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  1. #1
    Come to daddy Member Geoffrey S's Avatar
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    Default Re: Indian Nuclear Program

    Quote Originally Posted by Alexander the Pretty Good
    Plus, rationality doesn't seem to afflict our friends in North Korea. If that regime was about to be overthrown, I could see them launching nuclear weapons just for the fun of it, to take a bunch of people with them.

    Western Democracies tend not to fall into that mindset.
    Much as I dislike countries such as North Korea, it makes no sense to accuse them of such a lack of rationality. If the people in charge were so irrational I'd find it hard to imagine them staying in power for so long. Were such a strike to happen, it would be coldly calculated murder, not irrational.

    Stating that Western democracies don't fall in that mindset is absurd. Whereas North Korea is constantly facing the threat of a large military force, having it's leadership removed as a consequence, and essentially have their back to the wall, no western nation is in that situation (aside from perhaps Israel). Were say France in such a situation I could well imagine nukes being used as a threat, and perhaps also used.
    Quote Originally Posted by Alexander the Pretty Good
    Uh, so what?
    Money can better be invested in building up a decent infrastructure to supply the needy with electricity.

    That said, more reliable power to the cities of India is important if they want economic growth.
    Quote Originally Posted by macsen rufus
    Which nation ahd a "first strike" nuclear policy during the Cold War?? Any guesses?
    US, but that means nothing. Although the USSR stated they would never launch a first strike, who knows what their actual strategy was. All this says is how much more open the US were about their (nuclear) policies.
    Last edited by Geoffrey S; 07-27-2006 at 11:25.
    "The facts of history cannot be purely objective, since they become facts of history only in virtue of the significance attached to them by the historian." E.H. Carr

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    Praefectus Fabrum Senior Member Anime BlackJack Champion, Flash Poker Champion, Word Up Champion, Shape Game Champion, Snake Shooter Champion, Fishwater Challenge Champion, Rocket Racer MX Champion, Jukebox Hero Champion, My House Is Bigger Than Your House Champion, Funky Pong Champion, Cutie Quake Champion, Fling The Cow Champion, Tiger Punch Champion, Virus Champion, Solitaire Champion, Worm Race Champion, Rope Walker Champion, Penguin Pass Champion, Skate Park Champion, Watch Out Champion, Lawn Pac Champion, Weapons Of Mass Destruction Champion, Skate Boarder Champion, Lane Bowling Champion, Bugz Champion, Makai Grand Prix 2 Champion, White Van Man Champion, Parachute Panic Champion, BlackJack Champion, Stans Ski Jumping Champion, Smaugs Treasure Champion, Sofa Longjump Champion Seamus Fermanagh's Avatar
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    Default Re: Indian Nuclear Program

    Geoff, old bean, you are correct. Developing a nuclear weapons program for your country is quite rational. Every country that has nuclear weapons is treated differently than those that do not -- and usually to their political power advantage.

    Moreover, the "dictators and assorted fruitbats" -- thanks Mac -- aren't necessarily irrational when they behave as brutal thugs. Some degree of paranoia is rational when you are running a dictatorship -- Stalin's model works smoothly if you set aside the evil thing.
    "The only way that has ever been discovered to have a lot of people cooperate together voluntarily is through the free market. And that's why it's so essential to preserving individual freedom.” -- Milton Friedman

    "The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule." -- H. L. Mencken

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