If a Nuclear bomb were dropped....

[CapnAwesome]

Hypothetically if a small terrorist group managed a one off nuclear attack on New York City, what do you think would be the consequences for the world?

[Gawdzilla]

The US would invade Albania.

[c172]

I would reckon it depends on the size of the weapon. Some might destroy the whole world, but, well, Nagasaki's still around.

If it were a smaller one, I'd say it would permanently alter the infrastructure of that whole state and beyond. I could imagine it setting up a second Constitutional Convention, or worse.

[Angrboda]

Yeah. The U.S. would pick one country as scapegoat for "harboring terrorists" and go after them, provided they have oil.

[CapnAwesome]

I would reckon it depends on the size of the weapon. Some might destroy the whole world, but, well, Nagasaki's still around.

If it were a smaller one, I'd say it would permanently alter the infrastructure of that whole state and beyond. I could imagine it setting up a second Constitutional Convention, or worse.

Lets just imagine a few million people are dead, and New York is effectively destroyed. The perpetrators were a small group of foreigners from different countries. What do you think the foreign and domestic reaction of the US government would be?

[CapnAwesome]

Yeah.  The U.S. would pick one country as scapegoat for "harboring terrorists" and go after them, provided they have oil.

That's what happened when a single building went down. I'd imagine a more extreme reaction from a whole city being destroyed.

[Minimalist]

I would reckon it depends on the size of the weapon. Some might destroy the whole world, but, well, Nagasaki's still around.

If it were a smaller one, I'd say it would permanently alter the infrastructure of that whole state and beyond. I could imagine it setting up a second Constitutional Convention, or worse.

Lets just imagine a few million people are dead, and New York is effectively destroyed. The perpetrators were a small group of foreigners from different countries.  What do you think the foreign and domestic reaction of the US government would be?

We'd go batshit crazy.  Just like 9-11.

[Excited Penguin]

No, you wouldn't. In the case of Jihadism, it's an entirely different situation. The jihadist attacks are based in a certain ideology. If it were the case that simply certain members of certain societies converged for no particular reason to do such a thing no one would start a war with those countries for that reason alone. That's unthinkable. Not to mention if certain civilised countries perceived a real threat from the US... Let's just say it wouldn't go all that dandy for the US either.

[downbeatplumb]

Hypothetically if a small terrorist group managed a one off nuclear attack on New York City, what do you think would be the consequences for the world?

America would invade somewhere with oil.

[Excited Penguin]

Hypothetically if a small terrorist group managed a one off nuclear attack on New York City, what do you think would be the consequences for the world?

I think if that point were reached some countries would be wiped off the face of the earth. When we're talking about an attack like that, we're not only talking about America, we're talking about a real imminent threat to global civilization's survival. There would be very few options left to deal with that kind of situation.

I assume we're talking about Jihadists.