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**Big A** · 05-05-2010, 12:52 PM

I think we should push for the US and Russia to be nuke free. Anyone is welcome to try to pry the nukes from our cold irradiated hands. The logic fails. You dont threaten a Nuclear state that has global reach. Period.

It might be time for a celebration -- here's an issue where we are absolutely in complete agreement. For now, nukes are the ultimate deterrent and trump card. I've already said that the logic behind the argument that the US could pressure Israel to give up its nukes is... well... utterly non-existent. The primary purpose of the US relationship is to keep Israel secure. The moment the US begins to challenge Israel's ultimate instrument of security - its nukes - the US relationship is undermined. Nothing that they say or offer can possibly make it desirable for Israel to give up its nukes.

But it should be said that conceivably there may come a time when we no longer need them, since we are able to cripple Israel's neighbours without too much difficulty conventionally. Even today, a single squadron of Israeli F-16s could probably bring Egypt to its knees by bombing the Aswan Dam, which would be just as devastating as a nuke. The Jordanian economy relies on international confidence for business/banking/services which in itself is a deterrent to war with Israel, compounded by a fragile monarchy which Israel could easily undermine. Lebanon can be reduced to civil war without much effort. Syria is more problematic because it doesn't have an easy single target that would ruin the country, but a bombing campaign targeting infrastructure, especially dams, would severely harm agriculture and create problems for its growing population in the long run.

And the advantage of targeting dams is that it would also create political issues with their neighbours if they ever tried to rebuild them, e.g. Iraq would object to Syria rebuilding its dam on the Euphrates, the Nile states would object to (whatever is left of) Egypt rebuilding the Aswan dam, and so on.

05-05-2010, 12:52 PM	#9
Big A Join Date Oct 2005 Age 51 Posts 4,148 Administrator	I think we should push for the US and Russia to be nuke free. Anyone is welcome to try to pry the nukes from our cold irradiated hands. The logic fails. You dont threaten a Nuclear state that has global reach. Period. It might be time for a celebration -- here's an issue where we are absolutely in complete agreement. For now, nukes are the ultimate deterrent and trump card. I've already said that the logic behind the argument that the US could pressure Israel to give up its nukes is... well... utterly non-existent. The primary purpose of the US relationship is to keep Israel secure. The moment the US begins to challenge Israel's ultimate instrument of security - its nukes - the US relationship is undermined. Nothing that they say or offer can possibly make it desirable for Israel to give up its nukes. But it should be said that conceivably there may come a time when we no longer need them, since we are able to cripple Israel's neighbours without too much difficulty conventionally. Even today, a single squadron of Israeli F-16s could probably bring Egypt to its knees by bombing the Aswan Dam, which would be just as devastating as a nuke. The Jordanian economy relies on international confidence for business/banking/services which in itself is a deterrent to war with Israel, compounded by a fragile monarchy which Israel could easily undermine. Lebanon can be reduced to civil war without much effort. Syria is more problematic because it doesn't have an easy single target that would ruin the country, but a bombing campaign targeting infrastructure, especially dams, would severely harm agriculture and create problems for its growing population in the long run. And the advantage of targeting dams is that it would also create political issues with their neighbours if they ever tried to rebuild them, e.g. Iraq would object to Syria rebuilding its dam on the Euphrates, the Nile states would object to (whatever is left of) Egypt rebuilding the Aswan dam, and so on.
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