clyde@ut-ngp.UUCP (Clyde W. Hoover) (11/23/83)
What scares me worse than the possibilty of nuclear war is the potential
use of chemical and/or biological weapons. Imagine the release of a
short-lived (say 2-3 days) virus that incapacitates and kills. The U.S.
and/or U.S.S.R. could blanket the other with such nasties which would
kill as many people as horribly as using nukes, with the side benefit of
not turning the area into a radioactive wasteland.
While not as quick nor as immediate as nukes, a war so fought would devastate
the population of the Earth, and, if we were very lucky, also destroy the
planetary ecology, all without Sagan's "nuclear winter".
Imagine a slow wave of death sliding across America, borne on the winds.
Done, perhaps, during the holidays when much of the apprartus of government
is semi-idle and distracted. Think of contaminated lakes and resevoirs,
polluted food crops and livestock. Even if the death toll could be held
to a minimum, the economic effect would be devastating.
And you thought NUCLEAR war was bad enough...
Shouter-To-Dead-Parrots
(Clyde Hoover)
eagle!ut-ngp!clyde
ihnp4!ut-ngp!clyde
--
Clyde W. Hoover @ Univ. of Texas Computation Center
Austin, Texas
clyde@ut-ngp.{UUCP,ARPA} clyde@ut-sally.{UUCP,ARPA} ihnp4!ut-ngp!clydemmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor) (11/28/83)
What scares me worse than the possibilty of nuclear war is the potential
use of chemical and/or biological weapons. Imagine the release of a
short-lived (say 2-3 days) virus that incapacitates and kills. The U.S.
and/or U.S.S.R. could blanket the other with such nasties which would
kill as many people as horribly as using nukes, with the side benefit of
not turning the area into a radioactive wasteland.
=============
When you are talking about the death of civilization, it doesn't
matter much which is worse. But at least biological or chemical
warfare leaves the prospect of survival for SOME higher forms
of life, and possibly even some human life. Nuclear war provides
little such prospect, so it ought to be considered worse.
Perhaps the life-forms around the black smokers in the deep Pacific
might survive a nuclear war, and might evolve intelligence again
in half-a-billion years, but that doesn't make me too much happier
about nuclear war.
--
Martin Taylor
{allegra,linus,ihnp4,uw-beaver,floyd,ubc-vision}!utcsrgv!dciem!mmt