2 ms·

I think people miss point of Dead Hand. It's not to prevent US from launching a pre-emptive strike, it exists to prevent USSR from launching a pre-emptive stri

• michaelt 12y ago
  There was a time when people wondered if it would be possible to have a limited nuclear war. Hypothetically, if Russian land forces invaded France, could we launch a few small nukes at military targets only, to scare them off? They'll see it's a small scale attack and decide not to retaliate because they don't want to trigger MAD any more than we do. Right? And that way we can save money on conventional forces, as nukes are all we need. By creating a fully automated doomsday device which will trigger MAD even in the event of a limited nuclear war the possibility of a limited nuclear war is taken off the table - and with it, the possibility of cutting back on conventional forces.
  • deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]