Originally posted by Overlag
the problem is we can no longer bully NK. Thats why we are all upset.
Iran is the same... we constantly bully the country, then wonder why they want nukes.
Israel has probably tested a nuke with South african help.
Israel has never used the nukes in anger, and they've 'had them' for close to 30 years. Yet this doesn't stop the various Arab countries from, as you say, 'bullying' them. It doesn't stop the suicide bombings, it doesn't stop the shellings from Lebanon, it doesn't stop the flag burnings and, in the early 90s, the SCUD attacks. Israel has proven their Nuclear Level-headedness by never using it, even in times when it would have been concievable. The fact that they may or may not have tested it is irrelevant. The whole world didn't sit, with baited breath, and wait for the result, as they do now. Furthermore, Israel isn't a destitute, isolated nation with nothing to lose and no role in greater human society. They have very much to lose, and besides their military might, have a great deal to offer their own people. According to Warren Buffet, it's also not a bad place to invest 4 billion dollars... All these things make the parallel invalid.
Israel didn't need nuclear weapons to wave around in everyone's face like a stock covered in feces. They keep the arsenal in case the unthinkable happens--the same reason we do.
