A Hypothetical....

thechatch

Posed by a professor when I was in school...

20 years into the future (so 5 years from today). China has a massive oil and food availability issue due to overpopulation and resource exhaustion. They have to solve it so they invade Vietnam and lower Siberia simultaneously to secure the rice in Vietnam and oil/minerals in Siberia. The obsolete and under-maintained Russian conventional forces don’t have a chance against Chinese mechanized forces so they hit the armored spearheads with a dozen tactical nukes rather than lose half their country.
China, furious that they gambled wrong, responds with a strategic strike on Vladivostok, Kamchatka, and several dozen Targets in European Russia, including Moscow and St. Petersburg. Seeing the missiles inbound, Russia flies the entire land based ready force at mainland China along with the few SSBNs they had at sea in the Pacific and issues follow on strike orders to the Backfire/Blackjack bombers that aren’t about to be destroyed.

And here we sit. Our two primary military adversaries in nuclear war. One is about to be completely annihilated, 95% of its’ conventional and nuclear war fighting capacity destroyed along with its 100 largest cities and half its’ population. Dying wasteland for decades to come. The other has just launched 90% of its ready nuclear assets, is sitting on empty silos for the entire land arsenal and spent sub tubes in the Pacific. In the Atlantic, they do have two SSBNs at sea but we have fast attacks tailing both per SOP and they have a fix on them. Bombers are already scrambling and committed to follow on strikes in China. For the first time in 50+ years, retaliation is not assured, or even really possible.

You are POTUS. Do you do it?

greenblood

No. Like you said, they have no way to defend themselves. They are no longer a threat. Why fight them when you have the opportunity to take advantage of their weakened position. You can basically steal their lunch money every day for the foreseeable future. That’s a lot less out of pocket and more lucrative.

RaceBannon

Hello nuclear winter

Pitchfork51

I would build them a community garden and mandate tolerance classes

thechatch

I wouldn't go nuclear but I would absolutely and conventionally cut the head off the snake. Every government office and C&C facility would be twice bounced rubble, every satellite fried, every military factory and naval shipyard would burn. I'd JDAM the house of every member of the CCP, cut their undersea cables, blockade their illegal islands, probably take out their power plants. We wouldn't have any munitions left, but we wouldn't be likely to need them with both Russia and China gone.

Under this scenario, we know that Israel is going to launch on Tehran, and make a bunch of Other cities in the ME glow for awhile, as well.

Pitchfork51

thechatch said:

I wouldn't go nuclear but I would absolutely and conventionally cut the head off the snake. Every government office and C&C facility would be twice bounced rubble, every satellite fried, every military factory and naval shipyard would burn. I'd JDAM the house of every member of the CCP, cut their undersea cables, blockade their illegal islands, probably take out their power plants. We wouldn't have any munitions left, but we wouldn't be likely to need them with both Russia and China gone.

Under this scenario, we know that Israel is going to launch on Tehran, and make a bunch of Other cities in the ME glow for awhile, as well.

Just let isreal have at it

PurpleThrobber

Pitchfork51 said:

thechatch said:

I wouldn't go nuclear but I would absolutely and conventionally cut the head off the snake. Every government office and C&C facility would be twice bounced rubble, every satellite fried, every military factory and naval shipyard would burn. I'd JDAM the house of every member of the CCP, cut their undersea cables, blockade their illegal islands, probably take out their power plants. We wouldn't have any munitions left, but we wouldn't be likely to need them with both Russia and China gone.

Under this scenario, we know that Israel is going to launch on Tehran, and make a bunch of Other cities in the ME glow for awhile, as well.

Just let isreal have at it

But what about the joobs?!?!

WestlinnDuck

The problem is that you are failing to realize how fragile a modern electronic nation is. The chicoms would still be able to get a few nukes into the US. I'd also be surprised that the chicoms didn't pre-launch some nukes at the US when they went after Russia. Take out New York and LA and a few EMP strikes over the US on the electric grid and its back to the stone age and global warming will not be a big issue. 20 years from now, we will be so broke-ass that I think we take our self out first. The core principles that allow us to have a free and prosperous country are now considered hate speech by the dem party. I literally have nothing in common with Nancy Pelosi. She wants a ruined future for my kids and grandkids.

greenblood

WestlinnDuck said:

The problem is that you are failing to realize how fragile a modern electronic nation is. The chicoms would still be able to get a few nukes into the US. I'd also be surprised that the chicoms didn't pre-launch some nukes at the US when they went after Russia. Take out New York and LA and a few EMP strikes over the US on the electric grid and its back to the stone age and global warming will not be a big issue. 20 years from now, we will be so broke-ass that I think we take our self out first. The core principles that allow us to have a free and prosperous country are now considered hate speech by the dem party. I literally have nothing in common with Nancy Pelosi. She wants a ruined future for my kids and grandkids.

Your privilege is skewing your view of Pelosi.

georgiaduck

If either Russia or China launches nukes towards each each other, my bet would be they send a few in our direction to stave off the exact scenario you describe.

BleachedAnusDawg

Mutually assured destruction. None of that would ever happen. People want to stay alive. China would be more likely to just let a few hundred million of their people starve.

thechatch

BleachedAnusDawg said:

Mutually assured destruction. None of that would ever happen. People want to stay alive. China would be more likely to just let a few hundred million of their people starve.

They have experience with this.