Suppose that there is a mal-function in the command-and-control system of a nuclear power and it accidentally releases a nuclear missle targetted at a US city. The missile hits and kills tens of thousands of people. Suppose that intelligence suggests that it was indeed an accident.
How would the US react? Retaliation in kind would be pointless and would probably provoke a full-blown nuclear exchange. OTOH doing nothing also doesn’t seem right. Would the US demand massive financial compensation? Impose economic sanctions? A limited conventional military strike?
Would the identity of the other country matter? Would the US react differently to an accidental attack from, say, Russia as compared to , say, Britain?
Does the US have a doctrine for accidental nuclear attacks? What about other countries?
If this is a hijack, I beg friend Cyber’s indulgence.
There was a very similar speculation recently in the NYTimes. The net effect was this: that Libya and Iran were eager to comply with nuclear proliferation inspections because the suspect that the US very well might be hit with some sort of nuclear attack, accidental or terroristic, and they wanted to be certain that our wrath would not descend upon them.
This, of course, presupposes that anyone would be concerned that America might launch a military strike without sufficient provocation. The silly billies! Whereever did they get such an idea?
I think an accidental attack would be different from a terrorist one in that the US would know for certain which country launched it. No need for any third country to fear retaliation.
Back in the 60s, there were two major movies that revolved around the opposite concept, an accidental attack by the US on the USSR. DR STRANGELOVE was a dark comedy, where (basically) the Soviet Union counter-attacked and all-out nuclear war ensued. FAIL-SAFE had the US President bombing a major US city (New York?) to make it clear to the Soviets that it was an accident, and to “even” the game, and thus avert total nuclear war.
Of the two, DR STRANGELOVE seemed more realistic, despite being a comedy, and FAIL-SAFE seemed silly, despite being a realistic drama.
Of course, back in those days, it was clear who the enemy was and how to strike back. God knows what would happen today if, God forbid, a major city were hit by a nuclear weapon. How long would it take us to figure out who was responsible and how in the world would we respond?
That would really depend on who did it, how negligent they were, and what they promised to do to make up for it somehow.
If a British, French, or Russian missile accidentally got targeted on a US city and launched, I would imagine that there would be no response from us and the offending nation would offer up billions in aid in recompense.
If a nation like Libya, North Korea, Iran, or Pakistan had a nuke stolen due to their lax security and it was smuggled here, we’d probably respond militarily.
I don’t know if Bush has changed the policy, but under Clinton, the United States would absorba first strike in the interest of world peace. It would allow them to also assess the situation, to make sure it wasn’t an accidental strike, as the OP was hinting towards.