitcase bombs" ever really existed. Plutonium gets physically hot

  enough to degrade any weapon it is made into, so there is a shelf life factor here and it's long past, as the Russians admit.

  North Korea is all bluff and hot air. They know quite well that a missile launched at the US would be national suicide.

  Israel isn't worried about the Arabs. Syria is the only remaining opponent on their borders - and the Syrians aren't even close to matching

  them. Besides, Syria must worry about Turkey - who made them back down in quiet humiliation some years ago over Kurdish terrorism.

  Pakistan IS a problem - but keep in mind that they must contend with India and its nukes as well.

  The greatest long term danger is that technology advances enough to give just about anybody the destructive power that has been

  previously reserved for nations.

  metatron
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  JH

  More and more countries have the nuclear bomb, and since the break up of the soviet onion many years ago, it's possible that a handfull of small bombs or suitcase bombs have been sold on the black market to terrorists.

  I don't know how long they can be stored, but it would be a miracle that none of them goes off.

  Man used every weapon that he created up to now....so I say yes to your question.
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  free2beme

  It seems at times, that the main concern our country has these days is that a country will quickly develop the bomb and use it immediately upon making it operational. You know, basically what we did in WW2.
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  Midget-Sasquatch

  I heard that the Russian mob cheated Al Qaida out of millions of dollars by selling them essentially radio-active waste.They thought they were getting weapons grade material from the Soviet arsenal. No honour among thieves.

  I'm almost certain that dirty bombs are going to be used by terrorist cells (as soon as they possibly can do so) against both the US and Isreal.

  Something that Canadians should also consider: cuz the preparations may be being made right under our noses. Ex. Anyone who lives in Hamilton Ontario, probably remembers how a few years back there was the question of whether some radio-active waste from McMaster's nuclear reactor was unaccounted for....They denied it at first but then one leaked source said that there were very small amounts missing (they may well have been improperly handled by sloppy grad students - or not)....Another source said it was just small amounts of irradiated medical waste that was improperly accounted for...and another a fairly large amount of over 80 kilos....whatever the case, its good to keep a tighter lid on these materials.
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  Gregor

  You know, basically what we did in WW2.

  Free2B. If this was a stab at some kind of subtle, cheap shot, anti US statement about use of the A bomb in WWII, keep in mind there are a lot of us out here with an honest perspective, in historical context, of that event who consider your view as nothing more than feel good psuedo intellectual horsepucky.