# US out of Ostrich Mode: other nations and WMD

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-out-of-ostrich-mode-other-nations-and-wmd/151939>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [January 31, 2003, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-out-of-ostrich-mode-other-nations-and-wmd/151939 "2003-01-31T19:55:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-out-of-ostrich-mode-other-nations-and-wmd/151939/21 "2003-02-02T00:08:27Z")

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> **RexDart** : …appeasement will work if we abandon Israel

How will appeasement “work” for Israel or the Middle East generally - keeping in mind Israel has no plans to go anywhere? Where is the advantage to the United States?

I tend to think it might devolve into a huge war where millions of Arabs and hundreds of thousands of Israelis are killed.

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**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-out-of-ostrich-mode-other-nations-and-wmd/151939/22 "2003-02-02T00:19:39Z")

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> **Leaper** : Okay, so nuclear non-proliferation collapses, and the world is armed. What does that mean? Simply a new type of politics? Eternal Cold War-style tension? Inevitable holocaust?

All of the above excluding “simply.” Over time a regime dependent upon each nation exercising deadly force over the other will have its little mishaps.

For example: How will a nuclear Panama negotiate a fishing dispute with a nuclear Colombia?

I don’t know, but it will make international news exciting again.

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**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-out-of-ostrich-mode-other-nations-and-wmd/151939/23 "2003-02-02T00:48:04Z")

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> \*Originally posted by auliya \*  
> **I take you are including the the United States in this as well? Or is it only other countries you are insisting on disarming, while you retain the big stick to enable you to enforce your ideologies on others? That is certainly what it sounds like you are saying.**

I will not argue with the validity of the idea that the U.S. should also disarm. However, as stated in other posts it has been presumed that the U.S. is a responsible player and that until most to the nations possessing nuclear weapons have complied, someone must retain a big stick. I’m sorry if you feel repressed by our ideologies, but I thought we were accomplishing that thru our movies\*, products and slang.

As to those other posts that stated that the Bush Administration has violated that trust, I can only say that it was a questionable use of “sword rattling.” Having a big stick means nothing, if everybody knows you will never use it.

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> **Estilicon** do you have a cite for this?..  
> …let alone a nuclear weapons program. \*\*

I have no dog in this race, but he did not imply (in anyway) that you did.

- 😛 [sup]We’ll gladly let you have Russell Crowe back.[/sup]

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