Wait until in response to the West arming Ukraine Putin declares that henceforth Russia will consider the Ukrainian resistance a “proxy war” with NATO, and that it will use any means necessary to win.
Nope, if Russia uses a nuke they’ll still blame it on Ukraine, claiming they had a secret stash of nukes. Just like they’ve claimed Ukraine has bioweapons labs that it doesn’t actually have.
Yes, by a small group of people who had spent thousands of years learning to live that way. Those people will mostly be OK. Everyone else: dead in 6 weeks.
Nah. If Russia actually does a full nuclear attack on the US, it will be more or less the same outcome.
Look, the projections for an India-Pakistan exchange of 100 warheads forecast 10 years of nuclear winter causing a famine that would eventually kill 2 billion people.
That’s just for 100 warheads. A Russian decapitation strike would involve 2,000 warheads.
Even in that case, everyone still faces food starvation and energy starvation from the collapse of global trade. Russia has some modern infrastructure intact, but they suffer massive loss of population and social collapse. They’re not expanding anywhere.
There is no point retaliating. Of course in the perverse logic of deterrence we have to threaten as if we’re serious, but the only point of actually retaliating is to win a dick-measuring contest that still ends in the collapse of global civilization and the death of every person who isn’t already self-subsistent off the land.
Was there a “global supply chain” in 1900 when there was a population of nearly 4 million living in Australia?
Leaving 6 billion alive, you say? How will the human race ever endure being reduced to the levels it was at 30 years ago?
Here’s a protip: threats don’t work if you tell the enemy they’re empty.
Human civilization did just fine without global trade for the entirety of human history up until the last 50 years or so. Humanity can learn to manage without it. Humanity is more capable than you give it credit for.
Yes, actually there was. There were 4 million people because that’s what global trade could support in 1900. Colonized Australia has never been self-sufficient.
Ahem.
But do go on about how Australia will starve to death if not for boatloads of Spam.
It seems like you utterly failed to apprehend that the loss of 2 billion people was the best case, the case from a mere use of 100 warheads. We are now talking about a Russian first strike that would involve 2,00 warheads. Not to get all mathy, but that’s 20 times as many.
Do you get the basis for comparison now?
You’re being awfully generous in assuming that Russia even has 2,000 functioning and deployable warheads. What we’ve seen of them in the past two months suggests otherwise.
LOL, Australia imports virtually all of its energy. Food production for “tens of millions” halts without energy. Do you actually think tens of millions of accountants are going to learn to plow their own land with a donkey in the 6 weeks before food supplies on hand run out?
Food is energy. Without energy imports, Australia is back to pre-colonization levels, except with a ton of hungry colonists fighting over scraps.
This suggests that you know nothing about Russia’s deterrent force, and would prefer to make some bold guesses to win an internet argument.
I know that pretty much everything they claim about the strength, prowess, and armament of their modern military has been proven false in the past two months.
You can’t run a tractor off coal. Jesus, get serious here. Australia imports half of its oil. Most of its oil-drilling equipment is made in other countries and can’t be sustained without parts off the global supply chain.
Uh huh. And the Nazis designed a plane powered by coal.
As conventional fuels were in extremely short supply by late 1944, Lippisch proposed that the P.13a be powered by coal.
And we could go back to cars powered by Fred Flintstone’s two feet.
Do you suppose the people of the world are just going to lie down in a ditch and wait for death because there’s no gas at the Chevron?
That’s exactly what happens when a person starves to death.
When faced with starving to death or not starving to death, most people choose to pursue the latter.