Trident, do we need it?

[Clinton Huxley]

Im sure if we got rid, iran or france would get us the very next day.

[Schneibster]

Who came up with 'Trident' anyway? Ian Fleming?

I got nothin'.

[Audley Strange]

Im sure if we got rid, iran or france would get us the very next day.

Or Irance, as the intelligence agencies don't refer to it as.

[Geoff]

Im sure if we got rid, iran or france would get us the very next day.

Ah, cheers Clinton, forgot about France - previous post edited accordingly.

[Animavore]

I don't trust Johnny English with the bomb and we can't trust the French to protect us. Do those Ruskies have any bombs lying around we could buy?

The next thing will be to find a pub to leave it in.

[Schneibster]

You can be the backup plan.

[Geoff]

I don't trust Johnny English with the bomb and we can't trust the French to protect us. Do those Ruskies have any bombs lying around we could buy?

The next thing will be to find a pub to leave it in.

Anyone starts messing with our pubs, there will be trouble! Blow up the Houses of Parliament instead, and do us all a favour.

[Animavore]

I don't trust Johnny English with the bomb and we can't trust the French to protect us. Do those Ruskies have any bombs lying around we could buy?

The next thing will be to find a pub to leave it in.

Anyone starts messing with our pubs, there will be trouble! Blow up the Houses of Parliament instead, and do us all a favour.

Nah. We leave you to blow it up yourselves

[PsychoSerenity]

We couldnt guarantee to wipe out the enemy's remaining capacity with a counterstrike. They would probably nuke us back. Everyone ends up worse. Id rather spend the money on conventional forces that could actually be used. Or on a shield. Our nukes are pointless.

Right now they're the only known way to reduce the likelihood of a nuclear strike against your soil maximally. There is no "shield;" you saw the Patriot batteries work. And those were lo-tech missiles they were shooting them at. They're not much better today. It's too high and too fast. The only sure thing protection is the threat of retaliation and it must be credible. That's a bitch, but there it is.

No, the best way to reduce the likelihood of being attacked is to make sure that everyone else is better off by us not being attacked.

[Schneibster]

Right now they're the only known way to reduce the likelihood of a nuclear strike against your soil maximally. There is no "shield;" you saw the Patriot batteries work. And those were lo-tech missiles they were shooting them at. They're not much better today. It's too high and too fast. The only sure thing protection is the threat of retaliation and it must be credible. That's a bitch, but there it is.

No, the best way to reduce the likelihood of being attacked is to make sure that everyone else is better off by us not being attacked.

I don't understand why you said "no" and then agreed with me.

[PsychoSerenity]

Right now they're the only known way to reduce the likelihood of a nuclear strike against your soil maximally. There is no "shield;" you saw the Patriot batteries work. And those were lo-tech missiles they were shooting them at. They're not much better today. It's too high and too fast. The only sure thing protection is the threat of retaliation and it must be credible. That's a bitch, but there it is.

No, the best way to reduce the likelihood of being attacked is to make sure that everyone else is better off by us not being attacked.

I don't understand why you said "no" and then agreed with me.

Making them better off by us not being attacked does not have to mean actively making them worse off if we are.

[Schneibster]

As I've said, I admire the idea and wish I thought it would work. I look at China, and Pakistan, and Russia, and I know it won't. That's reality. You either back it up with the shit or you ain't shit as far as they're concerned. Nobody's gonna fuck up with a nuclear weapon. The costs are just too high.

Personally I think the US should give the Iranians five of the fuckin' things, here ya go, we made 'em for ya, now don't fuck it up or the old man of smoke nods over Tehran, bye now. They'd find 'em more of a burden than a comfort.

[Animavore]

World peace achieved through the ultimate Mexican stand-off

[Schneibster]

Only for a while.

And after all, there is the asteroid threat. Just 'cause it's not a dino-killer don't mean we're all cool and shit with it fallin' on Moscow. Or Rio. And while we've ruled out dino-killers for a few thousand years, we haven't ruled out city-killers.

And lookit me, here I am talkin' "dino-killers" when I was just postin' about the Deccan Traps.

[PsychoSerenity]

As I've said, I admire the idea and wish I thought it would work. I look at China, and Pakistan, and Russia, and I know it won't. That's reality.

I look at China, Pakistan and Russia, and I strongly suspect that the vast majority of people there also don't want to be involved in a nuclear war - and the ones that think they need to threaten revenge to be safe, are most likely thinking along exactly the same lines as you. They look at France, and the USA, and Britain, and think "what choice do we have?".