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Experts warn of an accidental atomic war

sfgate.com — A Pentagon project to modify its deadliest nuclear missile for use as a conventional weapon against targets such as North Korea and Iran could set off an alarm in Russia and unwittingly spark an atomic war, two weapons experts warned.

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  • AlwaysDuggDown, on 10/12/2007, -46/+7They are missing the point. Think of it like a mushroom but without the cloud. It's not as important when you start to open your mind to the distinct possibility that even those around you don't think that you are really going to do what they think you will do, despite the confrontational tone of your approach.

    Once all of this occurs, then it will be time to start working towards a settlement, but until then there is really no reason to put more emphasis on any one area of thought than the other, unless running in circles is as inpiring to you as it is to the people that run the 10,000 meter race in the Olympics.

    Just think, you could sit in a lazy boy at the finish line the entire race and be exactly where they are when they finish....without breaking a sweat. Why do they bother? I don't know, but they do, and that makes you wonder about their motives!!!
    • oOLiquidNightOo, on 10/12/2007, -6/+29the deck's kinda stacked against you with that user name, isn't it?
    • AlwaysDuggDown, on 10/12/2007, -36/+9Well ya but I've always liked uphill battles. Just think about the typical housefly and what he endures, just for a taste of my honey and some super-fly sex on the run. 2 days later, he's dead, but does he care...no way, because he was the underdog and he still made it work. Gotta hand it to the little guy.

      Plus, you never know he might be "hung" in the fly world...we couldn't tell most likely unless he was flying crooked.
    • MeridianBlade, on 10/12/2007, -6/+21Are you smoking rocks?
    • dagonweb, on 10/12/2007, -6/+6Social Darwinists. If it works, it works. If you move stuff, you exist. Forward.

      Best depicted in Starship Troopers.
    • radu79, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15Looks like one of those sentences from spam mails that are meant to evade some spam filters.
    • rm999, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3I dream of a day when the first comment on an article, which is completely retarded 75% of the time, doesn't have 10 obvious replies.

      Guys, it's called a troll (or perhaps flamebait). Don't reply to it. You only make the problem worse. Mod it down, ignore it.
    • Monolith2, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Uh, no. These guys are idiots if they think we'd set off a nuke without telling Russia and China about it beforehand. We even did that during the cold war when we tested nukes. So did the soviets.
  • ksuburke, on 10/12/2007, -9/+6Akira instantly comes to mind
    • plarp, on 10/12/2007, -11/+5teeeeeetttttttsuuuuuuuuuuuuuuooooooooooo!!!!!!!!
      KKKAAAAAAAAANEEEEEEEEEEEEEDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
    • pizzaman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8"Akira comes instantly to mind"

      More like terminator 2, just without skynet.
    • SuckMyDigg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3If you read up on the Early Warning Systems in place in both the US and Russia, it basically IS skynet. The only difference is that someone is required to push the start button. The moment the button completes that electrical circuit, the computer takes over and dishes out revenge according to its specifications and cannot be undone, or modified in any way.
  • skinwill, on 10/12/2007, -9/+5Our fathers fought about Mutually Assured Destruction. Must we do the same?
    • jamessavik, on 10/12/2007, -6/+6Ummm... yes.

      When you have an enemy that doesn't mind dying, you must have enough firepower to get them all.
    • Stevethegreat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5When you don't? When this enemy is being made? What do you do in that case? You fear your creation or stop making it bigger? Your choice.
    • skinwill, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0my point was, this has already been argued about. The cold war ended remember?
  • MinaSulo, on 10/12/2007, -24/+1Okay, time to bomb Japan again.
    • jamessavik, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3Why would we want to nuke one of our best trading partners?

      Japan is technically sophisticated enough to produce anykind of nuke they might want and any kind of delivery system.

      A nuclear armed North Korea might just provoke Japan into joining the nuclear club.
    • redxii, on 10/12/2007, -8/+6Dugg down for being a big meanie to Japan...
    • piesforyou, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4er... why?

