Subway Book Review-the Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner: Daniel Ellsberg
I read this book this week on my subway commute. Sobering to say the least. A lot of this we knew, a lot we did not.I think we knew the Eisenhower/Kennedy era missile gap was exaggerated. We are and almost always have been the Doomsday Machine designer, maker and yes guilty of deploying such a thing.
In fact it was reversed, tenfold in our favor. They had four, counted by satellite ICBM missiles that could be liquid fueled and launched at us. Only four while our own generals talked hundreds to justify our buildup.
We are always told bombers can be recalled. No, after a nuclear go code, there is no abort code for fear of a fake signal. We are told the president alone can order a launch. This has almost never been true.
When one ponders Donald Trump as Commander In Chief and the facts in this book one may be tempted to quail, or panic. Take a deep breath and stick with the resistance.
Shortlisted for the 2018 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction
From the legendary whistle-blower who revealed the Pentagon Papers, an eyewitness exposé of the dangers of America’s Top Secret, seventy-year-long nuclear policy that continues to this day.
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