Re: The Effects of a Global Thermonuclear War in 1988 (Re: Nuclear War, 1980's)

On 1 Dec 2003 17:43:42 -0800, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Yang Li) wrote:

>A moral question: you're the President of the US, and you have just
>found out that Soviet nuclear weapons have been launched at the US. 
>You have launched all necessary missiles to destroy Soviet military
>and missile bases.  You find out there are only 10 minutes before the
>Soviet strike hit all US missile bases and all major cities, probably
>killing you in the process.  Say that neither side will have any
>nuclear weapons after this exchange, but the Soviets will still have a
>lot of its civilian population left.
>
>Do you launch anther strike at Soviet cities and population at this
>time? Is it morally acceptable to kill innocent civilians and destroy
>their society because your own has been condemned?  Justify.

It's a little more complex:  do you want to leave an authoritarian
country willing as the only remaining great power?  That is, do you
want to kill more people, or leave the people left over better off?
And what is "better off" exactly?

Scott Orr