The threat of devastating nuclear attack by Russia against the United States has not diminished, warns former Sec. of Defense Robert McNamara. Writing in Mondayâs Los Angeles Times, McNamara and co-author Helen Caldicott claim that the threat of a nuclear catastrophe remains real, âwhether by accident, human fallibility or malfeasance.â
| Ohfergawdsake. Helen Caldicott. Wotta maroon. |
The Soviet Union collapsed on itself and the divide between Eastern communism and Western democracy disintegrated more than 13 years ago. Because of that, the nightmare scenario is not on the minds of many Americans today.
| Nor of the Russians. As it happens, we're in similar boats, though not the same one, and chances of war between the two states are minuscule for the foreseeable future... |
Nevertheless, the threat remains serious, McNamara and Caldicott argue, because, despite the end of the Cold War in the early 1990's, thousands of Russian nuclear warheads are still pointed at the U.S. targeting many civilian population centers.
| I'd prefer they were pointed at Mecca and Medina and Karachi, myself. I'd wager some of them are, too... |
McNamara, defense secretary to presidents Kennedy and Johnson, U.S. and Caldicott, a pediatrician and head of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute, say that Russian nuclear targeting strategies haven't changed much â and certainly not enough to reflect the thaw in relations between both nations.
| We keep hearing about Vietnam and quagmires. McNamara's the guy who brought on the quagmire. And we're supposed to listen to him on this? And Caldecott's an outright crank. |
The pair also cite a January 2002 document from the U.S. Foreign Military Studies Office at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., titled, "Prototypes for Targeting America, a Soviet Military Assessment." The study reports that New York City is the single most important target after military installations on the U.S. Atlantic coast.
| At the moment, there's a lot more chance of turbans being involved in anything terrible that happens to New York. Perhaps McNamara and Caldecott should apply some of his management principles and get their priorities straight. |
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