Fidel Castro on 'Nuclear War'

Attack the argument, not the arguer.

And I somehow don't think someone like Virus has the intellectual honesty to do that. Ad homs are so much easier.
 
bikerdruid said:
i think that fidel may be a little alarmist here too.
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Why do Fidel's opinions matter? Especially if you think that he's being "a little alarmist" or "overly dramatic"?

however, the threat of nuclear war is very real in the middle east.
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Please explain. How long have nuclear weapons been available for use in the Middle East? How often have such weapons, being available for use, actually been used? Why haven't they been used? What do you think would need to change, in order for them to be used?

When you say "very real", what do you mean? Can you describe specific circumstances, or particular factors that you consider, that make a difference between "very real", "somewhat real", and "not very real at all"?

perhaps the whole human race is not endangered, but significant numbers certainly are.
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Significant numbers of the human race are already endangered, even without nuclear weapons. More people have died from machetes, than have died from nuclear weapons in the past six decades.

More people have died in Iraq from conventional weapons in the last ten years, than have died from nuclear weapons in the last sixty years. Are you sure you're crying "wolf", and not, say, "chupacabra", or "werewolf", or "sparkly vampires what walk in the daytime and attend highschool and whatnot"?

Because from where I stand, it sure seems like you and Fidel both are going out of your way to spew rhetoric about non-issues, while the rest of the world deals with real problems.
 
Elind said:
This comes from the guy who wanted to install nuclear missiles 90 miles from the USA.

Mellow with age or senile?
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In fact, Castro wrote a letter to Khruschev asking him to consider attacking the US with nukes. But he no longer thinks that was a good idea. So, I guess you can say he has mellowed with age, and is actually less crazy now.

I asked him, "At a certain point it seemed logical for you to recommend that the Soviets bomb the U.S. Does what you recommended still seem logical now?" He answered: "After I've seen what I've seen, and knowing what I know now, it wasn't worth it all."
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Thunder said:
I've never been to North Korea, but I can tell they're a horrible dictatorship.
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I have, you haven't missed much. Though it's amazing how fast the authorities can clear the streets of people when an outsider's around........
 
I have to say all this guilt being thrown on Castro over the missile crisis is interesting and decidedly naive.

The crisis was actually triggered by the US and their decision to deploy medium range missiles in Turkey in early 62. The Cuban bases did not start construction till around July, August 62.

MAD doctrine always relied on the notion that who ever was fired at would have time to get their own first strike away before the end came. By deploying missiles in Turkey the US reduced flight time to something like 18 minutes. Faster than counter missiles could be armed and launched. The missiles in Cuba could reach targets in 22 minutes, this was wel inside the 30 minutes required to arm the Minuteman missiles.

So the M is suddenly taken out of the equation with fairl scary consequences.

In the cold light of day the crisis was a lot more propaganda than reality. Both sides had get out of jail free cards, prepared to use them, but curious to see just how far the one upmanship could go. In the Soviet Union their history books say Kennedy backed down first, in the west we learn the Russians blinked first. The reality is both sides pretty much fell over themselves to back down.

The Americans agreed to withdraw the Turkish missiles and never invade Cuba. The Soviets agreed never to attempt to deploy missiles in nations bordering the US, and life went on
 
bikerdruid said:
i also support iran's right to mind their own business.
they are a sovereign nation.
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You are just full of surprises! So entertaining.

I had no idea you would be opposed to nuclear weapon reductions, if not elimination, and I had no idea you advocated invalidation of sovereign treaties on the basis of sovereign rights. Very interesting logic flavor, if not morality.

I look forward to the next revelation.
 
bikerdruid said:
i also support iran's right to mind their own business.
they are a sovereign nation.
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Ah, poor little sovereing Iran... Just like poor little sovereing Hussein's Iraq. :rolleyes:

You didn't answer all of my posts, you conveniently ignored the one about Cuba not having had a free election in 50 years. I guess silence is consent.

I guess in all your travels to Cuba you never encountered a dissenter. What are the odds?
 
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Elind said:
You are just full of surprises! So entertaining.

I had no idea you would be opposed to nuclear weapon reductions, if not elimination, and I had no idea you advocated invalidation of sovereign treaties on the basis of sovereign rights. Very interesting logic flavor, if not morality.

I look forward to the next revelation.
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i believe in an nations right to protect themselves against hostile neighbours.
iraqn has every right to do so. they have never shown themselves to be an agressor, but their neighbours do so regularly.
please explain how my position 'advocates the invalidation of sovereign treaties'.
you have already shown your ignorance of life in cuba (in another thread), so please show us your 'wisdom' here.
 
MG1962 said:
I have to say all this guilt being thrown on Castro over the missile crisis is interesting and decidedly naive.
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You are correct in your history, but there is nothing naive about sticking it to Castro, which is what the thread is about (or defense of Castro, as the case may be).

As to the Turkey connection, the Bay of Pigs was past and it was pretty clear that the US was not going to invade Cuba. On the other hand there was nothing clear about where the USSR (Aka Russia) would next invade.

Turkey and Cuba were not equivalents, just certain similarities.
 
bikerdruid said:
i believe in an nations right to protect themselves against hostile neighbours.
iraqn has every right to do so. they have never shown themselves to be an agressor, but their neighbours do so regularly.
please explain how my position 'advocates the invalidation of sovereign treaties'.
you have already shown your ignorance of life in cuba (in another thread), so please show us your 'wisdom' here.
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Where do you get this stuff? It's amazing. I would like to know what websites, newspapers or secret TV that you frequent, to have a look.

Iran is the one calling for the elimination of Israel, not the other way around.
Israel could never invade Iran, and would have great difficulty in even attacking it once, possibly a one way trip for their planes.

Iran funds every significant terrorist group on the planet. That's aggression. Ask Iraq about Iranian aggression (even though in this case they deserved each other).

Iran has signed the nuclear non proliferation treaty that you oppose, and they are in violation of it, which you support.

Give me a break about your Cuban utopia. Next time you go back, ask those you meet if they have relatives in the USA and if they would like to move there if you could arrange it.
 
bikerdruid said:
ever been to cuba?
it's quite a lovely place, full of happy, friendly people.
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Well, I have been there, twice. While it isn't the worst or most brutal dictatorship on Earth, it's still definitely a dictatorship. And while people aren't starving to death in the streets, they aren't exactly prosperous either.

There was a group of hotel employees who basically hung around with us all day, treating us like royalty, bringing us to their homes, catering to our every whim and smiling politely at my drunken wise-ass nonsense (and occasionally offering us "prostitutes") in exchange for some pesos. My buddies and I joked that this was the closest we'd ever get to owning slaves.

In other words, a great place to visit as a cynical unscrupulous tourist ( :) ), but I certainly wouldn't want to live there.
 
Elind said:
Where do you get this stuff? It's amazing. I would like to know what websites, newspapers or secret TV that you frequent, to have a look.
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He frequents globalpolicy.ca which he linked in the OP. A far-left lunatic Truther website.

Are you a Truther Bikerdruid? You've been linking to a lot of Truther sites lately and you defend Castro who's a Truther.
 
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