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Originally Posted by JohnR
Not talking occupation. Talking a nuke / chem / bio weapon going off in Manhattan. Different stuff. Different scenario. "Occupation" by foreign forces is not what I mean. Not having New Yorkers occupy New York is what I mean.
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In the mind of al Qaeda this would be a defensive strike, as they believe 9/11 was. It's not a sustained effort to influence but rather a lashing out. Granted, it would be terrible none the less.
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I'm talking rational people and not so rational people. for all of MAD in the bad old days (good?) the Russians were rational. They new first strike would be devastating to them and same for us. MAD against nuclear peers / near peer is not the problem. It's some crazy mullah or desperate despot or their proxy that is the problem.
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During the Cold War many seriously questioned that the Soviets were indeed rational people. I think Sting even wrote a song
But while there are crazies out there, I think a lot of the Islamic leadership is quite more rational than people might like to believe. Of course, they might want you to believe they are irrational, it works both ways
That being said, there's a combination of zealotry and available nuclear fuel which seems to be at a flash point right now, and is a huge problem.
All the more reason to praise Obama's efforts to contain the flow of nuclear materials going on...today.
-spence