Originally posted by NUKE
If nuclear weapons had zero radiation but still had the same blast and heat, would it be more acceptable to use them in wars?
Ask the question, 'would it be acceptable to vaporize an entire city and its population with a single bomb, and then repeat the process a couple hundred times if need be?'
The radiation factor is really an afterthough, in my opinion. Radiation from nuclear weapons, even the big ones tested in the 50s and early 60s by the US and USSR, pales in comparison to the magnitude released in Chernobyl. The true horror, and thus effect of nukes is their ability to wipe away civilization, from continent to continent in minutes. Not to mention the massive, sun-blocking dust clouds. If they're all used in anger, with or without the radioactive aspect, the remaining people I think would welcome death, as there would be little left to look forward to in a world cleansed of the infrastructure and environment they've grown to depend on.
Small, tactical warheads are a different story, of course. Without radiation, we would have probably implemented them against military complexes in Iraq.