
1950s U.S. Nuclear Target List Offers Chilling Insight (2015) - monort
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/23/us/politics/1950s-us-nuclear-target-list-offers-chilling-insight.html
======
Amorymeltzer
The article mentions Alex Wellerstein, who I cannot recommend highly enough
for anyone interested in nuclear weapons. He runs the Restricted Data blog,[1]
which is _excellent_ and well worth the hours of reading you can spend there.
He's probably most famous for NUKEMAP.[2]

1: [http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/](http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/)

2: [http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/](http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/)

Two of his more recent pieces, are particularly worthwhile:

Brief history of the nuclear triad:
[http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2016/07/15/brief-history-
nucl...](http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2016/07/15/brief-history-nuclear-
triad/)

The President and the bomb: [http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2016/11/18/the-
president-and-...](http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2016/11/18/the-president-
and-the-bomb/)

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jwtadvice
The US continues, today, to be the only first-strike nuclear nation
threatening to (as an explicit policy) destroy civilian population centers in
a host of competitor countries as a coercive tactic and if and when it serves
US national interest.

The further continuation of this longstanding policy, which is in effect
today, is a matter of debate - though there has not yet been a strong enough
coalition of opinion to withdraw this doctrine.

There were several nuclear strike target lists leaked from the past several
administrations and they all say the same thing: capitols and population
centers of compeditors, strike first in scenarios where not striking could put
the US at a serious competitive disadvantage, use the threat of a strike and
the deterrent of weapons of mass destruction as a coercive measure in the
toolbox of statecraft.

~~~
emmab
> The US continues, today, to be the only first-strike nuclear nation
> threatening to (as an explicit policy) destroy civilian population centers
> in a host of competitor countries as a coercive tactic and if and when it
> serves US national interest.

Doesn't the Geneva convention disallow terrorism?
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Geneva_Convention#Colle...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Geneva_Convention#Collective_punishments)

Does this mean that if anyone actually carried out an order like this they
could be prosecuted for war crimes?

Is it illegal to make or disseminate plans for war crimes if one hasn't
carried them out yet?

~~~
user982
International law does not apply to the US. When the Hague found the United
States guilty of attacking and violating Nicaragua's sovereignty, the US
simply refused to comply with the ruling and the issue was subsequently
dropped.[1]

 _> Is it illegal to make or disseminate plans for war crimes if one hasn't
carried them out yet?_

Apparently not.[2]

[1]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua_v._United_States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua_v._United_States)

[2]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_Operations_in_Gu...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_Operations_in_Guerrilla_Warfare)

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desdiv
>It lists many targets for “systematic destruction” in major cities, including
179 in Moscow, 145 in Leningrad and 91 in East Berlin.

I wonder how many members of the Berlin Brigade[0] were aware that East Berlin
was a major nuke target.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Brigade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Brigade)

~~~
trhway
back then the lower power nukes were also perceived and intended as
tactical/battlefield weapons and being present at some tactical distance from
the nuclear explosion was considered normal, and infantry/tanks were supposed
to move in soon after the explosion. I'd guess Berlin Brigade would even had
trained for such scenario.

That were the days :

[http://www.citylab.com/politics/2014/08/atomic-tests-
were-a-...](http://www.citylab.com/politics/2014/08/atomic-tests-were-a-
tourist-draw-in-1950s-las-vegas/375802/)

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zkms
The fictional book in the _Dr. Strangelove_ film called "World Targets in
Megadeaths" was no joke, it seems!

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cnnsucks
Good thing MAD worked.

