From the mouth of Aristotle

[Arryn]

Boron said:
My assumptions about nuclear missiles were only from an extreme viewpoint i fear which i tried to "simulate" .
The book/film The Sum of All Fears from Tom Clancy has impressed me there .

You used a totally fictional story that Clancy wrote as the basis of your saying that in REAL LIFE the Israeli's got their nukes from the U.S.? Wow. I wonder (and shudder) to think what other things you might believe based upon fictional sources?

Boron said:
The scenario seemed pretty realistic to me when the Usa thought about a preventive strike on Russia .

While I enjoyed this story (so much so that I own both the book and the DVD), it's a work of fiction. There are numerous flaws in the story if you know what to look for and where to look for them. But they do not detract from the story because it is very well written and they are well hidden and/or subtle. Tom Clancy knows his art (writing and research), which includes what facts to alter and how, so that reality gets distorted (for the sake of security) and fiction gets a taste of "reality".

Boron said:
And in a few years if Bush keeps the power

Ye gods I hope not.

Boron said:
So if China would really shoot all their 20 long range nukes on the Usa the Usa would strike back , China would not exist anymore .

More or less. They'd get sent right back to the age of feudal warlords, not that present-day China is much more advanced, socially.

Boron said:
My fear is that in a few years some fanatic militarists may calculate the risk of being hit as worthy doing a preventive strike . If the new SDI Bush lets develop now in 5-10 years can kill 95/99% of all incoming missiles this might get a big problem .

The U.S. will never engage in a nuclear first-strike. However, a non-nuclear pre-emptive strike is possible ... which if executed as ineptly as the war in Iraq was, would simply trigger the other side into launching first. It doesn't matter who launches first. Everyone loses. All rational military and political leaders have known this for 50+ years. What's scary is that the leaders of some nations (like N. Korea, Iran, etc.) don't care if they lose millions and their country becomes a wasteland. Some of these fanatic morons actually think dying is good. It's just too bad we can't let them have their wish (to die) without suffering collateral damage in the process. The more fanatics kill themselves, the cleaner the gene pool becomes. Now if we could only figure out a safe way to make them happy ...

Boron said:
And there is always the other problem mentioned in The Sum of All Fears that terrorists may get a small bomb and smuggle them to New York / Berlin etc. , just to the most important city with which nation they are "at war" atm.

That's the only realistic, and hence truly scary, part of the movie. The unrealistic parts of the movie are how the terrorists got their bomb, and what the US and Russia did after the attack. But it's a movie. A certain amount of suspension of disbelief is necessary. Just don't forget that after you've finished watching the movie you need to turn your disbelief back on and not confuse what you just saw with reality.

Boron said:
Do you have played combat mission yourself ?

No. I rarely play that style of game.