Russia threatens to nuke poland

[Sqrl]

stof said:

Sqrl said:

stof said:
For the record, I acknowledge we'd never get rid of nukes all together, I was suggesting a reduction in stockpiles.

As for the missile defense shield, I think it's one of the worst policies the U.S. could engage in. They've spent billions on an unproven system that is already sparking a renewed arms race as nations attempt to find countermeasures. If anything it just makes the world (and the United States) a less secure place. why they wish to stir up the nuke pot alludes me. With the exception of the military industrial complex and their lobbyists, nobody benefits from this one.

 

See I don't understand this logic at all, why distrust the people who are developing anti-nuke technologies and not the people who are undoing that work?  If other countries are trying to find countermeasures they are the ones creating the instability not the US. 

The arms race goes back and forth between offense and defense with each technology leapfrogging the other back and forth.  The only logical place to end any arms race is on the defensive side. The people swinging it back to offensive side take the blame in escalation because they necessitate another swing back to defense before it can end.

 

Because those developing countermeasures are doing it for defensive reasons. I'm sure you're quite familiar with the concept of MAD. Right now that is the best defence any nation (including the U.S.) has against being a nuclear target. Were the missile defense shield to actually work, suddenly the U.S. is free of this principle. And every country who isn't friends with the U.S. now has to look at the prospect of an enemy that can fire thousands of nuclear weapons but is itself guarded against such an attack. The logical step for those countries is to find new ways to defend themselves, both technological and strategic. This thread is in regard to a strategic defense, with Russia pointing out that countries that aid the United States in toppling this nuclear stalemate can find themselves subject to the consequences.

When it comes to Nuclear weapons, the missile shield and "rogue nations" defence and offence are inseparable. 

But unlike the US these nations are bypassing the defense rather than developing their own defense. You said it yourself above actually (see bolded).

If you're afraid of being nuked you develope a defense, if you want to use nukes you bypass nuclear defenses. 

Shouldn't the goal be MAN(Mutually Assured Non-Desctruction) not MAD?

PS - I just thought of the MAN thing, its probably been thought of before but I thought it was pretty GD appropriate.