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Why An American And A Russian General Are Suddenly Very Worried About Nuclear War
Over the past several years, there has been an alarming escalation of two very disturbing trends: an increasing preponderance of cyberattacks on complex infrastructure (whether domestic or abroad and whether instigated by external sources or internally, in a false falg attempt to evolve the issue to the benefit of various military-industrial complex benficiaries) as well as around the globe, and a largely unexpected return to a Cold War footing, one catalyzed by the violent US-sponsored overthrow of the former Kiev government and the eagerness to escalate the resultant conflict exhibited by the Kremlin.
If one extends said trends, one would arrive at a very unpleasant conclusion: due to the porous nature of modern technology and the increasing prevalence of cyberattacks, coupled with Cold War-era nuclear doctrines and rising tensions between the two superpowers who are now back to a Cold War regime, a nuclear war has suddenly emerged yet again as a very real threat.
At least such is the opinion of two high-ranking military commanders, American James E. Cartwright, a former Marine Corps general, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and commander of the United States Strategic Command, and Russian Vladimir Dvorkin, a retired major general who headed the research institute of Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces. Both are members of the Global Zero Commission on Nuclear Risk Reduction, and both are very concerned about the future of the world if the current nuclear status quo between the US and Russia is left unchanged.
The two express their joint concern in a NYT Op-Ed, in which they warns of the dangers of old nuclear strike doctrines at a time when relations between the two superpowers are at such a low point. As a result, they call on Moscow and Washington to prevent possible provocations.
In the Op-Ed, the authors state that there are three Cold War legacy strategic options at the two countries' disposal: i) a first strike; ii) retaliation after an attack and iii) launch on warning. The generals opine that the latter is the riskiest scenario, "since provocations or malfunctions can trigger a global catastrophe. Since computer-based information systems have been in place, the likelihood of such errors has been minimized. But the emergence of cyberwarfare threats has increased the potential for false alerts in early-warning systems. The possibility of an error cannot be ruled out."
And while one can be skeptical that in the current environment of renewed animosity between East and West the two countries will sit down and amicably discuss nuclear disarmament, the reality of a nuclear strike threat should a "hacker" find their way into either the US or Russian launch system and bypass the launch codes, is indeed all too real, as is the assured response by the adversary, giving way to a global nuclear holocaust.
Which, in this day and age when a new war seemingly starts every month in a desperate neo-con boost to stimulate this (military industrial complex) economy or that, does not sound too far fetched at all...
Finally, those cynical enough can say that what the two generals have done is simply lay out the blueprint for the next steps in what with every passing day appears to be a increasingly truncated global future.
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How to Avert a Nuclear War
We find ourselves in an increasingly risky strategic environment. The Ukrainian crisis has threatened the stability of relations between Russia and the West, including the nuclear dimension — as became apparent last month when it was reported that Russian defense officials had advised President Vladimir V. Putin to consider placing Russia’s nuclear arsenal on alert during last year’s crisis in Crimea.
Diplomatic efforts have done little to ease the new nuclear tension. This makes it all the more critical for Russia and the United States to talk, to relieve the pressures to “use or lose” nuclear forces during a crisis and minimize the risk of a mistaken launch.
The fact is that we are still living with the nuclear-strike doctrine of the Cold War, which dictated three strategic options: first strike, launch on warning and post-attack retaliation. There is no reason to believe that Russia and the United States have discarded these options, as long as the architecture of “mutually assured destruction” remains intact.
For either side, the decision to launch on warning — in an attempt to fire one’s nuclear missiles before they are destroyed — would be made on the basis of information from early-warning satellites and ground radar. Given the 15- to 30-minute flight times of strategic missiles, a decision to launch after an alert of an apparent attack must be made in minutes.
This is therefore the riskiest scenario, since provocations or malfunctions can trigger a global catastrophe. Since computer-based information systems have been in place, the likelihood of such errors has been minimized. But the emergence of cyberwarfare threats has increased the potential for false alerts in early-warning systems. The possibility of an error cannot be ruled out.
American officials have usually played down the launch-on-warning option. They have argued instead for the advantages of post-attack retaliation, which would allow more time to analyze the situation and make an intelligent decision. Neither the Soviet Union nor Russia ever stated explicitly that it would pursue a similar strategy, but an emphasis on mobile missile launchers and strategic submarines continues to imply a similar reliance on an ability to absorb an attack and carry out retaliatory strikes.
