Trident

[hellywelly4]

I've got BBC News on at the moment and JC is talking about Trident. I went through the Cuba crisis and the reason that the Russians didn't take over the West was because we had the nuclear deterrent. I can't understand the logic that says we should get rid of Trident. If we don't have a n/d aren't we at risk from any tin pot dictator who takes it into his head to invade us?

[bookbinder]

We should keep Trident, and any other weapons that we have. If some other country threatens us with a big stick, we must make sure that we have a bigger stick. Anything that makes an aggressor think twice before attacking us can only be a good thing.

[Old_Geezer]

Tin pot dictators tend not to have the military power ti consider it.

[hellywelly4]

OG what about the ones in North Korea?

[ladybirder]

hw Did you also see the Green's Caroline Lucas tutting and raising her eyes to the ceiling over the perceived stupidity of us having Trident? Thank goodness there's no chance of her ever being PM.

[hellywelly4]

Sorry, folks. Just seen there is a post about nuclear deterrents on this site.

[mikey4444]

Hellywelly....do you think its remotely possible that North Korea would want to invade us ?

[Baldric]

Mikey, why do you think they wouldn't?

[hellywelly4]

You can never tell Mikey. I wouldn't trust them an inch. Russia would be in the Uk in a trice if they could.

[sandyRoe]

They'd need to subjugate a lot of countries between us and them before doing any invading.
And thinking back to the Cuban Crisis, didn't the Russians want nuclear weapons in Cuba to act as a counterbalance to those the Americans had in countries close to the USSR.
MAD, mutually assured destruction, it was called. And it worked.

[mikey4444]

Baldric....more importantly, why would North Korea invade Britain ?
They just might conceivably invade invade South Korea....it is, after all, next door. But Britain is 10,000's of miles away !

[hellywelly4]

North Korea was just an example of a tin pot dictator. We had one of those in Germany in 1940 - bet he would have used a n/d! There have been several over the years, but NK could conceivably bomb Australia and we would go to their defence. The world has seen many people who wanted to take over other countries, and we must be able to discourage them from trying.

[mikey4444]

Hellywelly....I don't believe that Russia would be "in the UK in a trice" for one minute.

But Michael Fallon, on the Today Program this morning, told Humphrys that we needed these new nuclear weapons, to protect ourselves against Terrorists, but declined to say in what way they would be effective.

[mikey4444]

But why would North Korea invade Australia ?

[hellywelly4]

You do seem to be naive Mikey! I'm not talking about honest, good-living, kind people. I'm talking about megalomaniacs, and they do exist. Why do some people commit murder, why do people steal? There are some not very nice people out there, and they definitely would use nuclear weapons if they knew they wouldn't have the same done back to them!

[mikey4444]

hellywelly....the concept of North Korea invading Great Britain is laughable.

[Old_Geezer]

You think North Korea could even make it to British Waters ?
I'd suspect that UK could cope with their navy on our own, but even if not NATO would make short work of them.

[ToraToraTora]

"If we don't have a n/d aren't we at risk from any tin pot dictator who takes it into his head to invade us? " - yep.

[jno]

the Russians never showed much interest in attacking Britain, though of course British self-esteem requires all citizens to assume that they're a vital target.

As far as Cuba goes, the Soviets put missiles there because the Americans had put missiles in Turkey - and because the USA had also tried to invade Cuba. It didn't mean any danger for Britain. But hey, keep digging those fallout shelters.

[retrocop]

jno
As a matter of interest does your country of origin accept or possess a nuclear protection umbrella or do you just care to shelter under the one that has kept us safe for the last 71 years in the UK?

[jno]

no and no. My country is of no more interest to those damned Russkies than yours is. Your "umbrella" is as much use as it would be in the Sahara.

Despite the fact that the British attacked Russia, Russia never bothered to return the favour, even in all those years before nukes. Fancy that!