Nuking Mexico's Oil

[simonmark6]

I read somewhere once that a just society would rather let ten guilty men go free rather than punish one innocent man and a tyranny would rather let ten innocent men get punished rather than let a guilty one go free. I suppose all very noble until it gets personal...

[Mohoender]

Originally Posted by simonmark6

I read somewhere once that a just society would rather let ten guilty men go free rather than punish one innocent man and a tyranny would rather let ten innocent men get punished rather than let a guilty one go free. I suppose all very noble until it gets personal...

A very unwise saying. Recent events have proved that tiranny would tend to punish ten innocent men while letting the guilty go free. Why waste so many talented people when you can use their natural brutality to great effects?

[mikeo80]

If we postulate that France nukes the Mexican Oil Fields,

Does it not stand to reason the French would just as soon nuke the Venezuela oil as well?

How about Chilean Copper Mines?

I am sure the USSR took care of the Panama Canal, but just on speculation..

Of you REALLY want to crazy.....

Nigerian Oil

South African Diamonds

Indonesian Oil

If, as postulated above the French have 6 Boomers.....

Say, 2 in port for R&R

THat leaves 4....

One for each of the above target areas...

Just a thought,,,,,

My $0.02

Mike

[Legbreaker]

It's all very possible, however France might want to hold onto most of their warheads too given they're not officially at war with anyone.
Most of those targets could conceivably be targets for the actual belligerents and already be glowing by the time France feels the need to turn them into slag.

[Webstral]

France would only nuke targets not hit by the US, USSR, UK, or PRC. That's just a tautology. If one looks at the US, USSR, UK, and Canada target lists, the pattern seems to be predominantly command centers, refineries, industrial centers, a military facilities. Mines, like for Chilean copper, aren't very useful without an industrial center to use the copper. Ditto diamonds, since in the absence of a markets for jewelry the only other applications for diamonds are industrial. A single nuke can hit a single mine. A single nuke destroying a single city can render the productivity of whole industries inert. This is why the surgical exchange focused on EMP and refineries: they are the key stones of a modern industrial society.

[Legbreaker]

Very good points there. Take out the processing and distribution hubs and you shut everything down.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

So, in theory, it is possible France could have nuked Mexico, although the reasons for them doing so are shaky at best.
I am however fairly certain France would have fired off a few nukes during the course of the war, both in retaliation for strikes upon either France itself or it's allies/colonies, or in an effort (by deception) to provoke other countries to attack each other and thereby strengthen French interests in the area.

You know, I've always thought that it's fun to sprinkle around some WTF events here and there, even if the explanation is outlandish (as long as you don't overuse this).

[Webstral]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

You know, I've always thought that it's fun to sprinkle around some WTF events here and there, even if the explanation is outlandish (as long as you don't overuse this).

I agree. I chime in principally when the WTF exception to the rule starts to become the rule because WTF is a) fun and b) not always understood as an exception to the rule. This idea is not always understood--especially, again, because the exceptions and the outlanding are so much fun. When I was living in Ireland (age 20-21 at the time), I was asked in all seriousness what kind of guns I had. Mind, I grew up in suburban Massachusetts. I had no guns, my family had no guns, and no one I knew hunted or talked about guns. When I told my Irish housemates that I had no guns, they asked in astonishment how I survived the daily gunfights on American streets. We Americans understand that the violence in the news represents the exceptions to the rule. Observers with no frame of reference might assume the WTF moment is the rule.