"When we recognize there is a war we will pull the trigger,
the nuclear trigger. It will probably happen after a nuclear terrorist strike against this country or a European Country. The ability to drop several thousand thermonuclear weapons can have a very calming effect on the enemy."
So you expect we would go from one extreme of minimizing civilian deaths, to the other extreme of massive nuclear response.
I doubt that.
And we only used nukes ONCE, with very specific goals. It worked that one time, and has been HEAVILY debated since.
Not that I oppose use of nukes. But I expect the elites of power do.
The State Dept. probably has volumes on why not. And the military probably says: "WTF...let's do it."
Ok...OK...Ok.....How about just ONE lil' ol' Ohio Class then???
Yes I do for three reasons.
Once attacked we must destroy all the enemies ability to make war against us. When you look at the size and population of the enemy it would be impossible to do this with conventional weapons.
If we did not do this we would have just signed our own death warrants and Western Civilization would be at an end.
When the population of our country sees the heart of a city ripped out and several hundred thousand lives lost they will demand instant and over whelming retaliation and they will have a blood lust in their heart. It would make no difference if a Republican or Democrat is in power. In the interest of their own political survival they would strike the enemy with a vengeance. Even a Bill Clinton would do this.