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[-] darkcalling@hexbear.net 37 points 1 day ago

That's talking about equally matched nuclear powers or else it's nonsense.

Fact is no one is sticking their neck out to get nuked for someone else. China and Russia are not going to launch all their nukes and have their civilizations and countries destroyed for Iran. Same as US wouldn't avenge Japan or Germany for example if they got nuked.

At best the issue is when dealing with two nuclear powers, the instant one strikes the other with a single nuke then all attacks from then on may be presumed to be nuclear attacks and how do you respond proportionately is the problem. The US war-planners as well as Russians have tables and scenarios for how to respond to limited nuclear weapon use including escalation options and mere equal response options. There is some sense that if you got hit with a single nuke, as long as it's not a city full of people you have to then avenge that you can limit things from spiraling into full nuclear war which no one wants because it's ultimately self-defeating. The hesitation on the part of people using them first is you can't be positive you can limit escalation, that is that your opponent won't escalate and force you into an escalation ladder you cannot escape which is why there is so much hesitancy. But again this is all with regards to nuclear powers striking each other.

The US will phone China and Russia central military commands and let them know 5 minutes or more before the detonation of such a device out of an abundance of caution to prevent them from assuming they'll be targeted. China and Russia will in the event of an ally being nuked express outrage and condemnation but will not launch themselves if there is no sign the US is moving to target them next. It'll certainly change the world and drive more countries to attempt to nuclearize which is another reason why internal strategic planners for the US and other nuclear powers look down on the use of such weapons because any use risks upsetting the status quo and creating an entirely more dangerous world where your nuclear primacy is less special.

[-] sexywheat@hexbear.net 14 points 21 hours ago

The question here is what would Iran do?

Rumours aside of Iran having a secret soviet nuke from decades past and all that, the only thing I can think of that they could do in kind to USreal is to hit Dimona hard enough that it becomes an out-of-control Chernobyl like event.

Iran has of course prepared as best they can for every potential situation; they've been planning this for for decades. They've hinted at having a surprise in store for USreal if they are on the receiving end of a nuclear attack, but that of course could just be posturing. Who knows.

The US will phone China and Russia central military commands and let them know 5 minutes or more before the detonation of such a device

lol. lmao. Have you seen Pete Hegseth?

[-] JayTreeman@hexbear.net 27 points 1 day ago

Thankfully we have Russian and Chinese sanity, but the fear is also escalation. 300kt bomb can be responded with a 400kt and so on. It's a precedence that should never be set

this post was submitted on 05 Apr 2026
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