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Comment by iterationx | Hacker News Reader

Joel Skousen has an interesting analysis. North Korea attacks South Korea, the US defends South with tactical nukes. Then there is a nuclear strike on the US from Russia and China in retaliation, which might explain why the US gov is building super bunkers in the Ozarks .

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That's about the most silly analysis I've ever seen.

There isn't a chance in hell Russia and China end their entire existence just to defend a war against North Korea that the North also happened to start.

How do I know that? Tons of historical evidence says it would never happen. Vietnam, Cuba, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, the original Korean War. There have been countless proxy skirmishes over the decades. None of the majors are even remotely interested in committing suicide for a proxy.

We invaded Korea with hundreds of thousands of troops, and fought a real war with massive casualties. We even fought a war with China at that time. Nobody launched any nukes at the US. Nobody is going to launch nukes at the US in the parent scenario either.

This isn't a video game. You launch nukes, everyone dies, and your civilization and culture is erased for all time. Russia would see a thousand nukes rain down on it, obliterating every relevant city. Ditto China. North Korea is not even remotely worth it, and they know it.

> Nobody launched any nukes at the US.

You're right about Korea being a limited war. Both sides had protected rear areas that were vital to the war, and were careful not to step over the line.

However the USSR had only tested their first a-bomb in 1949, and their strategic delivery systems were .. minimal .. for years after that.

I was thinking more along the lines of Russia using short range nuclear weapons as a threat in Europe and Korea against both US forces and allies. Since Russia had the bomb in 1949, and was designing the R7 in 1953, I suspect they had the ability to put a nuke on top of a short or medium range missile before the end of the Korean war, and of course at the least deliver a nuke via bomber (not to the continental US necessarily, although there was the concept of using the pole as the route to do it via one way trip; I have no idea if the Soviet bombers had range for a one way trip in 1953).

> Joel Skousen has an interesting analysis.

A simple visit to his website, and wikipedia page, convinces me that Joel Skousen is about as non-authoritative a source as one can possibly get on this subject.

> Then there is a nuclear strike on the US from Russia and China in retaliation

This is a huge jump in logic without any explanation.

Perhaps if you spent more than four seconds on his website, you might the analysis interesting, http://www.worldaffairsbrief.com/keytopics/threats.html

> "More than ever, I still consider the nuclear attack on America as inevitable, both because the real axis of evil (Russia and China) are still building for that attack, and because our own government is controlled by those intent upon destroying US sovereignty and delivering our nation over to a socialist New World Order."

Classic Mormon survivalist subculture crazytalk.

Yep, as even if you assumed half of that were correct, it wouldn't change the fact that Russia and China have absolutely no desire to commit suicide by nuclear war, and particularly over North Korea.

If those countries wanted to commit nuclear suicide, they could have and would have done it a long time ago. The past had a lot more provocations that could have been used to justify it, than the recent times have.

He presents arguments why it is not nuclear suicide. If you weren't so smug you might learn something.

I find it shocking to think that China and Russia will begin WWIII over North Korea (or will move their military in unison. You don't exactly see Chinese/Russian war games going on. They're both positioning for regional control against one another, not as best friends).

If China and Russia launch against the US, we know it in seconds and launch against both them. Which means that within an hour, China Russia and the US are basically no longer major international players.

They know it's suicide. They know we can respond and do as much or more damage. They won't do it, neither will we.

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