To: Jacob Snyder who wrote (117242 ) 10/19/2003 11:33:37 PM From: marcos Respond to Yes, Pakistan and Iran are risks, certainly .... and the NK regime, which while not muslim is certainly whacko ... no question that here be monsters, i didn't phrase that post very well, what i meant to address was the idea of 'massive damage' and the survival of nations being threatened .... if the mad mullahs got their hands on a state bomb, and used it, that would make it war, and they have to realise that they are surrounded by nukes ready to strike in response ...... anything nuclear out of Saudi Arabia, which i think might prove the thorniest case in the end, and poof, Mecca and that holy Kaba'a stone are molten glass ..... and it is true, that this fanatic belief of some muslims in jihad and virgins in paradise for suicide will leave us wondering, however people who make it to power generally have a strong instinct to self-survival ..... flimsy base for confidence, for sure, but NK sounds like a more imminent problem, this little personality-cult dictator has to be twisted in serious ways, he won't be thinking like normal people who get held accountable to varying degree .... in any case, the survival of the western democracies is not threatened, not even close to threatened - a great many individuals could die in an attack, yes, but our civilisation will survive, as long as we don't kill it from within by foregoing our civil liberties for the sake of a little temporary security
