franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams) (12/23/85)
In article <452@whuts.UUCP> orb@whuts.UUCP (SEVENER) writes: >The US has never renounced the first use of nuclear weapons: >therefore it is obvious that our current nuclear strategy >assumes that such *first* use is neither unjust nor unwise. >Defending the cause of Capitalism is therefore seen to be >worth the destruction of the human species. First use of nuclear weapons does not cause the destruction of the species. We dropped two bombs on Japan without destroying the species. There is an important distinction between "first use" and "first strike". First strike refers to the launching of an all-out nuclear attack. The U.S. has ruled out making a first strike, but may make first use in the event of a European war (or possibly other cases). This first use might include tactical nukes, or selective strikes on one or a small number of targets. The Soviet Union has pledged not to make first use, but may launch a first strike if nuclear weapons are used against it. They claim this is a military option, and they target their missiles on military objectives. The American position is that targeting strategic nuclear weapons on military targets in hypocrisy; one still destroys all major cities in such an attack. So we target our missiles directly on the cities. (Not excluding military targets when those are isolated from population centers.) All this is complicated by and based on the strategic aims of the two powers. The primary concern of the U.S. is to prevent Soviet expansionism, and especially Soviet invasion of western Europe. Since the balance of conventional forces in Europe favors Russia, the threat to use nuclear weapons is an important part of this. The Soviet policy is mostly a response to this -- they wish to gain some room for maneuver by not ruling out a massive response to nuclear attack. Note that either of these policies would suffice to prevent mutual suicide if both sides followed the same policy. However, if a major war broke out, both sides followed their current policies, and this lead to an all-out nuclear exchange, it would be the U.S.S.R. which launched the first attack large enough to bring on nuclear winter. Frank Adams ihpn4!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!franka Multimate International 52 Oakland Ave North E. Hartford, CT 06108