Yes you are the Great Cold War Warrior of the chairforce
random thoughts Send a noteboard - 28/02/2010 06:44:31 PM
The tons of drugs that are smuggled into this country every year somewhat undercuts the argument that we can stop it at the border. Besides if you are setting it off in the San Francisco bay or the Hudson River you don't really need to go through customs. Primitive bombs are big but they are not so big that they couldn't fit in moderate sized pleasure boat and shielding isn’t really that complicated if you have room and can handle the added weight.
Things are far tighter than you think. Yes, drugs get into the country but that's not the same thing. Not even remotely.
See when you call me ignorant and then say such stupid things as this I can only shake my head and laugh. Tons of drugs cross our border every day and they only stop a fraction of it. I worked for Verizon and used to drive a large can back and forth across the border and all they ever did was once open the back doors and look inside. The van was full of equipment including large canisters of compressed air and all they ask is if I had any alcohol or fruit.
Yes, you could put a primitive nuke on a pleasure boat. Yes, you might be able to get that into a harbour without anyone searching it. Maybe. But who's going to set it off? North Korea (to keep to the original discussion) isn't going to use suicide bombers - that's not their culture. A boat sitting there for a long time while a timer counted down would be noticed. You couldn't just leave it floating. It would be far better to try and land it someplace and bring it in by truck.
You're also neglecting the intelligence community which watches for stuff like this and they do a decent job or more of it would have happened already.
The same intelligence agency that just recently allowed a man with bomb to board a plane to America even though his own father had warned us about him? Yes who would but an ignorant fool would doubt such an iron tight intelligence service. Look what a fine job they did with WMD in Iraq and sleep like baby knowing your are safe.
I'm not going to bother with specifics used by intel communities to track such things - they're too complex to get into here. Suffice to say that it is much harder than it is portrayed on TV.
Oh yes your secret knowledge. Can you find a weapon from a distance of miles if it is well shielded and you don't know it is coming or that you should even be looking for it?
We stop only a fraction of the drugs that come into this country, that wouldn’t really be good enough with nukes.
Straw man argument. There is an entire US community dedicated to receiving the drugs here, which is a huge part of why it succeeds. That would not be the case with a nuclear weapon.
Hollow argument. It only takes a few guys to receive a weapon. If NY is your target you don't even need that you can just set it off in port.
Hell you could simply put it in a cargo container and have it set to go off if it is opened. Smuggling a nuke into the country would be risky but it wouldn't all that hard and 911 taught us they can find people who are willing and able to pull the trigger even if they are sitting on top of it.
Perspective, perspective. North Korea doesn't have that kind of culture (although Kim wishes it did). The Islamists don't have nukes. They might be willing to use them if they did but even they would have to consider the response. Right now they are trying to win based on politics and lies. 'See? The Americans killed women and children!' Yeah. Sometimes they do, but usually when they're being used as either human shields or bait.
North Korea is collapsing and desperate I wouldn't put it past them to sell a weapon to the wrong people. But I don't think nukes getting into the hands of terrorist is the biggest threat I just think it is one that is to large to be ignored. When it comes to losing entire cities the risk tolerance has to be low.
The biggest problem with NK having nukes is if they can get an effective launch vehicle they will have Tokyo to add to Sol on their list of cites they hold hostage. If their regime is going to fall I wouldn't it past them to decide to take someone with them. Having a suicide pact with the USSR was bad enough but at least they were sane.
Set off a nuke and all that 'we have to protect the innocent' stuff gets set by the wayside. Suddenly scorched earth is a lot more palatable on the political stage. It's a can of worms Al Quaeda would probably open but would probably regret - albeit not for very long.
As for the Cold War I think you are the one misunderstanding. The Cold War mindset is not <snip>
This is laughable.
I GREW UP in the US during the Cold War. Our schools tested air raid sirens twice weekly and we were educated as to where fallout shelters were.
And where exactly do you believe I grew up? I am only a two years younger then you so sorry that card doesn't play.
I was an airman in the Strategic Air Command at the end of the Cold War before the fall of the Berlin Wall. I targeted nuclear weapons for B-52 bombers and we were the second Air Force Base in the world to receive operational B1-Bs during my time there. I had a security clearance that involved my friends and family being interviewed by FBI agents and worked behind a vault door with an internal sally port in an underground bunker guarded by SPs with automatic weapons and grenade launchers.
