ecn-ec:mj@pur-ee.UUCP (08/11/83)
#N:ecn-ec:7000047:000:1154
ecn-ec!mj Jun 26 12:42:00 1983
FLAME ON (Sorry about this...)
Hmmm... Lauren, how are you so sure that there are not computer
systems in control of nuclear arms and are not human-monitored?
The Soviets have told us outright that if the Pershing II goes
into West Germany in December of this year that their nuclear
arsenal WILL BE PLACED ON LAUNCH-ON-WARNING. I assume that most
of the readers of this group have at least a passing familiarity
with computers (I'm being facetious) and will concede American
superiority over the USSR in computers, yet WE have had NORAD
false alarms! (A few hours after NORAD's radar network went
on-line for the first time, the system detected an imminent,
massive Soviet nuclear attack... which turned out to be the
MOON rising over the horizon!) 'Fortunately', the US arsenal is
still human-controlled, and so sudden accidental nuclear warfare
has been avoided SO FAR. Don't assume that a system like this will
not be instituted simply because the idea is completely and
totally MAD...
________
Mark A. Johnson Purdue University decvax!pur-ee!mj
(317) 743-2548