Fear of Death has a very strong effect on human self preservation instincts and the thoughts and actions associated with self preservation among most folks. Liberals and lefties too. After all, Cowards always want to survive the longest, despite the cost paid by Men much better than they are.

Let’s imagine that 4 nuclear devices in major US cities are our next 9-11, resulting in approximately 4 million US casualties or deaths. Within a day or two, someone WILL be nuked in retaliation. If we look at how long it took to track down Saudi involvement in 9-11, and the nationalities of the hijackers, by 14 Sept 01, the identities of our attackers became known. 3 days. Are we really going to wait to be sure next time? Or is it OK to swing a wide scythe since so many Muslims everywhere think we are infidels and deserve Death by beheading.

Now imagine you are the American President. Four million citizens of your country were incinerated in less than a couple of hours. Whole cities are in ruins. In other US cities, mass panic has erupted, and citizens are fleeing the cities for the supposed safety of the American countryside (think the refugee scenes of War of the Worlds, or any of the major comet/asteroid disaster movies lately). Massive casualties exist just from evacuations of cities and the attempts by an overwrought public to seize any safe haven for themselves, the lack of food, shelter and services causing a complete breakdown in civilized behavior, and the necessity of using the Armed Forces to keep the peace THROUGHOUT the US.

Does anyone here think that after a day or so of dealing with that scenario, that President Obama, Clinton, or even Kucinich, not to mention the Bushes, Guilianis, Romneys, Thompsons of the Republican party would be able to resist the entreaties of their subordinates, their constituents or their own consciences to say, “No, we aren’t going to retaliate. We should give the Muslim world more fair warning about the consequences of their actions. They need another second chance to stop this insanity. Maybe we’ll nuke them later, after we give them another chance.”

Anyone signing on to that scenario? Anyone actually believe, once you’ve thought about it in those terms, that a few Trident D5 missiles wouldn’t be on their way to Islamabad, Mecca, Medina, Riyadh, Damascus, Tehran, Cairo, Oman, Qatar, etc….. with early Christmas presents for any and every Islamic state which may have even remotely played a hand in the destruction which eliminated over 1% of the US population in a couple of hours? Bueller?

Trust me. After a nuclear strike which can be plausibly blamed on any Islamic entity, the country harboring said Islamists will be covered in radioactive debris, burned to glass, and eliminated from the World Book Encyclopedia maps. Without regard to the loss of innocent life. And it won’t be based on who is in the White House, who is Vice President, or which cities voted for whom.

Once you take the oath to defend the Constitution as President, a host of advisors does all the planning for you and all the work for you. You only have to make a decision. And since you just lost 4 million of your constituents, should you as the most powerful person in the World, and the most important person to Americans everywhere allow such an event even a smidgen of a chance to be repeated ANYTIME, ANYWHERE in the future? After all, it is your job to defend the country.

Would you order one of a number of strike options with nuclear weapons which your advisors will push under your nose, and ask you, before walking out the door, to make the choices I have outlined here, and call them when you want said advisors to execute your decision? Think hard and long before you answer. Because 296 million Americans will be screaming for someone’s blood. And it had better not be yours, eh?

If you get killed by your own people, Mr. President, the next guy might take the hint and see that Silicon Valley doesn’t just mean a place in California, but might mean a hole in the Middle of some Eastern sand somewhere else.

The premise of this article is a little silly. One man or woman will make this decision sometime in the future. One person and one person alone. That person will have been elected President of the United States. And will have sworn an oath to defend it. And will unite us all by the force of that decision.

And therefore, will not hesitate to push the button incinerating half the World if it means saving the lives of over 290 million Americans, even if only 49% of them are members of their own party. Will we be united? Damn right. Because one man or woman in charge of the country will order retaliation because it will be impossible for them not to do so. We will be united because we will be the only ones left with a shred of civilization and human behavior, and the rest of the World will allow it or follow in the victims’ wake.

Think this is implausible? You don’t understand human behavior. You don’t know the American people. And you’d better keep your mouth shut about how America deserved it after the next 9-11 because I don’t think the American people are going to be so forgiving of those who oppose their continued peaceful, safe, and productive existence, and will ensure that Dissension is the least survivable form of patriotism to be found.

(In other words, blame America for getting blown up, and your friends and neighbors may tire of hearing it and kill you along with their scramble to save themselves and their own families. After all you weren’t concerned with stopping the next attack anyway. What good are you now? I like your boots and the water and food you’ve got. And I don’t think you deserve to keep them, your family, or your attitudes anymore.)

So now let’s ask the question again. Would we be united amongst ourselves? Yes, because one person will have united us by prescribing the only action he/she could take. Making us all Americans under threat of extinction, just because some idiot with a rag on his head said 300 million of us are infidels and deserve Death.

Anything less than this scenario might occur if nuclear weapons are not the method of attack. Once the nukes fly, the Muslim world dies.

Discuss amongst yourselves. Points for noble and self sacrificing answers given, but not enough to save your life if you are an American in a target city.

Remember, a Coward dies a thousand Deaths, the Valiant die but once.

Subsunk

Subsunk on August 11, 2007 at 6:50 PM