      It's disturbing that you can be so flippant about such a horrific event.
  • btljuice, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Probability tells me those things won't sit around forever. One way or another it'll get ugly. Welcome to the New American Century.
    • DarkPhoen1x, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4+ digg for KMFDM...and for stating the truth. who knows how long it will take, maybe tomarrow, maybe 1000 years, but something will happen.
  • VicHislop, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Curse you, John Titor!
  • redxii, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5"Ooops... my finger slipped."
  • PanicAttack, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14Dr. Strangelove: I would not rule out the chance to preserve a nucleus of human specimens. It would be quite easy... heh, heh... (He rolls his wheelchair forward into the light.) at the bottom of ah...some of our deeper mineshafts. Radioactivity would never penetrate a mine some thousands of feet deep, and in a matter of weeks, sufficient improvements in drilling space could easily be provided.

    President Merkin Muffley: How long would you have to stay down there?

    Dr. Strangelove: ...I would think that uh, possibly uh... one hundred years... It would not be difficult Mein Fuehrer! Nuclear reactors could, heh... I'm sorry, Mr. President. Nuclear reactors could provide power almost indefinitely. Greenhouses could maintain plant life. Animals could be bred and slaughtered. A quick survey would have to be made of all the available mine sites in the country, but I would guess that dwelling space for several hundred thousands of our people could easily be provided.

    President Merkin Muffley: Well, I, I would hate to have to decide... who stays up and... who goes down.

    Dr. Strangelove: Well, that would not be necessary, Mr. President. It could easily be accomplished with a computer. And a computer could be set and programmed to accept factors from youth, health, sexual fertility, intelligence, and a cross-section of necessary skills. Of course, it would be absolutely vital that our top government and military men be included to foster and impart the required principles of leadership and tradition.
    • Carino, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4This is exactly what came to mind for me, good job!
    • eggo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5If you quoted that from memory, ++nerd points for you. You level up.
  • jamessavik, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5This article is crap.

    The major powers ALWAYS notify each other when they are launching anything.

    Companies that launch missiles capable of reaching orbit are strictly regulated for this reason.

    An unannounced launch will trigger an alert. The bogey will be tracked and profiled by multiple and independent sensors. It's track and probable target are computed.

    We've done this dance with the Russians for decades and they are a hell of a lot better at it than the NKs or Iranians.
    • gboodhoo, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0major powers? is there more than one these days?
    • jeffiek, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5"major powers ALWAYS notify each"

      You mean like this time?

      http://www.mosnews.com/feature/2004/05/21/petrov.shtml
    • jamessavik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2>major powers? is there more than one these days?

      Yes. There are a number of states that are considered either great powers or regional powers.

      There is of course the nuclear club: US, Russia, China, UK, France, India, Israel, Pakistan and several others. The first three are "super-powers" defined by global diplomatic, economic and military influence.

      Regional powers are strong in their own back yard. Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Turkey, Iran, Brazil and South Africa would be considered regional powers.
    • jamessavik, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3>>"major powers ALWAYS notify each"

      >You mean like this time?

      >http://www.mosnews.com/feature/2004/05/21/petrov.shtml

      From the article: “It was a false alarm started aboard a satellite"

      Uhhh... yeah. Why do you think it makes the news whenever Iran or NK announce a missile test. They aren't stupid. They know that they are being monitored. They don't want to get nuked by mistake any more than we do.

      If you are going to cite an article, it is best to read it.
    • redsoxers, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5"The major powers ALWAYS notify each other when they are launching anything."

      Except for when they're actually attacking...which is what they (the Russians) might think was happening!
    • jamessavik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1redsoxers: Except for when they're actually attacking...which is what they (the Russians) might think was happening!


      This is why the Russians, US and other countries mutually notify each other of any launches.

      All of the countries that launch or test missiles announce their intentions weeks or even months beforehand to avoid misunderstandings. Sometimes they will even invite observers.

      No country is stupid or crazy (which is why we are leary of Iran and NK). They do NOT want to invite a hail storm of nuclear weapons.

