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Wow, do you know how lucky we all are? Silly little shit like this could easily start WW3. We need complete ICBM disarmament. They can keep their bombs and w

Wow, do you know how lucky we all are? Silly little shit like this could easily start WW3. We need complete ICBM disarmament. They can keep their bombs and we can keep ours (for now), but we should restrict delivery systems such that there is a built in lag (bombers taking many minutes or hours to reach their targets), and can be recalled. ICBM's can be launched in a moment, and it is impossible to recall them or disable them once they are underway.

Jach 14y ago
No sane military would introduce such a lag. Furthermore I think your concerns are overblown. After all, something far more "potentially disastrous" happened in 1983 at a high point in Soviet/US tensions, and fortunately the guy in charge of retaliation launching had the common sense to reason a war wouldn't be started with one (or in his case, 5) missiles. http://lesswrong.com/lw/jq/926_is_petrov_day/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/jq/926_is_petrov_day/
- twoodfin 14y ago
  Another problem with a "long fuse" approach: It offers either antagonist a (seemingly) low-cost path of escalation (say, "just" deploying the ICBMs to their silos) during a crisis. This not only necessitates a comparable response, it is subject to being interpreted as more belligerent than intended. After you've gone a few rounds of this, you're right back where we are now, launch keys always ready to turn, except this time you're riding the momentum of mounting brinksmanship.