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A missile will probably not be launched, but a nuclear device smuggled in a cargo container or airplane (in a US harbor or airport) is a very real scenario. The
by dm2 13y ago
A missile will probably not be launched, but a nuclear device smuggled in a cargo container or airplane (in a US harbor or airport) is a very real scenario. There would be no way to tell where the bomb came from or even what aircraft was carrying it.
Even if we knew the cargo or plane came from a hostile nation, would we immediately launch nuclear weapons at them? They would deny any involvement and I'm not sure that we could ever prove otherwise.
- aldous 13y agoIndeed. It seems reasonable to postulate that a more 'unconventional' use of a nuclear weapon is the more likely scenario today. The documentary 'Count Down to Zero' discusses such scenarios (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1572769/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1572769/) at length and the impression left is somewhat terrifying. The solution? I haven't the foggiest as global disarmament seems unrealistic but the aspiration to progress beyond these ghastly devices as a global community is surely a sensible and just one.