M.A.D. v. Mad: There is a difference.
Seen this meme and variations floating around.
The Youngins may have read about post WWII tensions and the eventual beginning and end of the Cold War between the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. Both had (and now Russia) nuclear weapons to be used in case of a hot war being declared, but both sides were aware that nobody was going to win in a convectional way the manner we in the West. Both countries want their lands with the least amount of harm possible and the civilian population unharmed which is pretty damn unreachable if the nuclear trigger is pulled. That is what is called Mutually Assured Destruction (M.A.D.): “If you try to erase us, we will erase you right back; you don’t want to be erased and I don’t want to be erased, so let’s chill. Nobody wins if we go to war.”
Now let us get into the Suicide Bomber culture. I know it has been with us quite a while and not all of them are from the Middle East, but one dedicated individual willing to sacrifice himself others win is one thing (Kamikaze) but when you have a full culture and government who not only don’t care if their people die, but mass death of other countries and themselves are treated as divine mandates and due full obedience, then the game of who has nukes changes drastically.
Russia may or may not use nukes. Is anybody with some amount of rationally brain is willing to bet that Iran will not use nukes once they make them?1 And especially if the USA is perceived as weak and decadent? Israel will be a nuclear wasteland (Gaza included for those Pro Palestinians about to applaud) and probably one or more of the big cities in CONUS. Moscow and/or Saint Petersburg may also get repaved nuclear flat in “payback” for the Chechens.
And then, the Middle East will glow in the dark for a very long time once both countries reply in kind twice over.
“But we are not a war with Iran!”
Bullcrap. We have been in a low-intensity conflict with the assholes since 1979 and playing their game ever since. After this series of urban and rural remodeling, we need an old-school CIA internal strife support to knock down the remaining mullahs and substitute them with less stupid people who will go barbarian at anybody who has the idea of going back to the stupid ways.
Unfortunately, the answer is yes and they will probably hit the airwaves and the streets all next week. Their opinion must be heard and then dismissed. Rational brains are usually impaired by TDS.
Correct about the low intensity conflict with Iran. Although both Russia and China have/are supporting Iran, its a tenuous relationship.
Both Russia and China have significant Muslim populations that conduct Uncivil acts periodically; ones that are suppressed with brutal force. Sponsored by.... Iran! No diplomatic or economic effort has been able to get the Iranians to stop thief duplicitous behavior.
I'll bet both Putin and Xi are secretly high fiving Trump for wrecking Iran's nuclear ambitions and maybe even helping in the shadows.
"we need an old-school CIA internal strife support to knock down the remaining mullahs and substitute them with less stupid people"
We already did that in the 50s in Iran which is what kicked off this whole domino fall we're in. So it didn't actually start in 79. Not saying either side is right (in an argument there is wrong on both sides) just that there is more history and they didn't start it. OTOH I'm not in favor of any nation based on a policy/religion of world dominion having nukes (Islam, Judaism cough cough). Of course Iran could probably buy one from N Korea, maybe Pakistan.