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Originally Posted by Jay
I'm still not convinced why/how US cannot take them all in a "surprise" attack, for that matter, i'm not sure about India's capabilities wrt US.
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When nuclear weapons are involved one mistake is millions dead.
This is why we in the west are so terrified of any of you folks having nukes to begin with....
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Originally Posted by Jay
Pakistan has a limited nuclear arsenal. They dont have any missile silos, no missile warhead, so its logical to think that they would most prolly safeguarded in known nuclear installations, a good target for pre-emptive attack.
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Where they'd put 'em all depends on the circumstances. How many they have...no one really knows. How many they can pump out in a crash course if they feel threatened is anybody's guess.
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Originally Posted by Jay
Since Pakistan is a nascent nuclear power, the command control structure may not be well developed like USSR. So a co-ordinated pre emptive strike on all of their facilities would get them by their pants down (Again this applies to all the new nuclear nations).
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If you're wrong...
Millions die.
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Originally Posted by Jay
Would they kill 10s of hundreds of their population so that they can kill the US expeditionary forces, I guess thats a chance we cannot take  |
Does a person with gangreen cut off his arm to save his life?
I would...
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Originally Posted by gunnut
But why invade with traditional army? Contain them with air power. I understand we need boots on the ground to grab the bad guys. But destroy all their infrastructure can be just as effective at neutralizing them. They can't touch us. Let's not give them a target for their nukes.
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Let me pretend to be the Pakistani ruler for a minute:
"If you attack us from the air, god willing we will attack the enemies of Islam with the fires given to us by Allah, the most merciful."
Sound familiar?
They have nukes. You attack from the air and you're wrong...
Millions die.
A deterrent is no good if you don't use it guys. The people in power know this full well.
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Originally Posted by spittle8
I could be quite wrong.
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You are.
You are also basing your assumptions on a failed premise: That pakistan has not increased it's bombmaking skills in 20 years. A horribly foolish assumption.
And a 1kt device....
http://www.fas.org/main/content.jsp?...&contentId=367
(click the airburst button)
Looks like a 1kt airburst would take out about 1/4 of downtown washington DC and probably kill a couple hundred thousand people.