Doomsday clock ticks closer to Armageddon

Bryan · 01-17-2007, 11:57 AM

http://environment.guardian.co.uk/cl...992638,00.html

this is the first i've heard of a Doomsday Clock. but interesting nonetheless.

**thesteve** · 01-17-2007, 12:06 PM

what they fail to mention in the article was that Monday night's episode of 24 also was a cause to move the time forward.

GoMilton · 01-17-2007, 12:56 PM

Thats really stupid. If a nuclear bomb were to go off today, they could go to the clock and move it forward to midnight and then say "See, We told you this was going to happen, we have always been so close to it"

jfahler03 · 01-17-2007, 01:06 PM

...keep in mind that at the pinnacle of the Cold War it was about 2 minutes from midnight. And in the 90's it was almost 20 minutes from midnight.

Demon_Hunter · 01-17-2007, 01:36 PM

That is so stupid. There is no accurate way to gauge how close the world is to nuclear armageddon.

Besides, I would say that the fact that America and Russia have over 26k nukes between us, and we havnt bombed each other yet is a positive sign.

Plus, the fact that only twice have nuclear weapons been used in war demonstrates the worlds uneasiness with using such weapons. Everyone wants one, no one wants to use it.

Actually, I take that back, Iran and Nkoreas leaders dont seem that phased by the idea of using nuclear weapons on their neighbors....

bobthecockroach · 01-17-2007, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by demon_hunter

Actually, I take that back, Iran and Nkoreas leaders dont seem that phased by the idea of using nuclear weapons on their neighbors....

Hence, the closeness to nuclear armageddon.

Demon_Hunter · 01-17-2007, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobthecockroach

Hence, the closeness to nuclear armageddon.

But those 2 countries together couldnt start an all out nuclear armageddon. Im certain America, or the UK would do something about it long before it got that far.

And even if Iran or NK launged nuclear weapons, the only nation I know of that would actually respond in kind is Israel, but even that is a stretch.

Ryan Freeland · 01-17-2007, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by demon_hunter

But those 2 countries together couldnt start an all out nuclear armageddon. Im certain America, or the UK would do something about it long before it got that far.

...

North Korea has succesfully tested a nuclear weapon. If one of the countries (Iran or North Korea) nukes another nation.. I'd say we'd be very close to nuclear armageddon.

Bryan · 01-17-2007, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Building429_Boy

...

North Korea has succesfully tested a nuclear weapon. If one of the countries (Iran or North Korea) nukes another nation.. I'd say we'd be very close to nuclear armageddon.

i keep wondering if the US would retaliate w/ nukes if Iran or N Korea nuked us... I don't think we would.

Demon_Hunter · 01-17-2007, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Building429_Boy

...

North Korea has succesfully tested a nuclear weapon. If one of the countries (Iran or North Korea) nukes another nation.. I'd say we'd be very close to nuclear armageddon.

Actually, the test was a gigantic failure. Thats the hillarity of it. The only thing anyone focuses on is that they actually tested one, no one realizes that the test was a gigantic failure.

It will be years before they succesfully test a nuclear weapon, and years still after that before they can actualy load one onto a rocket.

bobthecockroach · 01-17-2007, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan

i keep wondering if the US would retaliate w/ nukes if Iran or N Korea nuked us... I don't think we would.

No, we'd probably send just enough troops there to not do any good and create another 5+ year war to settle something that could've been settled in a few hours with our air force.

Demon_Hunter · 01-17-2007, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobthecockroach

No, we'd probably send just enough troops there to not do any good and create another 5+ year war to settle something that could've been settled in a few hours with our air force.

AirPower can only do so much.

You can cripple a regular army with Air Power, but you cant stop an insurgency that hides in plain sight.

bobthecockroach · 01-17-2007, 02:15 PM

Yeah, but if North Korea dropped a nuke, we could just go in and destroy every military facility in the country in a matter of hours. I mean, it's not like we don't have spy satellites to keep track of these things.

Ryan Freeland · 01-17-2007, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobthecockroach

No, we'd probably send just enough troops there to not do any good and create another 5+ year war to settle something that could've been settled in a few hours with our air force.

Couldn't agree more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by demon_hunter

AirPower can only do so much.

You can cripple a regular army with Air Power, but you cant stop an insurgency that hides in plain sight.

You can prevent an insurgency with air power. Something we didn't do well enough at all in Iraq.

Ryan Freeland · 01-17-2007, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan

i keep wondering if the US would retaliate w/ nukes if Iran or N Korea nuked us... I don't think we would.

I agree with you there. But what if it was something like India vs. Pakistan? They'd use nukes on each other in an instant.