Conidering the sophistication of human relationships the question should be not "why not?" but "when?".

Actually twice, but anyhow, nuclear weapons are a deterrent, not an active weapon.

In hands that have at minimum of good sense the weapons may be a deterrent. They are also a spur for nuclear proliferation as North Korea indicates. And in the hands of people who have no hesitation in committing suicide in the name of politics or religion, they are more than a deterrent. And the funds the US government has allocated to safeguard against the acquisition of nuclear weapons by irresponsible hands are grossly insufficient.

There's something about mass destruction that doesn't sit well with me.

Seeing as how everybody knows that nobody would really use them, they make a lousy deterrent as well.

It might happen. The thought of governments like Iran and North Korea having nuclear weapons is a scary one.

As far as nuclear strikes are concerned, nations don't have much to fear from countries like the United States, England and France...the political system allows for too much backlash against the people who would order the weapons' use.

If some country used a nuke against the USA, UK, France, or Germany, you can be sure they risk having a nuke launched back at them. The deterrant still works in favor of nuke-capable countries. It's the little guy who doesn't have a nuke that I am concerned about.

Anyone who asks "why not?" does not have a full understanding of what one of these devices is capable of doing. What if a nuke had been used against the Taliban in Afganistan? How many of the non-combative citizenry would we have killed? It is easy to think that everybody over there is a terrorist but that simply isn't true. And if you are a advocate of only using the smaller tactical nukes, my arguement is that it will only make it that much easier to use one of the bigger, nastier nukes. Save the nukes for a war that is really big and important, and if that day comes, God help us all!

There has been some indication that the latest confrontation with Iran is creating real advocacy in the incredibly stupid Bush regime for nuclear strikes against Iran. Aside from the fact that they are likely not to be effective against the secret Iranian nuclear sites, the outroar of hatred against the USA throughout the Muslim world plus many non-Muslim nations would destroy totally any of the shredded sympathy the USA may still retain. It would be total disaster, and not for Iran