With that, Kennedy summarized the basic dilemma of nuclear strategy: a minimal arsenal of city-busting weapons might be adequate to deter a nuclear attack—this was the Navy’s strategic rationale for the Polaris—but, “if the deterrent fails,” if the threat had to be carried out, no president would want to attack Soviet cities, kill millions of their people. On the other hand, the alternative—destroying the Soviet missile sites, the essence of the counterforce strategy—would require matching the Soviet buildup, which might spur them to build more weapons still, which would require another
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