The Letter Of Last Resort - PMs letter to Nuke Sub Captains

[mistermack]

The US would assess the risks, nuking the UK would either be as a warning to the US or over a non-American issue. There is no way a US president is going to risk American cities to protect a far off country. It's one thing to risk your military its another to put your civilians at risk. They may consider they will consider they could be next but more likely they would be wary of escalating it to their shores

Totally disagreed.
If the UK was nuked, the US President would be crazy to wait for the nukes coming his way.
The fact that the UK had been nuked proves that they are dealing with a lunatic.
I'm 100% sure that they would order the full destruction of all known launch sites and military installations.

[pErvinalia]

Yeah, you'd have to. As you say, it's lunatic time at that point. No one wants an armed lunatic.

[mistermack]

It boils down to this question - is there any point exacting post-mortem revenge?

If you view it as revenge. I would view it as helping our allies, and anybody who was still alive on the UK.

I don't think it would help anyone....

Depends who did the dirty deed on the UK.
Whoever it was would have to be dealt with. If the UK subs did them serious damage, that would make life easier for the US and allies, without them having to start the shooting.

[Clinton Huxley]

It boils down to this question - is there any point exacting post-mortem revenge?

If you view it as revenge. I would view it as helping our allies, and anybody who was still alive on the UK.

I don't think it would help anyone....

Depends who did the dirty deed on the UK.
Whoever it was would have to be dealt with. If the UK subs did them serious damage, that would make life easier for the US and allies, without them having to start the shooting.

We're all assuming it wasn't the US that nuked us.....

[Mysturji]

It boils down to this question - is there any point exacting post-mortem revenge?

If you view it as revenge. I would view it as helping our allies, and anybody who was still alive on the UK.

I don't think it would help anyone....

... With the possible exception of cockroaches.

[pErvinalia]

It boils down to this question - is there any point exacting post-mortem revenge?

If you view it as revenge. I would view it as helping our allies, and anybody who was still alive on the UK.

I don't think it would help anyone....

Depends who did the dirty deed on the UK.
Whoever it was would have to be dealt with. If the UK subs did them serious damage, that would make life easier for the US and allies, without them having to start the shooting.

We're all assuming it wasn't the US that nuked us.....

Yep, a Rand Paul / Paul Ryan leadership took out the socialists UK.

[Clinton Huxley]

The Yanks had "Plan Red" in the 30s, a scheme to wage war on and destroy the British Empire. As luck would have it, the Germans did it for them but I still don't trust the buggers.

[MrJonno]

The US would assess the risks, nuking the UK would either be as a warning to the US or over a non-American issue. There is no way a US president is going to risk American cities to protect a far off country. It's one thing to risk your military its another to put your civilians at risk. They may consider they will consider they could be next but more likely they would be wary of escalating it to their shores

Totally disagreed.
If the UK was nuked, the US President would be crazy to wait for the nukes coming his way.
The fact that the UK had been nuked proves that they are dealing with a lunatic.
I'm 100% sure that they would order the full destruction of all known launch sites and military installations.

Why, unless the US could take out all enemy nuclear weapons in a 1st strike it doesn't really matter if they wait to see what happens next on their nations survival. You can't expect a foreign government to put London as the same value as New York. If it's a Russia or China involved they might nuke one of their allies instead.

The fact a country had nuked the UK and I assumed not been destroyed in return implies they have made a damn evil decision but not necessarily an irrational one

[camoguard]

I vote for retaliation. If I were in a sub and my home country were destroyed, I'm assuming my things got blown up with that. Somebody's got to die.

[mistermack]

The Yanks had "Plan Red" in the 30s, a scheme to wage war on and destroy the British Empire. As luck would have it, the Germans did it for them but I still don't trust the buggers.

Yes but having a plan isn't the same as any real intention.
I'll bet the British had some sort of plan for a fall out with the US.

The US seems to have had no plan for Japan though. If they did, it was buried pretty deep.
They didn't even keep their eyes open.

[mistermack]

I vote for retaliation. If I were in a sub and my home country were destroyed, I'm assuming my things got blown up with that. Somebody's got to die.

Me too. In any case, if the people who wrote the order are dead, are you legally obliged to follow it?
Especially as the legal system has been blown to bits too.

[Clinton Huxley]

The Yanks had "Plan Red" in the 30s, a scheme to wage war on and destroy the British Empire. As luck would have it, the Germans did it for them but I still don't trust the buggers.

Yes but having a plan isn't the same as any real intention.
I'll bet the British had some sort of plan for a fall out with the US.

The US seems to have had no plan for Japan though. If they did, it was buried pretty deep.
They didn't even keep their eyes open.

I think the yanks wanted to destroy the British Empire and open up markets for their goods enhance self-determination and democracy around the globe.

[camoguard]

I vote for retaliation. If I were in a sub and my home country were destroyed, I'm assuming my things got blown up with that. Somebody's got to die.

Me too. In any case, if the people who wrote the order are dead, are you legally obliged to follow it?
Especially as the legal system has been blown to bits too.

If the world doesn't want me retaliating they need to offer me something. I'm a homeless dude with nukes.

[NineBerry]

How much damage can a single sub do? How many nukes are there on board?

[mistermack]

Why, unless the US could take out all enemy nuclear weapons in a 1st strike it doesn't really matter if they wait to see what happens next on their nations survival. You can't expect a foreign government to put London as the same value as New York. If it's a Russia or China involved they might nuke one of their allies instead.

The fact a country had nuked the UK and I assumed not been destroyed in return implies they have made a damn evil decision but not necessarily an irrational one

Let's face it, we're only talking about Russia or China.
If anyone else nuked the UK, you would know that they were suicidally mad.
If Russia or China nuked the UK, out of the blue, they would be mad too. If they did it as a result of a recent serious dispute, then assurances and warnings would have been issued by the US through dimplomatic channels, and the US would just carry out what they said they would do, before they got hit themselves.

Why would they wait for a launch? When they could destroy many targets before they launched?