      I return to my original point: this article overstates the danger of accidental nuclear war. The procedure for the US to launch nukes has layers and layers of precautions. There are redundancies throughout the system to insure that enough C3I survives a first strike to retaliate.
    • jeffiek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@jamessavik
      "From the article: “It was a false alarm started aboard a satellite"

      Uhhh... yeah. Why do you think it makes the news whenever Iran or NK announce a missile test. They aren't stupid. They know that they are being monitored. They don't want to get nuked by mistake any more than we do.

      If you are going to cite an article, it is best to read it."

      Hey genius, nobody's worried about the launches that get announced. It's the ones that don't get announced and the false alarms that can escalate that people worry about.
      The unannounced, intentional beginning of a nuclear war obviously hasn't happened (yet), but the false alarms have happened and will continue to happen. Not only did I read the article, I actually understood it.
  • breakaway, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2Experts Warn: My balls in your face
  • clayton191, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Let's just hope they haven't been hittin' the Stolichnaya when that alarm bleeps.
  • scott1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I think the Darwin Award is either going Kim Jong-il or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
    • scott1, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Unforuntly Bush does not qualify since he has reproduce. Kim Jong-il offspring is not confirm and it's not known if he has offspring if it's adopted. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad I don't think has any offspring(please correct me if I'm wrong)
  • stimcaps, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5http://everybody-dies.com/

    Enjoy.
    • scott1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I downloaded the demo last week and it's a good and very fun game(despite the fact that your killing millions of innocent virtual people for your own personal entartment).
      When I saw this article I was thinking about it.

      BTW I'm bored does want to play a game?
    • neozeed, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Sounds like fun Joshua.
    • Osjpr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Those screenshots show how idiotic mutually assured destruction looks like from the point of view of an alien or astronaut.
  • HeartOfFire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I am anti-North Korea and anti-Iran... but actually, I am against their governments, not their people. Iran is ruled by a fanatical minority. North Korea... well, what choice do their people have? And, how many of them are in prison and hate their government?

    We don't want to nuke them. We can do tactical strikes which are effective enough.

    (And, no, I am not anti-North Korean government or anti-fanatical Shiite because it has been in vogue since 9/11. I studied this stuff since I was a kid. Now, are our guys really opposed to this stuff... that I do not yet know.)


  • SuckMyDigg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1http://russianforces.org/podvig/eng/publications/sprn/20030100ps.shtml is a link to why this should not be such an overblown threat.
  • ChileanGoD, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Guys, for the sick of the world and future generations. Get thos morons out of the government.. i beg you.
  • ezra802, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Is Russia still worried about us nuking them? We may have some disagreements with them over foreign policy, but would they really construe a missile launch as an attack? Why would we attack them now?
    • moovitz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@ ezra802

      I bet it's about allofmp3.com!
    • synystar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That is a point I was just about to make before I noticed your comment. A single missle, or two, should not be cause for retaliation. Even IF we chose not to notify the "club" of our intentions to nuke North Korea for instance, you would hope they they are trained to recognize the difference between a nuclear onslaught and an incoming missle which very well might be headed toward North Korea and not Russia.

      Train them to understand that If the alerts raise a spectre of doom in the form of hundreds of missles coming at them, then go ahead and hit the Start button, but have some common sense and do everything in your power to avoid the end of the world.
    • jamessavik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Most of the leadership in Russia was brought up on Cold War era propaganda which was meant to instill fear of the West.

      Russia has good reason to fear the "West" having faced diasterous invasions by Napoleon and Hitler.
  • moovitz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2In Soviet Russia... Missile fires YOU!
  • Soldan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1N korea is in no position to do anything..do you really think China would allow them to effect trade by launching a missle at the US or anywhere...

    Iran has nothing to gain as well... I doubt the iranian population wishes to die in a fireball...Israel is too unstable in that reguard that is the only reason I could see the pursuit of nukes by iran....
  • GerryDaman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Umm...this is pretty scary. I'm teaching English Seoul, just about 100 miles away from the DMZ. The situation here isn't as tense as the media is making it out to be, but it's still a relevant issue. Should I be contacting the Canadian Embassy anytime soon?

    My teaching English in Korea blog:
    http://thedailykimchi.blogspot.com
  •  

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