Nuclear War

 I read Annie Jacobsen's 2024 book "Nuclear War: A Scenario".

Based on facts from exclusive interviews with many who have worked on nuclear scenarios over the years, Jacobsen outlines a realistic possibility.

What follows is less a review, than a jumping-off point for some of my comments.

She opens with a quote from Winston Churchill: 

"The story of the human race is War. Except for brief and precarious interludes, there has never been peace in the world; and before history began, murderous strife was universal and unending."

The nuclear war scenario she outlines could happen tomorrow. Or later today.

Nine countries possess nuclear weapons: the United States, Russia, France, China, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea. In total, the global nuclear stockpile is close to 13,000 weapons. More than enough to destroy the world many times over.

Anyone who believes in the doctrine of MAD [Mutually Assured Destruction] is indeed mad.

Because technology and weapons have become so advanced, most people agree that if World War III ever happens, nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons will probably be used.

Albert Einstein is reported to have said:

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres recently warned the world.

“Humanity is just one misunderstanding, one ­ miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation... This is madness... We must reverse course.” 

How true.

Jacobsen comments that the fundamental idea behind this book is to demonstrate, in appalling detail, just how horrifying nuclear war would be.

Jacobsen breaks her book down into 24-minute sections, beginning with that first blip on a radar screen indicating the launch of a missile. 

This is not an unrealistic scenario.

• As recently as March 2024, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons if there is a threat to Russian statehood or sovereignty.
• An Israeli minister has said that a nuclear bomb on the Gaza Strip was an option in the Israel-Hamas war, 
• North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons preemptively.
• Pakistan has not declared a No First Use policy,
• The USA does not have a No First Use policy.

It does not take much to start a nuclear war. And once started there is no turning back.

One of the sad things about this is that there are Christians who think that would be a good thing. 

It's time to re-watch my favourite nuclear war parody movie: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb