# A nuclear solution to WTC bombing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 13, 2001, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227 "2001-09-13T01:51:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![tsunamisurfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@tsunamisurfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsunamisurfer)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/141 "2001-09-14T12:35:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > \*\*Can you accept the high civilian death count that INACTION will almost certainly cause? > > Look: we’re out of options. We really are. A time bomb is ticking. We’ve spent decades trying to disarm terrorists and deal with radical governments diplomatically. > > That’s the way I see it. In the reasonably near future, a lot of people are going to die…There are no other options. NONE. > > BTW, I don’t think Nuclear strikes are called for. Politically, it’s a bad idea. We would lose coalition support for no good reason.\*\* Agreed. This is a watershed moment in U.S. history and the future looks grim indeed. Had these terrorists possessed nuclear weapons, they wouldn’t have hesitated to destroy every American city possible. At this very moment, you can bet there are clandestine labs in the Arab world who staff are working overtime to manufacture biological/chemical agents that will destroy entire city populations in the U.S. This is a certainty. Ultimately, this is a negative-sum situation for the U.S. Everyone is going to lose big. Our choice is to minimize our losses and make sure our foes lose much bigger. In the end, I have no doubt that we will use tactical nuclear weapons–the world is too big, our enemies too many, our conventional forces too limited. Ultimately, however, we won’t be able to stop terrorism because it is an ideology driven by unreasoned hate. Bin Ladin knew this incident would initiate a runaway, escalating dynamic of escalating attack and reprisal. He isn’t a fundamentalist Muslim; he’s an egomaniacal fascist bent on world domination and the imposition of his twisted worldview. I don’t think we can win, but we cannot afford to do nothing. Better our innocent citizens live than those overseas. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/142 "2001-09-14T13:05:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tsunamisurfer \* > **Had these terrorists possessed nuclear weapons, they wouldn’t have hesitated to destroy every American city possible. At this very moment, you can bet there are clandestine labs in the Arab world who staff are working overtime to manufacture biological/chemical agents that will destroy entire city populations in the U.S. This is a certainty.** What _leads_ them to this, though? What could cause people to become extremists and organize terrorism? Is it some warped interpretation of Islam and the Qur’an? Is it some irrational hatred of America, the Americans? Or could it _possibly_ be the fact that the United States is the latest and biggest power to meddle in the affairs of the Middle East, promoting and supporting wars of displacement, backing dictators and then turning on them almost at will, all for the profits that can be made from extracting the richest load of fossil fuels anywhere? Tuesday was an out-and-out tragedy the likes of which the United States has heretofore never known. But not the world. We know now what it’s like to lose our loved ones in numbers almost impossible to comprehend. We know now what it’s like to _really_ wonder if we’ll ever be truly safe in our own homes. We can be hurt. We can be succesfully attacked. We, the United States, the richest and most powerful country in the world, are vulnerable. Welcome to the rest of the world. Retaliation of any kind, nuclear or otherwise, won’t bring us invulnerability. It won’t bring the men and women who worked in the Pentagon or the WTC, or the people who rushed to the scene to rescue them, back. Killing Timorthy McVeigh didn’t deter these people, and killing them won’t deter the next round of terrorism. Which the United States _will_ bring upon itself by lashing out in response to these attacks. The United States may be strong enough to send a militarily violent message to the rest of the world. But will it be strong enough to withstand the response? ---
**Author:** ![the\_first\_supraliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@the\_first\_supraliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_first_supraliminal)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/143 "2001-09-14T13:52:16Z")
I haven’t had time to read this whole thread, but I’d like to input some anyway. As some have already posted, this is war. It’s not about morality, it’s simply about survival. I am a human being, and so is my enemy. I do not want to kill my enemy, but if he intends to kill me, I must kill him in order to survive. Perhaps it puts me on the same level as he, but I have no choice (besides singing Kumbayah as he guts me.) As for nuclear weapons, I don’t know much about warfare, but it seems we have plenty of firepower besides nukes to do what is necessary. This is not a war like we’ve seen. It is more like fighting a cancerous disease. And the drawback of removing a cancer is the removing of good tissue. I’d prefer a straight fight, I’m sure everyone does, but sadly this is the reality of our situation. And if the time comes, give me a helmet and rifle and drop my otherwise useless body into the battlezone… ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/144 "2001-09-14T13:58:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*Retaliation of any kind, nuclear or otherwise, won’t bring us invulnerability. \*\* We’re never going to be invulnerable. So let’s sing Joni Mitchell songs? I think you underestimate exactly how comprehensive and unrelenting our military response is going to be. Or how many countries are now going to be cooperative and diligent in uprooting this evil from the world. It’s quite possible the cockroaches won’t have crevices in which to hide from the light, by the time we’re done. