no sane person wants nuclear war. let's say it again: no sane person wants nuclear war. that being said, peace through weakness never works. Never!

[basquebromance]

the United States has no built a nuclear warhead since 1992. let me say that again: the United States has no built a nuclear warhead since 1992

 

[fncceo]

In 1945, Japan was the most fanatic population that The West had ever encountered. Over 5,000 suicide attacks on Allied Forces between 1944 and 1945 alone.

The application of two, very small, nuclear devices, turned this fanatic, unrelenting enemy into democratic pacifists.

Emotional arguments not withstanding, nuclear weapons are demonstrably the most effective contribution to peace in human history.

 

[basquebromance]

In early-February 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) had informed Congress that China now has more launchers for Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) than the United States.

 

[fncceo]

In early-February 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) had informed Congress that China now has more launchers for Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) than the United States.

Shades of 1962... a Missile Gap!

 

[basquebromance]

President Trump’s withdrawal from the INF Treaty is dangerous and irresponsible. We should strengthen these treaties, not end them. We should invest in our children, our seniors, and our working families, not in an incredibly expensive arms race.

—SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS

 

[ThunderKiss1965]

In 1945, Japan was the most fanatic population that The West had ever encountered. Over 5,000 suicide attacks on Allied Forces between 1944 and 1945 alone.

The application of two, very small, nuclear devices, turned this fanatic, unrelenting enemy into democratic pacifists.

Emotional arguments not withstanding, nuclear weapons are demonstrably the most effective contribution to peace in human history.

I've tried to make the case that using the bombs against Japan was the less destructive way of ending the war in the Pacific. An invasion of the Japanese home islands would have been a bloodbath.

 

[basquebromance]

If you were born after 1990, you did not live during the Cold War. You did not experience a nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union. You did not “duck and cover” under your school desk in preparation for a Soviet nuclear attack. For the most part, you have not been living under the dark cloud of possible nuclear war like your parents and grandparents did. To be clear, the dark cloud of nuclear war never really went away, but after the Soviet Union collapsed, it receded to the fringes of public concern.

If you missed out on the first nuclear arms race and feel like you’ve been passed over, you’re in luck. It’s back.

In February 2019, the Trump administration announced the United States would withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a landmark agreement signed in 1987 by President Reagan and Soviet leader Gorbachev. Trump said, “Russia has not, unfortunately, honored the agreement, so we’re going to terminate the agreement. We’re going to pull out.”2

This historic pact was arguably the most important arms treaty ever signed by the United States and the Soviet Union. It marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War, removing and eliminating an entire category of nuclear and conventional missiles from installations across Europe. And it marked the end of an incredibly dangerous period in the arms race, when all of Europe was threatened with nuclear annihilation by the deployment of thousands of nuclear weapons in Europe.

It also kick-started a new era of trust and cooperation between the two Cold War antagonists. The treaty was based on the maxim often quoted by Reagan: “Trust but verify.” And indeed, this treaty entailed highly intrusive verification provisions. For example, the United States was allowed to base a contingent of on-site inspectors at the Russian missile factory at Votkinsk. These inspectors had extensive access to this once-secret missile facility, and the Russians had corresponding access to American missile factories. INF ushered in an era of transparency previously unimagined.

By withdrawing from the INF Treaty, it is not hyperbole to say that President Trump is ushering in a new Cold War. There have been other elements of US and Russian diplomacy that have moved us in this dangerous direction, but it seems to us that withdrawing from the INF Treaty was the most decisive.

Right after Trump’s announcement to withdraw from INF, Russian president Vladimir Putin said his country would follow suit: “Our answer will be symmetrical,” Putin said. “Our American partners declared that they will suspend their participation in the treaty, so we will suspend ours as well. They said they would start research and development, and we will do the same.”3 Of course, Putin was pleased to see Trump withdraw from INF, because Russia had already started building missiles prohibited by INF.

This is how an arms race starts.

 

[fncceo]

You did not “duck and cover” under your school desk in preparation for a Soviet nuclear attack.

Hardly a traumatic memory.

I remember it being a fun break from grammar and fractions.

 

[luiza]

If no sane person wants a nuclear war , OP , why are you addressing a topic to the insane?

 

[Dekster]

the United States has no built a nuclear warhead since 1992. let me say that again: the United States has no built a nuclear warhead since 1992

Are you certain we haven't built a warhead since 1992 or is it that we haven't tested one since 1992?

 

[basquebromance]

Are you certain we haven't built a warhead since 1992 or is it that we haven't tested one since 1992?

i am certain. Kennedy said it on the Senate floor. i can be corrected if i'm wrong, i mean, if he's wrong?

 

[luiza]

Would any old and rusty US bombs get through ( assumes the Aliens fail to stop them launching) ?

With Kinzhals moving at Mach 15 wouldn't the US fireworks get unloaded onto home territory ?

Not a funny matter but that scenario has a certain humorous irony.

 

[22lcidw]

An arms race would cost Russia much more than us from their economy. That may be the design of that issue.

 

[Dekster]

i am certain. Kennedy said it on the Senate floor. i can be corrected if i'm wrong, i mean, if he's wrong?

He also said we had last built plutonium pits in 2012 (though I think technically it was 2013). Pits are essentially the warhead. Anyway, the contracts for the LGM-35 were awarded a couple years ago and are scheduled to start replacing the Minuteman by the end of the decade.