August 2, 2007
HE'S NO TRUMAN:
Obama: Nukes 'Not on the Table' (DENNIS CONRAD, 8/02/07, AP)
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Thursday he would not use nuclear weapons "in any circumstance" to fight terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan and drew criticism from chief rival Hillary Rodham Clinton."I think it would be a profound mistake for us to use nuclear weapons in any circumstance," Obama said, with a pause, "involving civilians." Then he quickly added, "Let me scratch that. There's been no discussion of nuclear weapons. That's not on the table." [..]
Asked about Obama's speech and his comments about nuclear weapons, Clinton chided her fellow senator about addressing hypotheticals.
"Presidents should be very careful at all times in discussing the use or non-use of nuclear weapons. ... I don't believe that any president should make any blanket statements with respect to the use or non-use of nuclear weapons," Clinton said.
Asked about the notion of unilateral U.S. military action in Pakistan to get al-Qaida leadership: "How we do it should not be telegraphed or discussed for obvious reasons."
Harry Truman wasn't much of a president, but he hat least had enough regard for the men he commanded that he nuked Japan instead of asking them to invade it. On of Ms Clinton's chief attractions, on the other hand, is that her low self-confidence is likely to make her risk averse enough, and her temper is likely to make her petulant enough, that she'd opt for a nuclear first strike. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 2, 2007 8:39 PM
That's it. Other than being a bullsh*t Negro impersonator, this clown has just just given away the farm. You never say never.
It is important that the nuclear option (the REAL nuclear option) be in the back of everyone's mind. As we all know, this deters all sort of unpleasant things.
To spell it out, one more time, tactical nuclear weapons are a counter-measure to our operational force projection capabilities. Our strategic nuclear war-fighting capability is a deterrent to enimy use of tactical nuclear weapons.
Posted by: Lou Gots at August 3, 2007 4:15 AMI still think that Hillary is a long-long-shot at best to be elected next year, but should there be a major terror attack while she's in office she'll have to respond apocalyptically or risk losing 100 seats in the House.
Posted by: b at August 3, 2007 10:25 AM