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/145 "2001-09-14T14:39:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mossadegh \* > Well at least the hippies aren’t trying to figure out how the hell Bin Ladin came to be in the first place. > Go ahead Bush. Be a tough cowboy. Press the button. Kill all the ragheads. I assure you, their ghosts won’t be so easy to kill. I think your reading comprehension is zero. No one that I can see has demonstrated a desire for joyous, indescriminate slaughter by any weapons. I consider myself a hippie. I’m an anarchist. I push for people to live peacefully every day. But you go look a suicide bomber in the eye and tell me he wants to talk. As well, your talk of nuclear weapons was indicative of ignoring my posts above on what different nuclear devices are available. Fallout does not have to be a concern. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/146 "2001-09-14T14:48:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Milossarian \* > \*\*It’s quite possible the cockroaches won’t have crevices in which to hide from the light, by the time we’re done. \*\* That’s pretty freaking sick, **Milo**. ---
**Author:** ![tsunamisurfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@tsunamisurfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsunamisurfer)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/147 "2001-09-14T15:00:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Olentzero \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by tsunamisurfer \* > > **Had these terrorists possessed nuclear weapons, they wouldn’t have hesitated to destroy every American city possible. At this very moment, you can bet there are clandestine labs in the Arab world who staff are working overtime to manufacture biological/chemical agents that will destroy entire city populations in the U.S. This is a certainty.** > > What _leads_ them to this, though? What could cause people to become extremists and organize terrorism? > \*\* What motivates Osama bin Laden? Power, plain and simple. Instead of being a devout Muslim, Osama bin Laden twists Islam to his own megalomaniacal ambitions. You will never understand him and his wicked movement until you realize that he is a fascist with ambitions of world domination and total self-rule. Like all fascists/totalitarians, he expands his following by demagogically whipping up mass hatred against a demonized external archenemy and by maintaining brutal internal control. Without hate, he is nothing. Without terror and brutal repression, he is nothing. Without ignorance and abject poverty, he is nothing. Ultimately, he is the enemy of his own people, yet shrewdly manipulates them for his own narcissistic gratification. He, of course, realizes this, and thus incited the recent attacks against the U.S. knowing that we would retaliate in full, which would then consolidate his power base and expand his fascist doctrine internationally. Ultimately, the international radical “Islamic fundamentalist” movement is but a loose coalition of fascists who use religion to cloak their expansionist personal ambitions. Over time, one can expect the strongest to consolidate their power and to gain control internationally. Within a generation or two, a central leader will emerge who controls millions. (BTW, the Taliban no doubt appease him and are fearful that he will attempt a power grab internally.) Never underestimate the need of millions of people to be controlled, to feel important, to have a “glorious” cause for which they can nobly die as martyrs. We are now at war with an ideology–however contrived it is. Evil is often stronger than good because it knows no rules, only to win. God help us. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/148 "2001-09-14T15:03:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tsunamisurfer \* > \*\*What motivates Osama bin Laden? Power, plain and simple. > > Instead of being a devout Muslim, Osama bin Laden twists Islam to his own megalomaniacal ambitions. You will never understand him and his wicked movement until you realize that he is a fascist with ambitions of world domination and total self-rule.\*\* So if I’m aware of the fact that bin Laden was recruited and trained by the United States to fight against the Russians in Afghanistan, but then got turned loose once the war was over and the Soviet Union collapsed and only then demonized as a militant terrorist, I really don’t understand him? ---
**Author:** ![tsunamisurfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@tsunamisurfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsunamisurfer)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/149 "2001-09-14T15:17:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Olentzero \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by tsunamisurfer \* > > \*\*What motivates Osama bin Laden? Power, plain and simple. > > > > Instead of being a devout Muslim, Osama bin Laden twists Islam to his own megalomaniacal ambitions. You will never understand him and his wicked movement until you realize that he is a fascist with ambitions of world domination and total self-rule.