# Could drop the bomb? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 15, 2002, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-drop-the-bomb/109289 "2002-05-15T22:32:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![il\_Topo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eb9ed0/32.png) [@il\_Topo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/il_Topo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-drop-the-bomb/109289/21 "2002-05-17T21:01:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lno \* > \*\*If it were a single missile, deliberately fired, I doubt I would restrain the retaliation to a single missile, but rather would order a powerful, overwhelming response. As Sean Connery said in The Untouchables, “He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That’s the Chicago way!” > > And a single nuke launched at the USA… It’s nothing to sneeze at, but the other 275 million Americans would be alive and very, very angry. \*\* Agreed. I really doubt there would be just one, lonely missile going back if the US were hit by a single nuke. The American public would settle for nothing less than total annihilation of those that would harm us in such a way. Think those al Queda folks realize how this mutually assured destruction thing really works? Then again, I suspect the creation of a glass highway system in the Mid-East would allow the U.S. to finally withdraw from that region like al Queda desires. That was the great thing about the Russians (from my US point of view): Looking back, you realize that they weren’t too different from us Americans. Yeah, we were all crazy enough to build the hellish things, but we were smart enough to realize that using them first would be a very bad thing. I’m not so sure about today’s incarnation of Enemy of the US. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2002, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-drop-the-bomb/109289/22 "2002-05-18T01:58:59Z")
Don’t forget India/Pakistan. In case of a full-scale war, Pakistan will lose terribly. It may, no, it will have to deploy nukes in order to equalize, or at least keep India at bay. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2002, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-drop-the-bomb/109289/23 "2002-05-18T03:45:48Z")
MAD - **Mutually** Assured Destruction. The whole point was that knowing _all_ would be destroyed would prevent a first strike by anyone. It seems to have worked, probably because responsible and moral people were on both sides. I’m not that sure about those who would deliberately fly an airplane into a crowed building in the midst of a crowded city, though. ---
**Author:** ![happyheathen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5e925/32.png) [@happyheathen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happyheathen)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2002, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-drop-the-bomb/109289/24 "2002-05-19T04:01:36Z")
I think the operative concept is vengeance - just as I would have toasted Kabul and Kandahar (assuming proof of Afghan guilt DOES exist), I would certainly extract the maximum penalty for any such attack. Also, I suspect that large cinders appearing in one’s home neighborhoods would dissuade 9/11-type attacks. First, though, we (USA) have a ways to go to establish ourselves as an honest broker of such power (another thread, probably another board). ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-drop-the-bomb/109289/25 "2002-05-20T19:19:04Z")
Personally, I’ve always been a fan of the “Great Convention” in Frank Herbert’s _Dune_ series–if _anyone_ uses nukes against human beings, _every other nuclear power_ retaliates against the aggressor. Of course, it’s more convenient when we’re talking about planets attacking each other than when we’re all stuck sharing the same rock. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-drop-the-bomb/109289.md?page=1)