08-22-2017, 04:37 PM
(08-22-2017, 07:26 AM)Kinser79 Wrote: Bob, I would argue that Mr. Kim knows that a state which has nuclear weapons won't be attacked. The difference between him and Saddam Hussein is that he has now these weapons and has the ability to produce more whereas Saddam never had that ability--his game was to keep Iran from crossing the boarder.
Kim's game is to shake his missiles for rice and antibiotics to keep from being overthrown.
I find underestimating the rationality of political actors is as dangerous (and stupid) as overestimating them. What one must look at is the real situation based on resources, wealth, intellectual capacities of population and other sundry "dry statistics".
As my signature says: It really is all mathematics.
So let's review the Nuclear Club:
- USA -- the first member,
- UK -- part of the Manhattan Project, so certainly the second to have one
- France -- may be third or fourth,
- USSR (now Russia alone, I hope), before or after France
- Israel -- 5th?,
- South Africa --- Israel's partner, so they must have at least one or two,
- China -- 6th,
- Pakistan -- 7th or 8th,
- India -- 8th or 7th,
- PDRK -- 9th.
Intelligence is not knowledge and knowledge is not wisdom, but they all play well together.