No nuclear war will ever happen, sorry to disappoint everybody.

[Deja Q]

Bush is backing the China/Iran agreement re: Iran's nuclear desires.

Given how our manufacturing, engineering, and information-technology infrastructure is going over there, EVERY SINGLE WEB-BASED ARTICLE REGARDING NUCLEAR WAR OVER OIL RESOURCES IS BOGUS.

Don't forget how we're teaching Chinese - so we can ship our brightest over there to be exploited and leave the rest here to slowly rot. ((Assuming China's government would allow it, of course - is it "just business" to them to bring in loads of outsiders?))

I still expect something very nasty to happen to America and Americans, if they really are re-engineering things to build up the East while dismantling the West. We are redundant. Too expensive. Too independent. Too inquisitive. Too invidualistic. Too (anything they used to say we ought to be).

:tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat:

Still, it's all like a game of chess when combined with poker.

[MakeItSo]

1. It's not an agreement, it's a unilateral proposal by Russia

Iran has no real incentive to sign on. It knows the US is a paper tiger at this point, overstretched to the breaking point in Iraq. Iran will probably keep upping the ante so it can squeeze as much as possible out of the West.

[Deja Q]

4. Good point.

Good point...

[stop the bleeding]

9. and last I heard Iran was not really down with the latest proposal from

Russia, however Iran said that they would still keep trying.


article here:

Iran terms Russian proposal insufficient

[NoPasaran]

2. Crap

Now what am I going to do with these iodine tablets?

[patrice]

3. Invest in plastic sheeting and duct tape.

[BushOut06]

5. Nuclear terrorism will happen in the US - someday, somewhere

There are simply too many groups out there who hate us for one reason or another. A nuclear detonation would the most powerful statement a group could possibly make. Plus, as more and more countries wind up with nuclear weapons, it's inevitable that one or two will wind up in terrorist hands. Honestly, I'm far more worried about Pakistan's nukes falling into the hands of militants. Whatever Iran is doing, they are still years away from possessing nukes. Pakistan has them now, and there are already portions of that country that they no longer control.

I've often said that if you really wanted to cause the most casualties possible, the best route is bio-terrorism. But not with something exotic like anthrax, Ebola, etc. Those would be too easy to detect and although would kill quite a few, could probably be quaranteed in time. Simply develop a more lethal, virulent version of the flu virus (kind of like the avian flu), and let it loose in several metropolitan areas around the country. But since terrorism is more about making a statement, I don't really see that happening (or is it?)

[MakeItSo]

6. North Korea is said to have as many as 20 nuclear bombs

"As of February 2005 Defense Intelligence Agency analysts were reported to believe that North Korea may already have produced as many as 12 to 15 nuclear weapons. This would imply that by the end of 2004 North Korea had produced somewhere between four and eight uranium bombs . The DIA's estimate was at the high end of an intelligence community-wide assessment of North Korea's nuclear arsenal completed in early 2005. The CIA lowballed the estimate at two to three bombs, which would suggest an assessment that the DPRK either had not reprocessed a significant amount of plutonium from the 8,000 spent fuel rods removed from storage in early 2003, or had not fabricated a significant number of weapons from whatever amount of plutonium had been reprocessed. The Department of Energy's analysis put North Korea's stockpile somewhere in between, which would be consistent with the roughly 7 or 8 plutonium bombs that could be produced from all existing plutonium stocks, with no uranium bombs.

If one assumes that the DPRK produced sufficient plutonium for eight bombs, and expended one of these bombs in a test in Pakistan in 1998, then as of 2005 their plutonium bomb inventory would be seven weapons. Taking the mid-point of the DIA's estimate of between four and eight uranium bombs, the plausible uranium bomb stockpile as of early 2005 would be six weapons, increasing at a rate of one bomb every two months. Thus the early 2005 stockpile would be 13 weapons, growing to about 20 weapons by the end of the year."

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/dprk/nuke.htm



They also are said to have missiles with a range of up to 9,000 km.


"The Taep’o-dong 2’s major use is as a weapon of international blackmail. Easily equipped with a nuclear weapon, it is the first direct threat to the United States from North Korea. It will likely be used as a threat of nuclear escalation in response to any American intervention during a second Korean war. Just as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Lt. Gen. Xiong Guang Kai stated that Americans “care more about Los Angeles than they do Tai Pei,” North Korea will likely rely on American unwillingness to lose cities rather than withdraw from Korea. In addition, it will likely be used to blackmail wealthier countries for energy and food, similar to how the North Korean nuclear program has been used. It is also a major income generator as an item for export."

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/dprk/nuke.htm

[BushOut06]

7. Not sure what to make of North Korea

I think for the most part, their rhetoric is nothing more than posturing to extort money and aid from the West. The only thing that worries me is that someday they might talk themselves into a corner where they feel they have no alternative but to act out or lose face. Also, if their Dear Leader believed that he didn't have much time left, that North Korea was on its last legs, he might order an invasion of South Korea as a last-ditch effort. Most military experts believe that the US and South Korea could eventually win a war (of course this was pre-Iraq), but that we would sustain very high casualty figures in the process.

I think someday the Koreas will be reunited, and it will happen peacefully.

[oneighty]

11. Sure

We will kick ass just like last time.

180

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[stop the bleeding]

10. Are there people here HOPING for a nuclear war? Why would they be

disappointed - seems like to me people in their right mind would be relieved.

[Swamp Rat]

12. I wish I felt as sure as do you.

:hide:

[girl gone mad]

13. teaching Chinese?

In public schools?

It won't do any good. Most students can't even learn proper Spanish with years of public school instruction. Mandarin Chinese is a much more difficult language, nevermind the fact that the various dialects can be as different as German and French.

I really don't see a rash of American students fluent in Chinese any time soon.