U.S. Deserter tells of MORE Atrocities

Originally posted by Maju The first strike doctrine is previous to the deployement of short-range nuclear weapons. Those weapons would have been relatively useless for the USSR, as they could not reach the US cities. What was strategical for the US was Western Europe as such: bussiness and a major beachhead in Eurasia.�

They couldn't hit US cities, but as you say, Western Europe was very strategic for the US. The first aim of the USSR in any war with the US (even a defensive war) was to eliminate the enemy presence in Western Europe rapidly. To that end, the Soviet Union fielded numerous tactical nuclear weapons along the Iron Curtain, just as the US did. Tactical nuclear weapons also had a directly defensive role: preventing the other side from coming through in a conventional attack.

Nuclear doctrine changed quite a bit over the years. First strike and assured destruction were simply not capabilities anyone had until the late 60s, at the earliest. All kinds of TNWs were present before then; in fact, the TNW is the first kind of nuclear weapon, preceding strategic weapons. Strategic weapons required ICBMs; the technology for ICBMs simply wasn't perfected before Sputnik, and yields were not large enough. The Davy Crocket weapon, for instance, was developed in the 50s and deployed through the 60s.

Edited by edgewaters

atrocities

Those guys in here that are so fond of war look like R. Heinlein "Starship Troopers" fans. Read the book, Genghis & Co., you may like it.

Does anyone have a statistic regarding the number of deserters from the US military?  

Edited by Cezar