Israel's Nuclear Warning Shot Option

When the United States terminated World War II by bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Soviets did two things: they invaded Sakhalin Island to grab the most territory before peace was declared, and they rushed development of their own nukes (based on plans stolen from the Manhattan Project by Klaus Fuchs and other Communist spies). The long stand-off of the Cold War started with a series of warning explosions by Stalin’s USSR and American atmospheric explosions. Those warning shots stopped World War III and turned it into the Cold War. They kept the peace — not a perfect peace, but infinitely better than nuclear war.

When in the early 1970s India and Pakistan were in a secret race for nuclear weapons (the CIA as usual suspecting nothing), they exchanged nuclear warning shots. In India, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi — irony of ironies — ordered a nuclear test in 1974. India’s secret nuclear program was called Smiling Buddha, which throws a whole new light on Buddhism.

In 1998 India conducted another test, and Pakistan immediately exploded five bombs. Naturally, the BBC was “shocked, shocked,” though the West had done nothing effective to stop nuclear proliferation. Pakistan was aided by China and Libya, and probably financed by the Saudis, who like the idea of an off-the-shelf bomb they can import any time to protect against Iranian aggression. In any case, Pakistan and India both have nukes, and they are not at war. Pakistan closes its eyes to cross-border terrorism against India on a regular basis, as Muslim nations generally do. India is heavily involved in Afghanistan, in splitting Bangladesh from current Pakistan, and in various nefarious deeds against Pakistan the Indians keep well-hidden.