Today, however, Russia’s early warning system is compromised. The last of the satellites that would have detected missile launches from American territory and submarines in the past stopped functioning last fall. This has raised questions about Russia’s very ability to carry out launch-on-warning attacks.
Partly to compensate for the loss of its space-based system, Russia has deployed prefabricated radar units that can be set up quickly along its borders. Some of these are already operational; some are still being tested. Unlike satellite networks, radar can provide accurate information about the scale and targeting of a missile attack — but only once a missile has entered its vicinity, which would most likely be 10 to 15 minutes after launch.
The upside of radar reporting is more information. The downside of having to wait is that it cuts the time for deciding whether to launch on warning. That in turn increases the likelihood of mistaken retaliation. For a submarine missile fired from the Norwegian Sea, Russia’s radar network would give its nuclear decision makers just 10 minutes to respond. America’s early warning systems can be expected to provide about twice as much time.
Clearly, for either side, these timelines are very compressed and the opportunities for ill-considered decisions very real. Launch-on-warning puts enormous strain on the nuclear chains of command in both countries.
In theory, no sensible head of state would authorize a launch-on-warning strike after receiving information that just one missile, or a small number of missiles, were inbound, on the assumption that this was not an intentional, full-scale attack. But the launch-on-warning doctrine still rules in both Russia and the United States — in which case the risk, however small, of cataclysmic error remains.
This risk should motivate the presidents of Russia and the United States to decide in tandem to eliminate the launch-on-warning concept from their nuclear strategies. They should reinstitute military-to-military talks, which were suspended over the Ukraine crisis, to pursue this stand-down as an urgent priority. (A joint decision on this would not destabilize nuclear deterrence: Both countries still have nuclear forces designed to withstand a first-strike attack, guaranteeing retaliatory strikes.)
To reinforce this accord, both countries should refrain from conducting military exercises that involve practicing missile launches based on information from early warning systems. Even if this restraint cannot yet be fully verified, it would be a valuable contribution to strategic stability — and, of course, to preventing an inadvertent nuclear war. This would be a positive step ahead of the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference that the United Nations will host later this month.
Detailed verification measures can come later, once better Russian-American relations are restored. The technical implementation of a decision to abandon the launch-on-warning concept would fall within the framework of the New Start treaty. A phased reduction of the combat readiness of the strategic nuclear forces would provide a safer time buffer for nuclear decision making.
In periods of heightened tensions and reduced decision times, the likelihood of human and technical error in control systems increases. Launch-on-warning is a relic of Cold War strategy whose risk today far exceeds its value. Our leaders urgently need to talk and, we hope, agree to scrap this obsolete protocol before a devastating error occurs.
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Fake preamble to a nuclear 911. Grounds for martial law, disarmament and worse.
So many broken windows, Krugman gets a boner.
If any nation or peoples launch a nuclear weapon(s), instead of retaliation in kind, do nothing.
It may be what is required to rid humanity of the disease we call nuclear holocaust.
For anyone who launches a nuclear war will have to live with the knowledge they committed genocide and that in and of itself is easier said than done, particularly so if their target who they expected to retaliate does not.
There may be a chance for this planet and humanity if people do not succumb to the desire of revenge at any cost.
It may be asking a lot from the victim side, but at least they can die in peace knowing they did not contribute to the making of hell on this planet.
Oh yeah, the US really had a guilt complex over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Nice thought -turning the other cheeck and all- but don't expect much sympathy. Actually, expect a second round to finish you off once and for all.
While I would like to agree with you, (no downvote from me) -- I think you're making one bad assumption, that is that the people in charge here have consciences.
They don't.
There's a word for that.
We can call them reptilians or we can just call them psychopaths. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGbqXz-gUwA
I call them possessed.
There is a very good book out now "Command and Control" by Eric Scholssinger http://www.amazon.com/Command-Control-Damascus-Accident-Illusion/dp/0143...
This book is a great read.
The next world war will be nuclear. In every war, humans use their weapons that are most destructive. It is inevitable. Also, shit happens. The world avoided nuclear armageddon no less than a dozen times since 1945. It is evitable that a mistake will happen.
One of the reasons why nuclear war did not break out during the cold war was because people in power then had lived through the horrors of WWII. They remembered that. These people are gone now. Now we have a bunch of people that are willing to take a chance. With our lives.
Edit: thanks for tip on the book.
