What good can come from anyone having nukes using nukes or any other weapon of mass destruction?

Question

If 9-11 pissed us off, won't using nukes result in pissing off the nuked and hating the nukers?

Answer 1

Yeah-but what are they gonna do about it?

Using nukes saved millions of lives in WW2 and the Japanese are now a U.S. ally.

Answer 2

The two nuclear weapons dropped on Japan saved the lives of over 500,000 Americans and almost 10 million Japanese.

From an ethical standpoint - how can you not choose the course of action that will result in the fewest number of deaths?

Answer 3

Having nukes kept Western Europe free for 45 years.

Answer 4

So essentially... don't upset the people trying to kill you or they'll try to kill you?

Answer 5

Who said we were using nukes?   Have we nuked anyone that didn't deserve it?  (ref Japan 1945).  All they need to know is that we will use them if we are pushed into it.  Nothing more.  

Answer 6

You're asking two questions here.

What good can come from using nuclear weapons? Little or none a this point. When we used them in WWII we were the only ones who had them. It ended a war.

Today, using them could easily start a war. Iran, or any terrorist country doesn't need missile systems to deliver nuclear weapons. They need some idiot crazy enough to walk into the streets of LA, San Francisco,  Seattle, Chicago, Denver, New York, with a suitcase. If we retaliate with nuclear weapons, we'll wipe them off the face of the earth. End of story? Nope. Somebody will side with them. That somebody will have allies/friends/customers who will also have to choose up sides. And they'll have friends and pretty soon the major powers will be involved. Then the world will be void of life.

What good can come from having nuclear weapons? It's a deterrent. People with any sense realize that a nuclear exchange will destroy life on the planet -- and they don't want that. We're afraid some other country will strike us first. With nuclear weapons aimed at them, we hope they'll think twice before doing so. Russia fears we might strike first. So does China. At least that's what they say. So, to keep us at arms length, they say they need them too. This is the argument Iran is using.

Unfortunately, countries without such weapons want them. They're willing to pay a lot for them. So countries with weapons sell them to countries without.

The major powers have agreed to a "non proliferation" treaty that prevents countries with them to sell or give them to countries who don't. But, again unfortunately, most countries don't pay any attention to the treaty. So a lot of countries that shouldn't have them do. And some of those countries really don't care about preserving life on this planet. The fact that other countries have nuclear weapons and could turn their little countries into radioactive sheets of glass with a couple of strikes -- that fact doesn't matter to these little countries in the least. They're gambling that we won't. They're gambling that world opinion will be on their side. They don't realize that after an all-out nuclear exchange there will be no "world opinion."