Re: Iran
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I figured the Cold War would be your fallback plan. But we weren't fighting the U.S.S.R. directly. I doubt that the Russians would be willing to nuclearly (real word?) defend the N.Koreans or Vietnamese. But take both Gulf Wars, Bosnian war, and any of the handful of other conflicts and none of them went nuclear even though one side had nukes and the other did not.
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The USSR's willingness to defend the NK or Vietnamese is a sketchy point. They most certainly told the US "hands off Cuba or we will fight" following the bay of pigs. But their position in NK and Vietnam is ambigous.
Gulf war uno and the conflicts in bosnia did not call for nuclear weapons and thusly they were not used. (Personally I dont think any conflict in the middle east would call for nukes because but that is another issue.) Obviously in every conflict that we can use nukes we do not have to. We may have gotten away with it in NK but by Vietnam i doubt it. The cold war was too old and thelines were too clearly drawn.
The UN calls for states to abandon their nuclear programs all the time, they could of done this for us. Of course as permanent members of the Security council it would most certainly fail. But even the symbolic attempt would be something IMO.
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