\*\* > > So if I’m aware of the fact that bin Laden was recruited and trained by the United States to fight against the Russians in Afghanistan, but then got turned loose once the war was over and the Soviet Union collapsed and only then demonized as a militant terrorist, I really don’t understand him? \*\* Agreed. You do not understand him, nor his movement. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/150 "2001-09-14T15:23:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Olentzero \* > [What _leads_ them to this, though? What could cause people to become extremists and organize terrorism? > > Is it some warped interpretation of Islam and the Qur’an? > > Is it some irrational hatred of America, the Americans? > > Or could it _possibly_ be the fact that the United States is the latest and biggest power to meddle in the affairs of the Middle East, promoting and supporting wars of displacement, backing dictators and then turning on them almost at will, all for the profits that can be made from extracting the richest load of fossil fuels anywhere? NO! Your sympathy for murderers is _unreal_ **Olentzero**. There are terrorists _all over the world_ who attack _all sorts of interests_. No specific nation is an instigator of terrorism. If they are, then you can start a long list of countries who should lie down and apologize to their attackers as: USA France England Israel USSR (and its now seperate states) China Multiple countries in Africa Hell, the more I think about, the more I see that you can _pick a country out of a hat_ and find extremists who hate it. I bet even Canada has people that hate it, though I can’t figure out why they would. You see? Can you possibly see that? Why would they hate America? Because we meddle? Because we choose sides that aren’t theirs in a conflict? So sorry, you know, because suicide bombers, attack squads, and oppression usually make us want to be all chummy. What a fluke this is, I can see their rationale. Oil is a commodity the whole world uses. In this technological age it is a resource like water, and we all need it. What we DON’T need are people fighting over it. There is enough oil there to make entire countries wealthy… but who gets that wealth, **Olen**? The people we pissed off? Are they mad at us for that? Are they mad at us because they beat their women in public, and practice stoning as a means of execution? Are they mad at us because they starve? Are they mad at us because their government and military launch strikes at their neighbors in a bid for more power and land? Are they mad at us because their government prevents the aid we send from getting to the people? Are they mad at us because their governmetn is corrupt and hoards the money from the oil along with some close buddies? Is that why they are mad? Oh, their mad because we bomb their country in an effort to let their govrenment know its time to quit being a dick. Because diplomacy, my friend, didn’t stop the attack on Kuwait. Diplomacy didn’t stop the struggle to recapture land in Israel. And diplomacy didn’t turn out terrorists. So yeah, **Olen** , I know why they hate Americans. Because their government wants them to and is going to foster an area that makes it so. Do you think that if there was peace in the Middle East that America would be over there playing marionette? If there was peace in the Middle East we’d all have oil and then you could complain about the fat cat oil barons keeping the common man down. But no, there isn’t peace. There wasn’t peace before we got there. There isn’t peace now. Suprise suprise, how long did it take Europe to stop killing each other? What did it take for Europe to stop killing each other? Two world wars, or diplomacy? Actually, it took centuries and centuries of fighting, two world wars, _and then_ diplomacy. Diplomacy only works when people want to listen, and peace only works when both sides want it to. How about the non-oriental Asia… what did it take for them to live in peace? Do they live in peace now? Is it because of America’s meddling that they are/are not at peace? And what about Japan and China… what do you suppose stops them from killing each other? In other words, what do you suppose causes peace? I’ll give you a hint. It involves fear of losing what you have already, and what you stand to gain with peace. Many middle eastern governments that harbor these terrorists don’t offer their citizenry shit-- so they’ve got little to lose. Couple that with our attacks and YES YES YES you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Their govrenments could have spread the wealth a bit. Their governments could have done their job to make their citizens happy and avoid war in the first place, none the less foriegn meddling. Did they? Would they? _Why would they ever want peace_? But now we have a real possibility of going in there, no more air raids and hit-and-run bombings. We’ve got a chance to be there. We’ve got super weapons which are real threats and if there is any historical