Why Would A Nation Ever Use Nukes In A Hypothetical WWIII Scenario If They Know Full Well That A Full Scale Nuclear War Could Possibly End The World?



Nuclear war does not equal the apocalypse. Our fate has been greatly exaggerated

Having done some serious homework on this subject I have come to realize that people are happy not knowing the truth and assuming the worst. Hardly anyone makes an effort to understand the real implications and instead they latch onto hype as their only truth.

Fear and sensationalism sells and if you hear it enough you start to believe it without any need for a basis in fact. Between the endless sensational news stories and Hollywood epic dramas we have abandoned any critical thinking and logic for a fictional vision of the apocalypse when in truth a real analysis says otherwise.

An All Out Nuclear War Between the USA and Russia (the only two that really matter in total destructive force and the only two who are likely to go at it.)

The war wouldn't be noticeable in the vast majority of the world as less than 1/2 of a percent of earth's landmass would be involved. While the damage caused by nuclear weapons is indeed severe the idea of an apocalypse is greatly exaggerated by the press and perpetuated by people who react without making any effort to actually understand.

A few things to consider…

  1. The world's nuclear arsenals are a small fraction of what they were in the 1980’s. Over 50,000 nuclear weapons have been dismantled and another 7000 are waiting for dismantling in total between the USA and Russia.
  2. USA and Russia have less than 2000 warheads each that are considered strategic weapons on high alert. These weapons are much smaller in yield than what they were in the 1980’s. Multi megaton weapons are obsolete and no longer deemed useful militarily. This is the result of higher accuracy delivery systems and the use of ground penetrating warheads which are 30 times more destructive than a surface burst so larger yields are no longer necessary.
  3. In a war scenario, not all strategic weapons will be used. Perhaps 2/3 in an all out war first strike, the rest would be held in reserve.
  4. Both the USA and Russia have policies of not targeting civilians and due the number of weapons available and an oversupply of military targets, what weapons that would be used would all be targeted on military assets. You cannot win a war by bombing civilians. It did not work when the Germans did that to Britain and it did not work when Britain (and to a lesser extent the USA - but the USA tried to limit bombing to military targets …..just not very accurately delivered) tried it on the Germans, It did not work when the USA bombed Japan (it wasn't the atomic bomb that ended the war it was the USSR declaring war on Japan and attacking Japanese forces in Manchuria), it has not worked in places like Vietnam, or the middle east. You win wars by taking out your opponents ability to make war not by targeting its civilians. Both Russia and the USA have agreed in the event of war, not to target civilians and not to target things like civilian nuclear power plants. The details are available if you are motivated to find the truth.
  5. Airburst leave little radiation … almost zero.
  6. Ground bursts and earth penetrating rounds leave radiation that after 2–3 weeks is safe to linger and after a few months is back to background radiation levels. The bikini Atoll, which took a lot of dirty bombs, has a lower radiation reading today then what you would read from the granite rocks found in NYC’s central park and it is also less than 1/2 the background radiation that the city of Denver gets from natural sources. Modern nuclear weapons are designed to minimize the longer lasting radioactive side effects. The Chernobyl accident released almost the same amount of radiation as all the above ground nuclear weapons testing in history, over 500 bombs. Chernobyl, while severe, it wasn't the end of the world or even a long lasting regional effect. The press blows everything out of proportion because terror and tragedy sells.
  7. Nuclear weapons destruction will be concentrated in military strategic targets. Most of the country will remain un-touched, there just isn't enough bombs to rein wholesale destruction across the country … do the math. If Russia launched 1300 weapons and each weapon had a destructive diameter of 10 miles, so average 100 square miles per bomb, that equals 130,000 square miles. Now targeting assets requires at least 2 warheads sent to a target… at least. So divide that area in half. So 65,000 square miles. The USA is 3.7 million square miles. That means that the total area of destruction in the USA in an all out nuclear war is 1.7% of the USA land area. That's it! Take it a step further and realize that most of that destruction will be targeting strategic assets in remote locations … we put them there on purpose.
  8. Mutually Assured Destruction does not exist in 2017. MAD is a relic of the 1980’s, we no longer have the assets and neither does Russia to assure anyones complete destruction.
  9. Nuclear winter calculations were based upon bombs greater than 1 megaton and cities with heavy loading of flammable materials. Neither exist today. Modern cities are significantly below the minimum loading of necessary flammable materials required to start massive firestorms, the premise of the theory.

Yes many will die and it will be ugly and very messy but we will live on. It isn't going to be the end of the world or even this nation if it ever happens.

If you would like to challenge these assertions, do so on my comprehensive answer on this subject. All opinions are welcome and factual data is greatly appreciated.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

10 Safest Places During Martial Law (During martial law, the constitution, your civil rights, and any other existing laws may be suspended, so do what you think is necessary to retain some sort of justice and control over your own life and safety.)

How Would A Post-Apocalyptic Society Function Without Electricity And Running Water? (There were many people in America who didn't have electricity and running water well into the 1940s.)

Where Is The Best Place To Hide Your Guns (If The Government Starts Confiscating Guns, all of Those Items will Become Hard to Come by.)