WRONG! The "cold war" was fake. For the hundreth time, there will never be a nuclear war. There is no need for one if you just instill that fear into the populace. Why bother? Also, no major world leaders are at odds with each other, contrary to what the media would like you to believe. Its all a show....the world is a stage...never forget that.
I agree. This is a show to increase defense profits. Look at Poland ordering patriot missiles because we have them in fear of the big bad russians. It's all about money and foolish countries who fall for the hype.
My Father used to say that in 1914 everyone said the could not be a war. The machine gun made war impossible.
Agreed... the Russians lost 29,000,000 million in WWII ... figures for casualties for civilian and military . about 25 million each group. Starvation and disease killed as many as bombs and bullets... As the WWII population die off.. and young have no clue because most have never been in combat or a war zone.. .. .war becomes more like . a video game .. no one dies.. no one bleeds.. no one misses a meal . no one is inconvencied.. .part of the problem in the US is all the insane wars from Vietnam to present . Americans never made any real personal sacrifices... few lost anything except those who had family or friends killed.. everyone watches the wars on TV pounding their chest blathering about lets kill the bastards caise we are #1 and our shit does not stink . American exceptionalism don't ya know . as long as me or mine do not have to bleed.. lets kill the 'enemy' . which is whomever the PTB have designated for that war cycle.. .. .. easy to push wars when you are 10,000 miles from the action .. . .. next go round .. its not going to be that easy on us. Americans have no clue . none .. how bad it gets .. that is why they are so damn anxious to fight in pointless wars of choice.. and as for humanitarian wars.. there is no such thing.... at least none that we have fought the last 70 years.
James Bond movie scenario not unlikely in this case. Some mad Dr. No or a group of hackers hacking their way into the control system of nuclear weapons facility threatening to 'fire one'*. Or some skilled ISIS hacker trying to catch to flies in one blow and have the major nuclear powers annihilate each other.
* the 'fire one' reference comes from a movie (forgot the name) where a Russian sub or ship is cornered and all fingers are on the triggers. There is tense negotiation and the commander says something like "let's be rational before somebody fires one". Then the guy with the finger on the trigger says "Fire one? Yes Sir"...
Might be easier to hack into the datastream(s) from BMEWS systems, and so create a spoofed "attack" scenario. If a simultaneous attack on multiple data sources was successful, then cross-checking might be impossible (within a reasonable time span), and the temptation to believe "this is REALLY The One", and initiate launch, would be very, very strong.
One would hope such an assault would be well-nigh impossible, but one would have also hoped the Credit Card security systems of major Banks would be impossible to tamper with . . . . . . .
As PCR very aptly said : Hairtrigger America and now Hairtrigger Russia look each other in the eye...
Yes Ukraine and Syrac are now the new frontier of this new cold war.
Meanwhile China visits Pakistan.
Sorry but the simple fact is the US has become a failed Satellite state of the greater Isreal, in turn threats to Isreal become directs threats to the US, with Pakistan and China now firmly in the stages of brotherhood and Iran becoming the main corner stone in making that relationship work by providing cheap energy to both nations, opening up the door to arms imports direct to Iran, being AA S-300s and whatever else you can imagine... Well the reality is does nuttyahoo want his flights tracked by locked and loaded missles sitting in Iran each time he takes off? NO!!! does he want Iran nuked up with the ability to wipe Israel off the map? NO!!! so what happens next is world war III!!! Simple really init......
I'm still amazed at being conquered by Money Changers with out one tank, one aircraft, simply a printing press and control of the currency.
Because they are fully aware of the fact that every war is a bankers war.
And as the banking system is on the verge of collapse....
1 + 1 = 2
BOOM!
This hyped up cold war 2.0 is just a replacement for the Iraq war. since the profiteers couldn't get their Iran war started, then they had to resort to hyping this Russian threat to replace those lost profits. Sick isn't it?
It's the Shmehitah
Jesus better wear a lead vest.
"...would give its nuclear decision makers just 10 minutes to respond. America’s early warning systems can be expected to provide about twice as much time."
Hahaha...whether I become incinerated by a nuke is dependent on someone in DC making a snap decision in 20 mins. Awesome! Ok, going to go get drunk right now..
It will take more than 20 minutes to find out which hole on the golf course that barry is playing.
galactic rule of civilizations history - those civilizations that develope nuclear bombs prior to telepacy eventually do destroy themselves and die off
The truth about the conflict with Russia >> http://wp.me/p4OZ4v-1Gm