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Comment by sudden_dystopia | Hacker News Reader

Jesus Gary, chill out. I would prefer for my children not to die in thermo nuclear war, thank you.

Why do you think our current (weak) stance will avoid it? A lot of people are really not convinced of that, including Gary but also many military experts.

Of course they're not convinced. They are paid to promote war.

Not civilisation ending war; what's the use of being paid for that?

Not intended as a serious answer, but your questions reminded me of this comic.

https://twitter.com/benioff/status/549339156854214656?lang=g...

What's the use of being a shill for civilisation ending environmental policy? I think Dr. Strangelove himself demonstrates the character profile..

If the world is going to stick to a sanctions plan it needs to destroy all those pipelines now and sanction Russian Oil, shutting down only the parts of Russia's economy that don't reinforce Putin's power is only going to work if it has been done early enough and it has been over 2 decades, so probably it is not.

It's not like the care what happens after the sale...

I think even for Putin it's always a cost/benefits analysis. Obviously he wants Ukraine and is willing to pay a high price for it. But what's the price he's willing to pay for Poland or the Baltic states? The price for attacking a NATO country is likely higher, and I assume Poland and the Baltic states are less important to him.

So, yes, I think that the current stance has a good chance of avoiding it. Much higher than the possibility of a nuclear war in case of NATO directly helping Ukraine.

Unwillingless to use nuclear weapons undermines MAD doctrine and makes nuclear war more likely. The behaviour of Western countries might have made Putin believe that they won't respond with nuclear weapons in all scenarios. The credibility of nuclear response is the cornerstone of global balance, but if your reaction to everything is "I don't want to die", then you erode that credibility.

Okay, Dr. Strangelove.

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