precidence for them it says we got trigger fingers twithcing to bush buttons. Maybe… _just maybe_… those rat-bastard governments will listen now with real military action and world supoprt for it, with nuclear weapons _seriously_ dangling over thier heads. They couldn’t hear anything during peace talks. They could hear us say “give this to your people.” They we’re deaf to trade sanctions. The bombing was too loud for them to think about giving up. That still left us with plenty of options, though, and we had a team ready to spend another four years in the Middle East, doing the diplomat thing, the manipulative thing, the world peace thing. That wasn’t good enough. They want war. They beg for it for each terrorist that the peaceful people don’t turn over. They beg for it with every government who ignores world pleas for less oppression. And, most importantly, they beg for it when they suicide bomb restaruants, airplanes, and other public places. Do you wonder why Arafat looks sick to his stomach? Because he knows it. He knows that politics are no longer on the side of _his_ war and strife. Now politics are on the side of systematic removal of the terrorist… and all the time he spent letting it happen makes him just as much of a target now as bin Laden is. The surest method to keep a state of warfare is misery, and these governments in what could rightfully be the wealthiest area in the entire world don’t let that wealth have one iota of benefit to the people. They blame that on their neighbors, on foriegn meddlers, on century old conflict, on the devil himself for all I know. I think its high time someone took over the middle east and showed those people just how “evil” we really are. France and Ireland are struggling, maybe they should divide up the territory. Then the citizens can complain about free health care and education, and memberhsip in a strong confederate-style economic group. Then they can complain about having a government which will listen to their grievances. Then they can complain about their religious freedom. They can gripe about how the devil allows them free movement and a life relatively free of fear. GAH the whole thing makes me sick. So much wealth to be had for everyone there even with high corruption and they still live in terrible conditions. And now that’s America’s fault. Well, sorry man, I don’t see it. ---
**Author:** ![oceans\_11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b2d939/32.png) [@oceans\_11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oceans_11)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/151 "2001-09-14T16:20:41Z")
It’s nice to see that some of you are using the security and freedom that America _gives you_ to turn around and bite the hand that feeds you. Bombs in U.S. embassies? It’s cause we’re meddling. Rogue terrorists? Ooh, we financed him _once_. Disaster in NYC? Of course it’s our fault, we shouldn’t have been xxx! Are the terrorists wrong for using violence as a means to an end? No, it’s not their fault, they are _honorable_ people that were _driven_ to it. You think you’d get so far if you were in Afghanistan speaking against the Taliban? I’m sure Saddam Hussein has a great suggestion box! Try walking through the West Bank and shouting “Arafat sucks, Israel forever!”. America’s policies have given you security, freedom, hell, even your connection to this board. And Americans will continue to fight and die to defend these things, protecting _you_, even as you sit back, eat your Doritos, and continue your “constructive criticism”. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/152 "2001-09-14T16:21:08Z")
Gordon Sinclair from Canada as reported in The Congressional Record: > [@](#): > > This Canadian thinks is is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. > > Germany, Japan, and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the the debris of war by the Americans who poured billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the the United States. > > When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it. > > When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This Spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tonados. Nobody helped. > > The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent warmongering Americans. > > I’d like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so why don’t they fly them? Why do all the International lines except Russia fly American planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or a woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocradcy and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy and you find men on the moon. - not once, but several times - and safely home again. > > You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from Ma and Pa at home to spend here. > > When the railways of France Germany, and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke. > > I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don’t think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake. > > Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I’m one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And, when they do they are entitled to thumb their noses at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those. Jabe: You send my response didn’t address Mekhazzio’s blather. I hope that does. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/153 "2001-09-14T16:33:37Z")
