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by onepointsixC 621 days ago
The US invaded Iraq, because of the phantom prospect of a nuclear proliferation. A state which was just created and gave up Crimea without a shot fired in 2014 was not about to fight to keep nukes which were not theirs in the 90’s. With the combined forces of the West and Russia breathing down their necks there was zero chance that they would be able to keep them.
1 comments

North Korea serves as a pretty clear counterexample.

Having nukes actually in-hand changes the calculus, a lot.

They'd have been sanctioned like crazy, but invaded? No one's taking the risk that they managed to arm a bomb.