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From: kurt@fluke.UUCP (Kurt Guntheroth)
Newsgroups: net.followup
Subject: Re: Star Wars Defense Plan
Message-ID: <1255@vax2.fluke.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 17-Aug-84 20:05:48 EDT
Article-I.D.: vax2.1255
Posted: Fri Aug 17 20:05:48 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 19-Aug-84 03:34:41 EDT
References: <966@ulysses.UUCP>
Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Everett, WA
Lines: 26

Lets say the Star Wars defense plan is 95% effective (as effective a defense
as you could construct, certainly).  Now lets say the Russians have 10,000
nuclear warheads, a relatively good estimate for their strength by the time
we could implement Star Wars).  0.05 * 10,000 = 500.

500 bombs.  500 times 10 megatons each?  500 times 500,000 people killed per
bomb (maybe not so many since some cities might accidentially get two bombs
and one is enouch to kill a city).

500 bombs.  According to the newest theories, 100 bombs is enouch to cause a
global climatic catastrophe.  The bombs throw dust into the stratosphere
which blocks incident sunlight.  Imagine a year of twilight and average
temperatures of 20 F.  No crops.  Such a disaster is likely even if the Star
Wars Defense is 99% effective.  99%.  Not to mention the bombs we drop.

A couple hundred US cities wiped, a global climatic catastrophe, lingering
radiation.  And this is after the SUCCESSFUL application of the Star Wars
Defense.  Maybe the defense (which cannot be tested) is much less effective.

There is exactly one defense against nuclear war; proscription of nuclear
weapons.  Until then, there is no safety in any defense plan.
-- 
Kurt Guntheroth
John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.
{uw-beaver,decvax!microsof,ucbvax!lbl-csam,allegra,ssc-vax}!fluke!kurt