Neutron Bombs

[Az]

I imagine that most of you people know what "neutron bombs" are. They are bombs that create a very small destructive impact, but produce a very strong radiation for a short period of time, wiping out all life, yet not damaging the buildings, or poisoning the enviroment for good.

So now's the question.

Ethically, Morally, are they better than regular nukes, or worse?

[Inverse Icarus]

as a proponent of genocide i demand 5,000 of these bombs immediately.

[Zkribbler]

They were designed to be used defensively. The idea was, that as the Warsaw Pact was overrunning West Germany, we could drop neutron bombs on their tank formations, killing off their soldiers but leaving German buildings and infrastructure intact.

But these weapons got all kinds of bad press..."the awful U.S. cares more for property than it does for lives."

[Inverse Icarus]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
They were designed to be used defensively. The idea was, that as the Warsaw Pact was overrunning West Germany, we could drop neutron bombs on their tank formations, killing off their soldiers but leaving German buildings and infrastructure intact.

But these weapons got all kinds of bad press..."the awful U.S. cares more for property than it does for lives."

well duh, we can USE your property.

brainwashing is so messy.

[SlowwHand]

Better than nukes.
Nukes ruin thing that aren't the responsible party.

[Eli]

They're good in the sense that they cause less damage than regular nukes, but they are less detering and therefore there is a higher chance that they will be used.

[Lefty Scaevola]

Their original mission, destroying invading Soviet block mechanised forces in friendly terriorty is gone now.

[Whaleboy]

They kill people, thus they are bad.

It doesnt matter about buildings, what does it show that one who use such a device is OK about killing people, but doesnt want to "break the china"?

No, in war, the fruits of victory are ash.

[raghar]

Nice fairy tale, neutron bomb that could reasonably kill soldier on more than half mile could push tank 50 meters.

Normal nukes weren't as much damaging on tanks so they thought they'll use N enriched. I would compare it to "killing in the negative shadow" ideas.


BTW I like that Chinesse movie with flying tanks. Do you know if is somewhere avilable for download?

[Cruddy]

Just as bad. How anyone can approve of the idea of mass murder?

I hope those of you who voted "good" get to see one in action at close range. It might just change your mind.

[GePap]

The notion that they cause no long term pollution is false. At their core is still a fission bomb, meaing you still get all the same sort of slow-lasting, polluting remnants you get from a fission bomb. The area they utterly destroy is much smaller and the amount of fallout much smaller, but it is still bad. Plus, they don;t affect an area as large as your regular nukes, even with the radiation, and if you used them against someone with regular nukes themselves, well, like it matters that thier cities are more or less physically inttact (though I don;t expect the hundreads of thousands of people wth radiation posoning will keep it clean for long), but your cities are good-old fashiones screwed.

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
Better than nukes.
Nukes ruin thing that aren't the responsible party.

And a neutron bomb doesn't.

I'm sorry to break it to you, sloww, but bombs don't care what they blow up. EDIT: or in this case, poison.

[Sandman]

How do neutron bombs work, and why are they called neutron bombs? I have my doubts about their effectiveness.

[GePap]

Fro some basic reading after googleing:

It is a nuclear weapon in which the U-238 chield that surrounds most nukes is removed: that way, when the bomb goes off, more neutron radiation is released than with a shielded bomb. According to the figures, a 1 kiloton neutron bombs would create as much deadly neutron radiation as a 13 kiloton regular nuke, and would in theory create an area of one mile radius in which people 9and other things) would be expossed to a fatal dose of radiation.

In theory, it was supposed to be an anti-armor device to be used on the hordes of Soviet armor. Their high yield of neutron radiation would dop a better job at armor penetration, and since they are relatively 'low yield' they coyuld 'safely" be used in crowded areas.Of course, to get a large area of effectiveness, you need larger bombs.

[loinburger]

Killing is wrong, and anybody who disagrees should be killed.