Journalist Andrew Cockburn discusses the U.S. nuclear weapons program and our relation with other nuclear armed countries, especially Russia. His new article, “How to Start a Nuclear War,” describes just how easy it would be for even a single officer to launch his squadron’s entire nuclear arsenal, enough explosive power to kill hundreds of millions of people. With so much at stake, denuclearization should be a chief concern for anyone who wants to see world peace, and yet given how much of the U.S. economy is wrapped up in war, that outcome seems unlikely.
Discussed on the show:
- “How to Start a Nuclear War” (Harper’s)
- Single Integrated Operational Plan
- Counterforce
- The New START Treaty
- U.S. Nuclear Modernization Programs
- “We’re Spending More on Nukes Than We Did During the Cold War?!” (Mother Jones)
Andrew Cockburn is the Washington editor of Harper’s Magazine and the author of Kill Chain: The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins. Follow him on Twitter @andrewmcockburn.
This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Zen Cash; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; LibertyStickers.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.
Check out Scott’s Patreon page.
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