Quote Originally Posted by SteyrAUG View Post
Honestly, once they send theirs, concerns about "environment" are a bottom priority. The real question is will anyone come out alive. Our enemies need to understand there is no such thing as a limited exchange, it's a buy one get ten free situation.

Everyone needs to be one the same page that it's "all or nothing." Every President needs to understand that reality and as much as I disliked Obama and hated Clinton I think even they understood that reality. The only one who may not have fully gotten it is Carter and even then I can't say for sure, he was in the Navy so he should have grasped certain realities.
The thing is, I'm not sure all Presidents have "got it" in regards to the reality of an exchange. Say we had a rogue state or even a terrorist group use a nuclear device in a major city. Would we retaliate against their population (or in the case of a terrorist group, the country they are based from) especially after having time to think about it? An outright exchange with China or Russia is easy. They aren't going to send over a single nuke at us. It will come with overwhelming force and we'll counter. Because the President won't have time to think it over.

On the other hand, a single North Korean nuke? Say it's targeted against a city within range of their missiles. Would we overwhelmingly attack them in a 10:1 ratio? Especially knowing the fallout portion would be heading straight over Japan and eventually over the US? Would our allies support such an overwhelming response? Emotion will play a part in such a retaliation after having the time to think it over. I wouldn't even be surprised if it didn't turn highly political on the home front in the aftermath. "We didn't have to use nuclear weapons! Orange Man Bad/Kenyan Man for destroying a helpless country!"

This won't sound right the way I'm about to say it, but the Cold War was easy. They light us up, we light them up. MAD at its finest. Today, the nuclear paradigm is not so clear in regards to third party actors. I'm not sure any President would be so quick to strike back after having time to think it over. I'm not saying they won't, but there would be a serious pause with some before sending out those codes.