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93 points rbanffy | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.457s | source
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einpoklum ◴[] No.42188197[source]
So, they built this supercomputer to test new and more deadly nuclear weapons. That makes me so "happy". I am absolutely not worried about two nuclear powers being close to the brink of direct war, even as we speak; nor about the abandonment of the course of nuclear disarmament treaty; nor about the repeated talk of a coming war against certain Asian powers. Everything is great and I'll just fawn over the colorful livery and the petaflops figure.
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1. JumpCrisscross ◴[] No.42188232[source]
> they built this supercomputer to test new and more deadly nuclear weapons

If you are afraid of nuclear war, the thing to fear is a nuclear state's capacity to retaliate being questioned. These supercomputers are the alternative to live tests. Taking them away doesn't poof nuclear weapons, it means you are left with a half-assed deterrent or must resume live tests.

> the abandonment of the course of nuclear disarmament treaty

North Korea, the American interventions in the Middle East and Ukraine set the precedent that nuclear sovereignty is in a separate category from the treaty-enforced kind. Non-proliferation won't be made or broken on the back of aging, degrading weapons.

> repeated talk of a coming war against certain Asian powers

One invites war by refusing to prepare for it.

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2. einpoklum ◴[] No.42217720[source]
> If you are afraid of nuclear war, the thing to fear is a nuclear state's capacity to retaliate being questioned.

That's why nuclear capabilities and capacities are best reduced by universal compact. It is certainly not helping when they are being _enhanced.

Also, I'm worried about the US initiating more than I do about it retaliating.

> North Korea, the American interventions in the Middle East and Ukraine set the precedent that nuclear sovereignty is in a separate category from the treaty-enforced kind.

I don't understand this sentence because I'm not familiar with the combined term "nuclear sovereignty".

Regardless - it is certainly the case that non-proliferation won't be made on the back of aging and degrading weapons; there must a continued commitment to NP in the sense of not developing new weapons.

> One invites war by refusing to prepare for it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question

Anyway, the US initiates most of its wars, so the "invitation" is irrelevant.