Nuclear Preparations Put Earth in Jeopardy

“A New Nuclear Age” (Opinion, July 6), by military affairs analyst William Arkin, is truly terrifying in its analysis of how to survive a nuclear attack. It describes the preparations being made so that military commanders can operate in spite of a nuclear attack from an outside aggressor. Has the military also considered an inside aggressor, considering that we could get an arrogant, deranged tyrant as head of state who would embrace a policy of preemptive strikes against other nations and global domination?

The mind-set of the military and political establishment of “us versus them” continues to bring us at an accelerated speed toward the end of our human history. Defying all logic of self-preservation, the establishment assumes that a limited nuclear war can be waged and that this “little blue spaceship” we call Earth will still hold the conditions conducive to human existence. Can we consider that we are all together in this absurd game of nuclear terror just so we can get what we want from each other? This nonsense must stop because it leads only to our own destruction. Nothing in this whole world is worth that.

Kit Kohler

Gardena

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The “highly automated systems” described by Arkin sound a lot like Skynet. Hopefully there aren’t any Terminators in this picture.

Rebecca Drayer

Pittsburgh