TIL that the US's original nuclear war plan included bombing China. When asked if there was an option to spare China if it wasn't part of the war, Strategic Air Command leader Thomas Power said he hoped no one would think of that, "because it would really screw up the plan."

submitted by NorfolkTerrier from (nsarchive2.gwu.edu)

all 3 comments
sorted by:
top
newinsightfulfun

[–]NorfolkTerrier[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The relevant quote is under Document 25 on this page. It appears to reflect overall policy at the time. While there were technically guidelines about tailoring a nuclear response for different scenarios, the brass generally believed that any nuclear attack on either side would mean all-out apocalyptic war, featuring a list of thousands of targets determined far in advance, with little time for debating specifics.

Nuclear war strategy is a real rabbit hole to go down. I definitely recommend reading up on it if you have the time.

[–]CarlDung 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

having a nuclear war and thinking about collateral damage are quite a bad match

[–]NorfolkTerrier[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

True. Many of the strategists had a kind of bloodthirsty attitude, but their job was to plan a conflict that would kill hundreds of millions. Civilian leadership liked to fantasize about limited exchanges that would allow nukes to become part of "normal" war while also not being 100% genocidal. Morally this might have been as bad as a willingness to bomb everyone, though, and could have led to many more nuclear bombings over time. Still, the MAD concept was a big gamble, and could have risked something even worse.