Originally Posted by
Tarlam!
If it's good enough for Britain, India, Israel, Pakistan, France, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and USA, I guess it's good enough for North Korea.
I know this is a controversial post. I am anything but a liberal. But, it is a historical fact that only Americans have used Nukes in war and that fact disqualifies America from being the world's conscience in the debate.
Tarlam!, I respect your opinion. That said, I have to respectfully disagree.
The moral equivalency argument simply doesn't fly. Yes, America did use nuclear weapons in warfare back in 1945. But what statement does it make that
it has had this technology and not used it for 60 years? The US has every right "to be the world's conscience" because while it could have used nuclear weapons to dominate others instead it used its power to liberate billions of people from tyranny and genocide.
What would Hitler have done with nuclear weapons if he had had the chance? What about imperialistic Japan that invaded China, Korea, and the Philippines? North Korea's economy is built off of the enslavement of about 15% of its population. They can build nuclear weapons and export missiles but can't provide farmers with tractors or rice planters. The work is done by hand.
Iran denies the Holocaust and produces maps without Israel on them. What would they do with a nuclear weapon (nicknamed "The Islamic Bomb")? Do you really want to find out? Have you forgotten the reaction to the Dutch cartoons?
I believe you when you say that you are not a liberal. You’re smarter than that. But there is a vocal minority in America that isn’t. They are self-loathing and take a “Blame America†approach for every evil in the world. What a clueless bunch they are! The freedoms that they enjoy in the US would get them shot elsewhere (Russian journalist killed this weekend, for example).
America has its freedoms due to its strength. Nuclear weapons are an unfortunate reality because it puts the ability to practically destroy the world into the hands of men. However, based upon the last 60 years, I rather have that power in American hands rather than Kim, Jong-il (whose people have to worship as a god) or Mahmud Ahmadinejad (who believes that the mythical 12th Imam will return after Armageddon and that Islam will dominate the world). I suspect that deep down you do as well.
That said, I close my post like I began it. I respect your opinion.