Worth reading: [http://www.miami.com/herald/content/features/columnists/pitts/digdocs/000565.htm](http://www.miami.com/herald/content/features/columnists/pitts/digdocs/000565.htm) ---
**Author:** ![jabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/db5fbb/32.png) [@jabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabe)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/154 "2001-09-14T17:07:44Z")
There needs to be millitary action. The terrorists need to pay for what they did to the US. If they have to be killed, so be it. Oceans\_11: An American civilian is worth no more or less than an Arab civilian. That is the way I feel. I am sorry you dont hold all human life as sacred as I do, just the few of us lucky enough to live in the United States. I think killing innocent people is wrong. Bin Laden thinks killing innocent people is O.K. Whoes side are you on? peace, JB ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/155 "2001-09-14T17:13:57Z")
That was in response to America pulling out of Vietnam… it is an old radio broadcast, but one that I think _does_ apply in this day and age as well. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/156 "2001-09-14T17:17:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by erislover \* > \*\*That was in response to America pulling out of Vietnam… it is an old radio broadcast, but one that I think _does_ apply in this day and age as well. \*\* I know. ---
**Author:** ![oceans\_11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b2d939/32.png) [@oceans\_11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oceans_11)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/157 "2001-09-14T17:35:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Oceans\_11: An American civilian is worth no more or less than an Arab civilian. That is the way I feel. I am sorry you dont hold all human life as sacred as I do, just the few of us lucky enough to live in the United States. > > I think killing innocent people is wrong. Bin Laden thinks killing innocent people is O.K. Whoes side are you on? Are you implying that I’m chomping at the bit to see blood, no matter who it’s from? To kill civilians indiscriminately? Wrong. As I’ve stated several times before, no one (aside from these terrorists, obviously) wants to see innocent civilians killed needlessly. However, in war, innocent civilians as well as combatants, do die. This cannot be avoided. And in the case of war, the lives of my family, friends, and countrymen are much more valuable to me than those of the “enemy”. Who’s side are _you_ on? ---
**Author:** ![MemoryLeak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6f9a4e/32.png) [@MemoryLeak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MemoryLeak)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/158 "2001-09-14T18:01:55Z")
A nuclear solution doesn’t make sense. Let’s say you don’t know Ossama bin Laden’s location (other than generally, e.g., eastern Afghanistan). Unless you’re going to carpet bomb with nuclear weapons, you’re not going to have any reasonable chance of destroying the target. Even if you decided on this course of action, you’d need an ICBM/15,000 sq km (probably significantly more in the mountains). Afghanistan is 625,000 sq km. You couldn’t do it with tactical nukes at all. If you do know Ossama bin Laden’s location, why use nukes? Occupy that area of Afghanistan for a few months, seal it off, and, rock by rock, take it apart. There’s nobody there that can stop you. In either case, if you nuke him, you’ll never know if you got him. I want physical evidence. I want him alive. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/159 "2001-09-14T18:04:55Z")
I would remind people here that _every single war in the history of mankind_ has involved killing innocent civilians. In World war two we carpet bombed Berlin, Hamburg, Tokyo and many other cities. Hell, we even killed French civilians at times. War is Hell, and should only be engaged in when absolutely neccessary. This is one of those times. The terrorist networks have the support of both certain governments and large portions of the Arab masses. They are legitimate targets. Nuclear weapons may prove to be unnecessary, but they should not be ruled out. as for the silly idea that using force will only provoke more force, we are at war. We did nothing to provoke this attack and regardless of what we do there will be further attacks. These people hate us with a passion no American can comprehend. Only by utterly destroying them will we be secure. ---
**Author:** ![jabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/db5fbb/32.png) [@jabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabe)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227/160 "2001-09-14T18:29:07Z")
The ‘enemy’ is the terrorists and the governements who support them. Not some farmer with his 29 children. That is not the enemy, that is just some guy who happens to live in a country that supports terrorism. We should be able to get the bad guys without killing the good guys. I know that in war civilians needlessly die. This has been the trend ever sense the beginning of time. Will it ever change? Not unless a superpower like the United States helps it change. The rules of war sre out dated and barbaric. Lets change that. peace, JB [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-nuclear-solution-to-wtc-bombing/81227.md?page=9)