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Glory and Terror: The Growing Nuclear Danger
Glory and Terror The Growing Nuclear Danger Author:Steven Weinberg, Anthony Lewis A 2002 treaty signed by George Bush and Vladimir Putin calls for a reduction in operationally deployed nuclear weapons. Steven Weinberg argues that it will leave the world no safer. The reduction of weapons will be gradual and slow; the treaty may be cancelled on 45 days notice; and, perhaps most importantly, the Bush administration has refused ... more »Russian efforts to require destruction of nuclear weapons withdrawn from deployed missiles and bombers. Weinberg argues that all this leaves America vulnerable to the danger "of a large-scale Russian attack by mistake during some future crisis." To illustrate how nuclear accidents could happen, the author looks back at mistakes made during the Cuban missile crisis. He also repudiates the Bush administration's "revival of the idea of developing nuclear weapons for use, rather than for deterrence" with "calls for the development of low-yield, earth-penetrating nuclear weapons for attacks on underground facilities." Weinberg demonstrates the folly of this idea, setting it in context of the 1000-year history of development of weapons of war and showing that ineffective weapons have often been developed for the glory of commanders, and not for their efficiency in battle.« less