A US-Russia nuclear war seems too horrible to imagine. And yet, it seemed possible during the Cold War: The special terror in nuclear deterrence reveals itself during natural rather than human-made disasters. Despite early warnings, extensive transport networks, government preparations and lots of money, thousands still suffer in the aftermath of great storms and fires. Nuclear-tipped ICBMs […]
Bunker Down: How America Almost Spent Billions Trying to Survive a Nuclear War
The history of civil defense in America is one of long neglect and avoidance since the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Here s What You Need to Remember: The proposed project was stupendous about half the U.S. GDP in 1957 but the goal was the preservation of 86 percent of the American people from a global thermonuclear war. Kahn & Panero’s proposal was vast, comprehensive and detailed. It also nearly killed civil defense.
The special terror in nuclear deterrence reveals itself during natural rather than human-made disasters. Despite early warnings, extensive transport networks, government preparations and lots of money, thousands still suffer in the aftermath of great storms and fires. Nuclear-tipped ICBMs arrive with the surprise and speed of earthquakes, leaving whole populations sitting like ducks before the fury.