I was a Sargent in United States Marine Corps during the Cold War. I trained to fight the communist and how to move through areas that were hit recently been hit by nuclear weapons. I drilled in NBC warfare on a regular bases. I had security clearance as well and had to pass through multiple layers of security to get work. They only had M16s not grenade launchers but hey I figure a Marine with M16s still outmatches an airman with grenade launcher.
I was on a rapid deployment team and kept a complete set of combat gear for every climate from jungle to cold weather in my closet and was considered on 24 hour notice to deploy.
My brother worked in intelligence in the army and a good friend of mine worked intel for CENTCOM in Florida.
So What?
You're trying to tell ME what the Cold War was and was not? Sorry bucko. I lived it. And I'm willing to bet that you didn't.
Sorry dude you lose again.
Why Iran's dictators can be deterred
23/02/2010 01:31:52 PM
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Not sure he showed us how they can be deterred
23/02/2010 01:56:42 PM
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Er yeah, that's totally the argument I was going for.
23/02/2010 02:06:52 PM
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No Palin was simply cover for the "we just have to accept Iran will get the bomb argument"
23/02/2010 02:26:45 PM
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She wasn't cover for anything, but I like how this argument keeps going that way.
23/02/2010 02:36:47 PM
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As I have noted it isn't conseratives that keep bring her up
23/02/2010 03:26:11 PM
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and I tried to take her out of the argument. But here we are.
23/02/2010 03:39:29 PM
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dealing with the repercussions of attacking another Islamic country may be our best option
23/02/2010 04:25:47 PM
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The world needs to decide how it feels about non-proliferation.
23/02/2010 07:11:51 PM
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yes American used the bomb so now we should let everyone else take a turn *NM*
24/02/2010 06:22:23 AM
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It would certainly demonstrate the folly of that view.
24/02/2010 06:49:56 AM
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well hell then why not just sel them nukes and get it over with
24/02/2010 02:33:00 PM
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I really don't think the folly need be demonstrated more than once.
28/02/2010 02:49:30 AM
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I think this guy lives on the moon
23/02/2010 02:51:20 PM
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I was just talking to Lupine about how I like your posts, but I'm gonna make an exception here.
23/02/2010 09:28:44 PM
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You'll have to link that then, I always like to read things that feed my ego
24/02/2010 12:17:37 AM
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Oh, it was on AIM.
24/02/2010 01:13:07 PM
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Ah well, I'll have to self feed my ego instead, fortunately I'm very good at that
25/02/2010 03:44:43 PM
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Here's an article in response to Zakaria's article
23/02/2010 03:19:41 PM
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I generally don't care for Fareed, but believe he's right this time.
23/02/2010 05:59:00 PM
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Iran is a thorny problem
24/02/2010 05:38:09 AM
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I still don't believe North Korea harmless.
24/02/2010 06:59:15 AM
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I never used the term 'harmless'
24/02/2010 10:01:14 PM
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Fair point, sorry.
25/02/2010 12:45:47 PM
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No worries - I was just making sure you understood my position
25/02/2010 05:19:10 PM
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Re: No worries - I was just making sure you understood my position
28/02/2010 02:30:26 AM
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Re: No worries - I was just making sure you understood my position
01/03/2010 03:53:58 PM
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A carrot without a stick is just a free carrot.
02/03/2010 08:01:23 AM
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They can hit Tokyo
25/02/2010 06:10:44 PM
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So?
25/02/2010 07:01:37 PM
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I think you are grossly overestimating our border security
25/02/2010 08:03:13 PM
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Well, I KNOW you're ignorant about a lot of things and this shows it.
25/02/2010 08:56:45 PM
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Yes you are the Great Cold War Warrior of the chairforce
28/02/2010 06:44:31 PM
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Oh I'm sorry - so you're not so much ignorant as idiot.
01/03/2010 03:48:32 PM
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Israel does not have the military capability to destroy or significantly damage Iran's nuclear sites
24/02/2010 12:33:00 PM
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You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about - and it shows to anyone who does
24/02/2010 10:33:29 PM
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I think this ties in well with this article
25/02/2010 09:56:04 AM
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It's going to happen regardless sooner or later; might as well get out in front and claim leadership
01/03/2010 06:29:57 AM
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