# Nuclear Bomb Test **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 13, 2017, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415 "2017-04-13T22:48:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/21 "2017-04-14T00:22:00Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Why not just send him a pumpkin with a knife stuck in it and a note reading “you” ? Or stick figure drawn in crayon and x’s for eyes. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/22 "2017-04-14T00:33:01Z")
> [@saturncomet](#): > > I think we need to hold a Nuclear Bomb Test in an isolated area. It would be a clear signal to the North Korean guy with the bad haircut to BEWARE and back off.:eek: No. What needs doing is not a nuclear test in some isolated spot without US loss or consequence or even dropping a nuke in somebody else’s back yard. What needs doing is dropping one right in the middle of your own back yard. In the Lower 48. For trivial causes. With the attendant reprehensible consequences. Then the bad hairdo in Ryongsong would know unambiguously that the bad hairdo in the White House was incontrovertibly a bigger nutcase, way better armed and a kindred spirit with whom it would might be better to have long term cordial relationships with. Which all makes almost as little sense as the OP. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/23 "2017-04-14T00:37:57Z")
on second thought, removed. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/24 "2017-04-14T05:22:48Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > …the American guy with the bad haircut? No, the _crazy_ guy with the bad haircut. Oh, wait… ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/25 "2017-04-14T06:24:50Z")
> [@saturncomet](#): > > I think we need to hold a Nuclear Bomb Test in an isolated area. It would be a clear signal to the North Korean guy with the bad haircut to BEWARE and back off.:eek: Testing Aegis, or various missiles, near North Korea, sure. But nukes - no need, the US did hundreds of nuke tests before. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/26 "2017-04-14T06:46:50Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I think that big bomb was a strategic move to see if he could put some extra pressure on Nk insiders to over throw Kim. I think it was an attempt to move US public attention off of what is happening in DC, while trying to make the POTUS look tough. “These are not the droids you seek” meets “See? I’m doing something.” ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/27 "2017-04-14T07:09:22Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > I think that big bomb was a strategic move to see if he could put some extra pressure on Nk insiders to over throw Kim. Not everything is meant to have some secondary meaning. Sometimes a bomb dropped on the Taliban is just that - a bomb dropped on the Taliban. It’s not meant as an indirect message. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/28 "2017-04-14T08:08:14Z")
Apart from violating the test ban treaty, nuclear testing is actually unneeded for the big powers now, they can accurately enough simulate the explosion on supercomputers. I’d say parking a carrier fleet near the Korean peninsula is already a pretty big deterrent. Anyway China has just announced (through proxies) that NK is on it’s own if it gets attacked and they won’t help them. That’s a bigger deterrent than anything the US could do. Details here: > **[China 'not obliged to defend North Korea from an attack'](https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/china-not-obliged-to-defend-north-korea-from-an-attack)** > > HONG KONG • China is not obliged to help defend North Korea as the latter's development of nuclear weapons has breached a mutual defence pact, Chinese diplomatic and military observers told the South China Morning Post (SCMP). Read more at... ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/29 "2017-04-14T17:29:31Z")
> [@saturncomet](#): > > I think we need to hold a Nuclear Bomb Test in an isolated area. It would be a clear signal to the North Korean guy with the bad haircut to BEWARE and back off.:eek: We have done that already, they have a high confidence that American weapons work. What they don’t have confidence in, is that they will actually be used. Even during the cold war against the soviets, the idea of a warning shot was discussed, but not really planned for. If the big red machine was gonna roll west, a warning shot would have simply opened up the nuke’s that much faster. Better idea , pick that location that fatboy is gonna be yammering during the holiday and nuke it, reboot the countrys leadership. Gamble that while the NK’s have toys, who holds the keys to those toys in a leadership succession, is not so clear. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/30 "2017-04-14T18:24:38Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > Better idea , pick that location that fatboy is gonna be yammering during the holiday and nuke it, reboot the countrys leadership. Gamble that while the NK’s have toys, who holds the keys to those toys in a leadership succession, is not so clear. /snip mine Let’s not, and say we did. ETA: That applies to the OP as well. ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/31 "2017-04-14T18:32:28Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > /snip mine > > Let’s not, and say we did. > > ETA: That applies to the OP as well. Oh goodie, diplomacy by mean girls, yeah no ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/32 "2017-04-14T18:54:59Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > Oh goodie, diplomacy by mean girls, yeah no Are you implying that statement began with the movie, or maybe that’s where I picked it up? I don’t understand. To your suggestion: we would be assassinating a foreign leader, in an unprovoked attack, using nuclear weapons. Congratulations, you might have found the only way to cause an alliance between Russia and China. North Korea’s toys are not what holds back the United States. Yes, Seoul would be a crater in an shooting war. China could turn the entire peninsula radioactive. This is a pissing match that’s been going on for years. The US holds wargames with South Korea and Japan, North Korea talks some shit, the US laughs, points, and reminds them that there is no possibility of the regime surviving any true aggression. Sweet, they can set off a bomb underground, and launch glorified SCUDs. Welcome to 1957. If they manage to actually aim one at something resembling land, we can revisit the topic. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/33 "2017-04-14T18:56:09Z")
