How Many Nukes Do We Need?

Someone in the New York Times was saying that while we currently have 5,113 nukes, we only need 311. I’m not sure how he got to that number (because then I’d have to read like the whole article), but does that sound even close to enough? Let’s say we got in a war with everybody — we couldn’t even nuke every major city with that few nukes.

Think of all the uses there are for nukes. There’s war with other countries — or just when we get really mad at another country. And then there’s asteroids heading for earth we may need to blow up. And possibly alien attacks. Or a city may get overtaken by zombies, and we have to neutralize it. Or there’s just a really large amount of brush that needs clearing. Or we don’t like how the moon is looking at us. Or we need to wake Godzilla. Or we’re just really bored and want to see a cool explosion. Does 5,113 even sound like enough for all that?

I’m okay with reducing our official number of nukes to 311 if that may get other countries to drop their guard, but then we should secretly raise our actual number of nukes to a nice big number like 100,000. We’ll just have to hide them well. Like every streetlight in New York City: A launchable nuke. People are all worried about us having too many nukes, but can you think of anything worse than needing a nuke and not having one?

No you can’t.

29 Comments

  1. Some say we should teach thermonuclear abstinence to schoolchildren. How will we prepare them for their future if they don’t know what to do with a thermonuclear warhead? Our benevolent government should hand out small scale thermonuclear warheads – millions of them! – so that they can learn via mistakes and successes.

  2. I don’t mind us reducing the number of warheads in our inventory, as long as our method of reducing the inventory is by using them on political leaders we don’t like. Like Kim, Calderone, Ahmedinejad, Obama, and Chavez.

  3. What’s this mindless liberal worried about? Even if we had 5 bazillion nukes, that p*ssy ass Communist douche bag Obama wouldn’t use
    even one. It’s like having $1 million in the bank and never spending it, what’s the point?

  4. “I know what you’re thinking… did I launch 5113 nukes, or just 5112?
    Well, in all the excitement, I have to confess that I sort of lost count… so what you have to ask yourself is, ‘Do I feel lucky?’
    Well? Do ya, punk?”

  5. I have seen it estimated:
    Somewhere between death and birth
    There are now three thousand million
    People living on this earth
    And the stock-piled mass destruction
    Of the Nuclear Powers-That-Be
    Equals–for each man or woman–
    Twenty tons of TNT.

    Every man of every nation
    (Twenty tons of TNT)
    Shall receive this allocation
    Twenty tons of TNT.
    Texan, Bantu, Slav or Maori,
    Argentine or Singhalee,
    Every maiden brings this dowry
    Twenty tons of TNT.

    Not for thirty silver shilling
    Twenty tons of TNT
    Twenty thousand pounds a killing–
    Twenty tons of TNT.
    Twenty hundred years of teaching,
    Give to each his legacy,
    Plato, Buddha, Christ or Lenin,
    Twenty tons of TNT

    Father, Mother, Son and Daughter,
    Twenty tons of TNT
    Give us land and seed and water,
    Twenty tons of TNT.
    Children have no need of sharing;
    At each new nativity
    Come the ghostly Magi bearing
    Twenty tons of TNT

    Ends the tale that has no sequel
    Twenty tons of TNT.
    Now in death are all men equal
    Twenty tons of TNT.
    Teach me how to love my neighbour,
    Do to him as he to me;
    Share the fruits of all our labour
    Twenty tons of TNT.

    — Michael Flanders

    (Since the population has doubled to 6 billion, we definitely need More nukes, ’cause I’m not sharing My twenty tons!)

  6. “I’m not sure how he got to that number ”

    It is a simple matter of deletion and transposition. Delete the 5 and you have 113. That’s too small, so move the 3 to the left of the 11. Voila! You now have 311.

    Yes, we could have 95,311 with the same amount of effort.

  7. Did the NY times include the launch codes given to them by Obama? Or were in the launch codes only published in the farsi edition?

    Every American family should have a house, three kids, two cars, anf five nukes.

    311 nikes? We need just that many for the next democrat convention, being held in Tehran.

  8. The only good way to get rid of a nuke is to set it off. Otherwise clever people might find it and rearm it.

    So it looks like we need about 5000 targets.

    How about we set a few off on the far side of the Mexican border. That’s got to have an effect on illegal immigration. Plus they will be easier to round up if they glow.

    if we use the rest on our enemies chances are we are going to run out of enemies a lot faster than Nukes.

    I say we use any extras to drill for oil. One possible bonus, the radiation may improve gas mileage.

  9. If the New York Times says we only need 311 nukes, you know we actually need a 100,000 like you said. A good rule of thumb is, if The New York Times says it, it’s a lie. That is all.

  10. Our beloved old Director of Operations, an Expert Aviator and a Fountain of Philosophy would have compared nuclear weapons to jet fuel, and he once proclaimed these immortal words of wisdom on jet fuel: “Cain’t never have too much gas… ‘lessn yer on fire.”

  11. We need enough nukes ( and the will to use them) that will deter every tin horned dictator with delusions of relevancy by 10 to the bagillionth power. We need at least as many as would blow up Michael Moronic and his Hollyweird sycophants. I’m thinking 100,000 or more.

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