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Do you worry about Nuclear Weapons?

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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aladdin wrote: »
    £76bn would buy just about everything this country needs.

    Not really, its £76bn over 10 years or so, which in real terms isnt actually as much money as it sounds, it costs about £70bn to run the NHS for one year.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aladdin wrote:
    As for the nuclear weapons issue, I look at nations such as Spain, Germany, Italy, Canada and countless others and wonder why can't be join them. I've never met a person from those nations who feels unsecure because their country does not have nukes. Indeed, the notion of a nation such as China or Russia attacking them in the future because they have no nukes is too ludicrous for words.

    They have a nuclear deterrent; NATO membership.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    So does Britain. So no problem there.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The only NATO members with nukes are the USA and the UK; France left NATO decades ago but they're rejoining at the end of this year so that makes two. Due to the security of launch procedures it's possible that the UKs top command could be premptively wiped out leaving us incapable of launching a counter attack; the same could apply for France so it's best not to put all your eggs in one basket.

    Besides, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium etc. do have nukes in a sense as NATO has a 'Nuclear sharing' program. They're under control of the USA but that's merely a formality to get round the NPT; if nuclear war broke out it'd be the host countries warplanes delivering them.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aladdin wrote: »
    So does Britain. So no problem there.

    Though if the UK gave them up you might find other NATO countries having to take the slack.

    Proper deterrence only works if it deters. And soon after the Soviet explosion intelligent people started to ask would the US sacrifice Washington to stop the Soviets taking Bonn. The answer wasn't an unequivocable yes and if we knew that, so did the Soviets. However, would France go nuclear if Soviet tanks were on its border or the UK do so if the Soviets were massing at Calais and the answer becomes more complex. Going to war against NATO suddenly becomes much more risky as you have to take account of three reactions, not one.

    As to why it was the UK and France - Belgium, canada et al were to small to have the GDP, Spain were facists, Germany had been until recently and Italy not had been, but also risked sliding into communist hands.
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