> [@saturncomet](#): > > I think we need to hold a Nuclear Bomb Test in an isolated area. North Korea is pretty isolated. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/34 "2017-04-14T19:14:15Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > Are you implying that statement began with the movie, or maybe that’s where I picked it up? I don’t understand. > > To your suggestion: we would be assassinating a foreign leader, in an unprovoked attack, using nuclear weapons. Congratulations, you might have found the only way to cause an alliance between Russia and China. North Korea’s toys are not what holds back the United States. Yes, Seoul would be a crater in an shooting war. China could turn the entire peninsula radioactive. > > This is a pissing match that’s been going on for years. The US holds wargames with South Korea and Japan, North Korea talks some shit, the US laughs, points, and reminds them that there is no possibility of the regime surviving any true aggression. Sweet, they can set off a bomb underground, and launch glorified SCUDs. Welcome to 1957. If they manage to actually aim one at something resembling land, we can revisit the topic. Nuclear weapons are not meant to be warning shots, as per the ops idea. It was suggested in ww 2 and again in the 80’s. They are weapons to be used given the correct circumstances. We have not had to do anything previous regards them, except for the occasional growling, why you might ask, cause China had them firmly on a leash, they were useful in a unique way. Now back on point, if your gonna be talking nukes, you don’t want to be talkin warning, you want to be going Old Testament, hold that gun to dear leaders head, pull the trigger and cancel that motherfuckers cheque. If that means we have to trash NK, SO BE IT, if that means SK gets trashed, SO BE IT, I will add Japan and China and skip the caps, as by now, I assume you realize what going Old Testament means in this regard. So far we have your op plan, nukes are bad mmkay , and fine it’s worked so far. But it comes down to math, total casualties conventional vs a decapitation strike. But the idea of a nuclear warning shot should be shot down at every utterance. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/35 "2017-04-14T19:42:59Z")
As several other posters have mentioned, it should be obvious that the US has nukes. I’m not sure why setting one off would make a difference one way or the other, but the same goes for NK. It’s obvious that they already have nukes. They’ve tested them before. Why would it matter, one way or the other, if they tested another one? Worst case scenario is we gather a little more information as to just how capable their nukes are. If they don’t use it to actually attack anyone, why should we care if they set one off? ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/36 "2017-04-14T19:55:34Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > So far we have your op plan, nukes are bad mmkay , and fine it’s worked so far. But it comes down to math, total casualties conventional vs a decapitation strike. But the idea of a nuclear warning shot should be shot down at every utterance. Which is why a warning shot has been dismissed, as should a unprovoked nuclear attack on another nation’s leader. It’s kind of hard to play the adult in the room when everyone knows you’re a pissed off moment from BOMBS FUCKING AWAY! ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/37 "2017-04-14T21:47:31Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > Which is why a warning shot has been dismissed, as should a unprovoked nuclear attack on another nation’s leader. It’s kind of hard to play the adult in the room when everyone knows you’re a pissed off moment from BOMBS FUCKING AWAY! Again with that fuckin soccer mom diplomacy, diplomacy means saying nice doggie while looking for a big rock, the adult in the room for fuck sakes. Your we are the world , we are the children world view should recuse you from any further comment ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/38 "2017-04-15T03:22:20Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > Again with that fuckin soccer mom diplomacy, diplomacy means saying nice doggie while looking for a big rock, the adult in the room for fuck sakes. It would be very useful were it clearer who the “adult in the room” was and especially if they were to behave like one. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/39 "2017-04-15T04:09:34Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > Again with that fuckin soccer mom diplomacy, diplomacy means saying nice doggie while looking for a big rock, the adult in the room for fuck sakes. > > Your we are the world , we are the children world view should recuse you from any further comment I don’t know what all this means. But it sounds idiotic. North Korea has been rattling their sabers for decades. Why, in your mind, are they suddenly a threat to World Peace? ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415/40 "2017-04-15T05:05:25Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Worst case scenario is we gather a little more information as to just how capable their nukes are. If they don’t use it to actually attack anyone, why should we care if they set one off? Because we have a nuclear non-proliferation treaty which held for over 40 years in limiting the spread of nuclear weapons. North Korea signed it in 1985 then withdrew in 2003. (Note India, Pakistan and Israel never signed it, so when India and Pakistan pulled out their nukes they weren’t violating the treaty. Even NK’s closest ally China agrees NK should not have Nuclear Weapons. A nuclear strike on Seoul or Tokyo as well as being a horrendous loss of life would have devastating effects on the global economy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-bomb-test/784415.md?page=3)