Reply #86: MAD doesn't have as good a history as you suggest [View All]

for one thing, as a concept it's only about 60 years old. It may have worked so far, but given the nature of human beings, that's no reason to suppose that it will continue to work, especially as more and more countries have nuclear capacity. The fate of entire nations depends on the fallible judgment of ordinary people. There have already been two near misses, with the Cuban missile crisis and then more recently between India and Pakistan and none of the people considering using the weapons could have labelled a 'madman'. What's especially depressing, NATO commanders have basically advocated the use of a nuclear first strike to halt nuclear proliferation (I would guess the irony is lost on them). See this article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/22/nato.nuclear

There is also a lot of misconception over Ahmadinejad's actual power in the Iranian government. The real power there is held by the mullahs, who have repeatedly stated they are against the use of nuclear weapons. I'm not naive enough to believe that any leader is going to be completely honest about their intentions, but on the other hand I have seen exactly zero indication that they have any warlike intentions against Israel. If Israel bombs the nuclear power plants they are trying to build, though, that would change very quickly.

I can understand your feelings about the bombing of Japan, but if you read the quotes at this link you might rethink a little:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Articles/Brian_Mitchell/hiroshima_reason.htm

I just wish our leaders would grow up and stop chest-thumping, and consider the ramifications of their words for a change.