Designated Nuclear states

I don't recall the US threatening to use an atomic weapon on another country since WWII. As for the treaty...would you rather see 5 countries have nuclear weapons or would it be a better world if 50 countries had them? The cat is out of the bag and has been for over 50 years...can't wish them away. Would a Britain be better off without their nuclear technology? Would Britain be better off in a military/economic alliance with the US & France or with North Korea and Pakistan? Iran maybe? It's a dog eat dog world. I don't blame Iran and Korea for wanting nuclear technology. It doesn't raise my opinion of their intelligence either. It doesn't make the world a safer place, neither for them nor anybody else. Visit me http://www.radiodenver.org/

I don't recall the US threatening to use an atomic weapon on another country since WWII. The USSR perhaps. Plus isn't the US supposed to have threatened to bomb egypt after the uss liberty thing?

It's nothing to do about the most powerful countries having nuclear weapons, it's about preventing a wildcard, loony-bin regime like yingyyong's getting his mits on them. The UN can use whatever excuses they like imo ;) There's nothing more mind-teasing than the incomprehensible eagerly avowed - Dennett

"I don't recall the US threatening to use an atomic weapon on another country since WWII." The possession of nuclear weapons is the threat. Iran and North Korea are very different matters. Iran have an appalling government but you can understand them being jumpy when outside forces have invaded the countries either side of them over the last few years. In terms of North Korea, the chances of it facing a military threat in the near future for any other reason than the fact it's developing nukes are nil. It's much less safe with a nuke than without one so in terms of realpolitik, the latest moves are ridiculous.

I think nuclear weapons should be freely available for all who wish to have them, like guns are in the US. It works perfectly fine over there with firearms, so let's apply the same principles to nukes. I've had enough of these pinko sissies at the UN. Let's give our citizens the protection they need. It's every citizen's right to bear nuclear weapons, like it says in the constitution and the Bible. These smart ass liberal politicians like George W Bush telling folk what they can and cannot do, make me want to puke. As for these tinpot dictators with their Mickey Mouse WMD, they don't scare me. If they wanna fight, I say bring it on. And so does my Mom.

The principle of only five nations having nuclear weapons is a sound one that has worked well for decades. After all only one out of the five has used them in anger, so that's an 80 per cent success rate. That would get you an A star in many GCSEs, wouldn't it?

stumbled across a nice little article detailing the times america has threatened (either eplicitly or not so explicitly) to use nuclear weapons. http://www.thebulletin.org/article_nn.php?art_ofn=so06norris The United States has considered or threatened the use of nuclear weapons on several other occasions: In response to the 1948 blockade of Berlin; in support of French forces in the northern Vietnamese town of Dien Bien Phu in 1954; in response to rioting that threatened the Lebanese government in 1958; during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962; in order to counter Soviet saber rattling after the breakdown of a U.N. sanctioned truce in Israel in 1973; and as an option to penetrate Libya's Tarhuna underground chemical weapons facility in 1996. [16] But perhaps the most well-communicated U.S. nuclear threat was made prior to the U.S. intervention during the 1991 Gulf War.

Selfishly I know, but it doesn't provoke the same feelings of dread in a people who's state possess the weapons. They're not a threat to my family's or my life. But when a regime like yangyung has his hands on them then it can begin to give me a headache and I don;t like getting headaches because it's bad for the economy. It creates an ominous ambience in my society and forces me, through its combined will, to dull the quality of my life. I don't want to die at the hands of a nutter. I would rather die at the teeth of a lion than be murdered by a psycho. There's nothing more mind-teasing than the incomprehensible eagerly avowed - Dennett

Good dig on that article Maddan... As I said, I didn't recall these, but honestly, I remembered the Cuban thing from 62 after I posted. Never heard about the one from 1954 from Vietnam to support the French until I read that one. The Bush thing "all options are on the table" is suspect, but I'll accept that one on principle...Mind you, I've heard talking heads discuss this quite often. In fact, GB and the US have both used nuclear weapons in the Gulf already. Depleted Uranium...not quite atomic bombs but more like littering the country with atomic waste. Other countries have used atomic weapons as well, including Russia and France. These things aren't limited to bombs and rockets. I recall Israel getting ready to use one in the Yom Kippur War. Rumor had it that they actually lost a bomb. Funny that it was Great Britain that supplied Israel the means to build it. Can't wait for South Africa to get one, like they really need it. North Korea...now this is about as stupid as it gets if you ask me. The retard in charge there is trying to pick a fight with the US, which happily GWB hasn't engaged with (probably the only smart thing he's done so far, but hey...his term isn't over). Personally, I say leave him the hell alone, ignore the moron. If he has a workable nuclear warhead (which is doubtful), let China deal with it. I'm sure China doesn't want this idiot living next door about to set the region on fire playing with matches. The Chinese government isn't very agressive unless they feel directly threatened. His missles don't travel far enough to get out of the country, he'd be more likely to kill his own people with it, but then he'd blame that on the US as well. Nyuk nyuk... Visit me http://www.radiodenver.org/

South Africa agreed to abandon nuclear ambitions in, I think, the 80s. In return they had some sanctions lifted and got other goodies. Another country, perhaps Brazil, did the likewise about the same time. "You don't need the light of the Lord to read the handwriting on the wall." Copies of Warsaw Tales available through www.new-ink.org

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