3 ms·

The US does need nuclear weapons as long as other nations have nuclear weapons that can strike the US and allies. For one thing, the US military is strong but

The US does need nuclear weapons as long as other nations have nuclear weapons that can strike the US and allies. For one thing, the US military is strong but they aren't bomb-China or conquer-Russia strong. The article is from 2007 so the calculus with China has changed which has improved their military significantly in last decade. Finally, it doesn't really matter how strong military is when the opponent can vaporize it at will.

RetroTechie 3y ago
You don't need many to deter potential adversary. For any party that's hit, "several hits on capital + several other major cities + military bases hit" is effectively the same (deterrent) as "every major city hit". Both equate to "country in ruins" regardless exact # of cities hit. And therefore, an non-starter. Having enough missiles to have a chance of hitting every adversary's missiles while still in their silo's, is... nonsense. In an all-out conflict, any number of missiles would 'escape', and massive devastation on all sides the result. But I do wonder whether we'll see 'accidental' nuclear explosion some day. Non-rational dictator that pushes the button, conventional conflict escalated into nuclear one, terrorism, or plain stupid accident / misunderstanding / technical glitch. There have been some near misses already, and higher # of bombs / missiles certainly ups the odds.