Originally Posted by Bulgaroctonus

Rusky,

I have not been a war.

However, it is not true that a nuclear war must result in the extinction of the human species. For example, if the United States used nuclear weapons against Iran, there would be a significant chance that the humans species would live on. If the United States could receive assurances from the other main nuclear powers, such as China and Russia, not to get involved in the war against Iran, things would proceed in an acceptable manner.

Annihilation of the human species would probably occur if Russia and the United States had a nuclear war, or if either of the two powers detonated their nuclear stockpiles against another nation.

This is something I read some time ago:
http://www.fas.org/nuke/intro/nuke/7906/
Although it is dated (rather heavily) it seems to have some good arguments about nuclear war. One of the main ones is that nuclear war is not necessarily the death knell of human society.

I believe nuclear wars can be fought and won if executed properly. Of course, any nuclear war would be a catastophe for those actually in the blast or fall-out area. Again, I do not espouse nuclear war lightly. However, I do realize that it can be treated rationally and strategically.