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> Ugh, come on, enough, Internet, enough with the over-sensationalization of everything. Is the author really that naive? Of course we planned a nuclear first s

by mhurron 10y ago

> Ugh, come on, enough, Internet, enough with the over-sensationalization of everything. Is the author really that naive? Of course we planned a nuclear first strike against Russia. And China. And likely the entire Eastern Bloc and Allies, since before the cold war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Plan_Red https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Plan_Red Basically, it appears the American's have had a plan to attack everybody from the moment they thought they were big enough to do so.

mikeash 10y ago
Every competent military maintains plans for every imaginable contingency, including war with all countries within reach (which, for a superpower, means all countries on the planet) regardless of current political status. Note the part of your Wikipedia page where it describes how the Canadians had a counterpart plan for invading the US.
- gaius 10y ago
  Or even not on this planet, as per CASE NIGHTMARE RED.
  - NickNameNick 10y ago
    As entertaining as cstross's books are.. (and I believe he's a user here) A more relevant (non-fiction) example might be the CDC zombie outbreak exercise. http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/zombies.htm http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/zombies.htm
    - mhurron 10y ago
      That isn't actually the government believing and planning for a zombie outbreak.
mwfunk 10y ago
You have got to be kidding me. There's a difference between "having a plan" and "planning to do something". National militaries are obligated to have a plan for everything. That doesn't mean the military wants to do those things. The civilian government decides on actions, the military just makes plans for potential actions they might be asked to do, no matter how unlikely. I'm sure there's also a plan for invading Rhode Island were it to be occupied by aliens. That doesn't mean they expect Rhode Island to be occupied by aliens, or that they think it's likely to happen, or that they want it to happen, or that they think the civilian government expects it to happen or wants it to happen. Do you really think that America is any different from any other large nation in the world in this respect? Do you really think that the Russian military doesn't spend just as much time (if not more) planning for every eventuality? If they don't, they're failing at their jobs, and while I have issues with Russia's political direction, I don't think of them as suffering from an underfunded or incompetent military.

by mhurron 10y ago

mikeash 10y ago

Every competent military maintains plans for every imaginable contingency, including war with all countries within reach (which, for a superpower, means all countries on the planet) regardless of current political status. Note the part of your Wikipedia page where it describes how the Canadians had a counterpart plan for invading the US.

gaius 10y ago
Or even not on this planet, as per CASE NIGHTMARE RED.
- NickNameNick 10y ago
  As entertaining as cstross's books are.. (and I believe he's a user here) A more relevant (non-fiction) example might be the CDC zombie outbreak exercise. http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/zombies.htm http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/zombies.htm
  - mhurron 10y ago
    That isn't actually the government believing and planning for a zombie outbreak.

mwfunk 10y ago

You have got to be kidding me. There's a difference between "having a plan" and "planning to do something". National militaries are obligated to have a plan for everything. That doesn't mean the military wants to do those things. The civilian government decides on actions, the military just makes plans for potential actions they might be asked to do, no matter how unlikely. I'm sure there's also a plan for invading Rhode Island were it to be occupied by aliens. That doesn't mean they expect Rhode Island to be occupied by aliens, or that they think it's likely to happen, or that they want it to happen, or that they think the civilian government expects it to happen or wants it to happen. Do you really think that America is any different from any other large nation in the world in this respect? Do you really think that the Russian military doesn't spend just as much time (if not more) planning for every eventuality? If they don't, they're failing at their jobs, and while I have issues with Russia's political direction, I don't think of them as suffering from an underfunded or incompetent military.