A question about nuclear deterrence - what is the difference in these two scenarios?

[LSLGuy]

For our OP @Celtic_Kitsune:

Here’s a thread from 2010 that touches on some of the moral dimensions you’re apparently interested in.

Preventing genocide through proportionate sensory backlash

This might end up in GD but we’ll try it here first. Suggestions anyone? I’m thinking that despite our mirror neurons, we don’t quite have the natural biological capacity to truly comprehend the death of large numbers of people (say larger than the number of people we are naturally inclined to keep track of personally). So we, the USA, should modify our weapons of mass destruction such that there are multiple “are you sure?” firewalls to mass murder in multiple sensory modes - visual (are you su…

Here’s another thread from 2011 you might enjoy reading. It’s about a lot more than just what the first post talks about. Note that 2011 was about 5 years before Trump burst on the political scene.

ICBM missile crews refusing to launch? (possibly apocryphal incident)

I recall reading once of an incident which allegedly occurred in the late 70’s in the US. Supposedly the powers that be were wondering how many ICBM crews would actually launch if given the order to do so. So to test this out they ran a full scale launch exercise without telling the missilers that it was only an exercise. In the event (as the story goes) up to a third of the missile crews refused to carry out their orders, not surprisingly causing some concern in the higher ranks. Any truth to…

Lastly, here’s something from 2017, so in the middle of the rather unusual Trump presidency.

"The Viability of Moral Dissent by the Military"

The Journal "Joint Force Quarterly has published the winning entry in an essay contest. It was written by Lee M. Turcotte. (caution, pdf link) In the essay, he posits a time when the government has ordered the internment of US citizens who are Muslim, after a time of internally generated terrorist attacks. In this hypothetical, the government orders internment, and the military has to decide whether or not to follow these orders. Is there a higher moral imperative that means they should dis…

As an overall comment …
Since you’re fairly new here I’ll also point out that as a general community custom we generally avoid continuing a long-dormant thread. Many of those posters are no longer available. Better to continue the conversation here with cites to there or begin a whole new thread of your own with cites to whatever other thread(s) or posts you feel are appropriate to set the stage.