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That strategy demonstrably worked -- we got through the Cold War. The problem is you can't always assume that the other guy has good intentions. If they're ra
by aheilbut 13y ago
That strategy demonstrably worked -- we got through the Cold War.
The problem is you can't always assume that the other guy has good intentions. If they're rational, then mutually assured destruction keeps everyone rational. If they're crazy, then that certainly is a problem, which is why there is enormous effort put into preventing proliferation and containing the capabilities of countries like North Korea and Iran.
- flyinRyan 13y agoYou think mutually assured destruction is going to keep an Islamic extremist group rational?
- mpyne 13y agoNo, that's what the NSA and CIA is for. :P I realize it's a circular argument, but MAD is for other nuclear nations (or future nuclear nations).
- potatolicious 13y agoIslamic extremists are not the only security threat to the USA. We continue to exist in a relativel tense peace with China, Russia, and other nation-states. The ability to drop a bunch of nukes on someone on short notice is not to deter terrorists, it's to deter nation states - anywhere between North Korea through Pakistan. The existence of nukes and the submarines that carry them is almost entirely orthogonal to the (relatively new) thread of terrorism.