Until Klinton, we had a policy that stated we would decide whether or not to launch our missiles immediately after an enemy launched theirs. The idea being that no nation would attack us with nukes since they would be destroyed immediately upon launching them.
Klinton changed the policy to where we would not make a decision on retaliating until enemy missiles actually impacted and detonated here first. Basically, this treasonous policy sets us up for the following scenario:
China moves on Taiwan. We act to stop it. China tells us to get out of the way, and we refuse. China launches missiles taking out several US cities. Under the Klinton policy, we would then decide what to do. We can either lick our wounds and let them take Taiwain, or launch our own missiles at China. The latter option would likely not be seriously considered, since if we launched, China would launch a second round at us.
Under the "old" policy, the Chinese would not launch on us since as soon as they did, we'd have enough missiles in the air to annihilate their country ten times over.
Not that it makes the scenario any more appealing, but if China did this now, I suspect we'd have at least 50 missiles in the air within 10 minutes. And our entire air power would be airborne. China would have more mushrooms over it than a dark, damp bed of peat moss. <p.Well, I hope so anyways. Better to retaliate quickly and them talk than to talk about it first.