I don't understand the implicit vision of World War III that underlies this rationale. Is it supposed to be a multi-year total war affair between major powers,

I don't understand the implicit vision of World War III that underlies this rationale. Is it supposed to be a multi-year total war affair between major powers, but strictly non-nuclear, like WW II before August 1945? All of the world's major military powers and a few minor ones now have nuclear weapons. And even if they didn't have nuclear weapons, conventional weapons have radically improved effectiveness because of radically improved targeting. (Most of WW II's bombs were wasted destroying random patches of nothing-in-particular instead of the factory or airfield that was being targeted.) The probable timeline from initiation of total war to comprehensive devastation has been heavily compressed since 1940. If there were total war again between major military powers I could see a brutal spasm of months of using conventional weapons followed by nuclear murder-suicide from whichever side is losing worst. Perhaps a negotiated peace if the winning side doesn't make the losing believe it has nothing left to lose. I don't see it going on for years either way. Preparing to fight the next World War as if it were going to be as protracted as the last one is strange.