Agreed. I really doubt there would be just one, lonely missile going back if the US were hit by a single nuke. The American public would settle for nothing less than total annihilation of those that would harm us in such a way.
Think those al Queda folks realize how this mutually assured destruction thing really works?
Then again, I suspect the creation of a glass highway system in the Mid-East would allow the U.S. to finally withdraw from that region like al Queda desires.
That was the great thing about the Russians (from my US point of view): Looking back, you realize that they weren’t too different from us Americans. Yeah, we were all crazy enough to build the hellish things, but we were smart enough to realize that using them first would be a very bad thing.
I’m not so sure about today’s incarnation of Enemy of the US.
Don’t forget India/Pakistan. In case of a full-scale war, Pakistan will lose terribly. It may, no, it will have to deploy nukes in order to equalize, or at least keep India at bay.
MAD - Mutually Assured Destruction. The whole point was that knowing all would be destroyed would prevent a first strike by anyone. It seems to have worked, probably because responsible and moral people were on both sides.
I’m not that sure about those who would deliberately fly an airplane into a crowed building in the midst of a crowded city, though.
I think the operative concept is vengeance - just as I would have toasted Kabul and Kandahar (assuming proof of Afghan guilt DOES exist), I would certainly extract the maximum penalty for any such attack.
Also, I suspect that large cinders appearing in one’s home neighborhoods would dissuade 9/11-type attacks.
First, though, we (USA) have a ways to go to establish ourselves as an honest broker of such power (another thread, probably another board).
Personally, I’ve always been a fan of the “Great Convention” in Frank Herbert’s Dune series–if anyone uses nukes against human beings, every other nuclear power retaliates against the aggressor.
Of course, it’s more convenient when we’re talking about planets attacking each other than when we’re all stuck sharing the same rock.