Nuclear War & Masada "Complex"
I'm not surprised...but a little disappointed that you did not respond to my challenge re elaborating on future nuclear war. Because it's not a question of whether but when. Your hesitancy is understandable involving a widespread 'emperor -has-no-clothes' taboo.
Maybe not self-satisfied Americans who believe their security is their fixed, immutable right, but people of little countries on the periphery of Russia and China are slowly arriving at the conclusion that they cannot rely on America, the UN, etc. for their independence but must possess nuclear weapons themselves
All talk of past efforts to appease Putin (no NATO guarantees, etc.) are mere fluff. Putin is a predator, one of a long line stretching back into the speculative mists of pre-history. It's that simple.
A Masada "complex": Is NOT "a decision to go out in a blaze of glory and to take your enemies with you."
As I'm sure you're aware, the Jewish historian Josephus was the only eyewitness in Masada during its Roman siege. He describes the suicides forced by Jewish fanatics...women and children thrown from the walls. Josephus' concluding words: "When the Romans saw the mass of slain, they were unable to take pleasure in the sight, even though the people were their enemies."
This was not 'taking your enemies with you in a blaze of glory', it was akin to Hitler's suicide with a wish that German people not survive... as not deserving of him.
David Goldman - admired by both of us - believes Iran's present day religious leaders have a similar "Masada" complex....willing to start a nuclear war without regard to the survival of their own Persian people.
I posted an essay of Dan Hennin earlier that you probably did not notice. He argued that the post WWII era where the independence of a plethora of many nations, both good and bad, was respected, was also an era of relative peace. |
