inc@fluke.UUCP (Gary Benson) (08/29/84)
Oh Jeez, that old crap again about how we're only ten minutes from doom. To
my way of thinking, people who go around shouting about the short length of
time between POSSIBILITIES are merely parading their ignorance of the
probabililities.
Now I ask you: do you really think that the length of time a missile takes
to get from side_aggressor to side_defender really matters? I certainly
don't. What matters is how expert the diplomats are -- you know, the folks
whose purpose is to provide the communication link between nations. As long
as the response time for communications is held shorter that the lead time
for missile delivery, we are as safe from holocaust with 30 as with 10
minutes. When it took 30 minutes for a bomb to get from 'us' to 'them', the
turn-around time for communications had to be something less than 30
minutes.
Today, we have "instantaneous" communications, so the time between
deployment and apology can be shortened considerably. I really don't give a
rat's ass if it only takes 5 seconds to get our weapon to it's target. If
that were the case, however, I'd like to be damn sure that the Kremlin and
the Pentagon were hooked up in a permanent dialogue.
--
Gary Benson ms232e -*- John Fluke Mfg Co -*- Box C9090 -*- Everett WA 98206 USA
{microsoft,allegra,ssc-vax,sun,sb1}{decvax,ihnp4,tektronix!uw-beaver}!fluke!inc
duetotheshortageofrobotsallourworkersarehumanandmayreactunpredictablywhenabusedfaustus@ucbvax.ARPA (Wayne Christopher) (09/01/84)
It's not the speed at which communication can occur that prevents accidental wars from starting. If there were a delay of say 2 minutes between firing and impact, you could be sure that our forces would be at a much higher level of alert than they are now -- more bombers in the air at all times, very fast missle firing systems, etc. Also, the people in charge would have to maintain a level of alertness far beyond what they have to now -- how would you like to have your finger on the button, knowing that you may have exactly one minute to decide whether to nuke the USSR or not. Having a dozen Russian diplomats trying to convince you that in fact the missles are really a flock of geese or something doesn't help -- if the USSR launches a preemptive strike, they're sure not going to tell their men in Washington about it. It is a very dangerous situation, if only because of the likelyhood of accidents, and there is nothing besides trying to change the forces involved that is going to change it. Wayne