Kennedy had heard from various aides and officials—McNamara, Taylor, and Bundy in particular—that the SIOP was atrocious and inflexible, and it lived up to its reputation. Hardly a war plan in the traditional sense, it would unleash the same global catastrophe as predicted by the Net Evaluation Subcommittee. “General,” Kennedy asked at one point during the briefing, “why are we hitting all those targets in China? As I understand this scenario, this war didn’t start there.” “They’re in the plan, Mr. President,” Lemnitzer matter-of-factly replied.
