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Originally posted by joeclarke
I view this topic in the obverse.
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Somehow, that doesn't surprise me.
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Nor did we in any tangible way threaten them into a democratic epiphany
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I'm not at all sure I agree with that. I have served on Ballistic Missile Submarines, and when in uniform, I wear the "Strategic Deterrent" pin with some measure of pride. My boat was capable of carrying 24 missiles, each of which was capable of carrying 7 warheads. Even against today's incredibly advanced sonar suites, my boat was a competent adversary. When we really wanted to disappear, there wasn't a thing they could do to find us. I'd suggest that perhaps the concept of 150 helpless targets makes for a pretty big stick. I'm sure that didn't help with the diplomacy any. I'm sure they didn't build up their arsenal in response to that, spending money they didn't have. I'm just as certain of that as I am that Arab world dictators today are coincidentally going anti-terror as a natural evolution of society, rather than as a response to our "head on a pike" in Iraq.
Dan