At 19:36 3-3-01 -0500, John Giorgis wrote:
> >> So, let's say that said despot lobs a nuclear weapon at
> >> Norfolk, VA.
> > Boo! Hiss! unsporting action by despot! (although bringing it in by
> >ship was a clever move - snuck right past that missile defence.)
>
>A ship is possible - but in many ways is much more problematic than an
>ICBM. With a ship, you need a loyal *and* suicidal crew.
That may not be that big a problem, as long as your followers are fanatical
enough. Many bombings in the Middle East are suicide missions; for
fanatical Muslims, such a death is an heroic act that will give them a
place right next to Allah. In WW2, Japanese pilots didn't see kamikaze
attacks as stupid; they considered an honor to die for their Emperor.
Heck, it wouldn't even surprise me that, when asked, even US Marines would
volunteer for a suicide mission.
> > the treatment of Iraq suggests otherwise. Saddam Hussein is not
> >popularly elected, is clearly repressive, and is essentially unharmed
> >by the economic sanctions which are harming and hardening the Iraqi
> >people and the Muslim world - yet the sanctions are almost
> >unprotested in the United States and are little discussed. the US
> >government is quite able to act in destructive ways which harm its
> >own interests.
>
>Undiscussed? Iraqi sanctions have only been the preeminent foreign policy
>debate in the US for the past week.
Can you give us a summary of that debate?
Jeroen
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