Nuclear weapons can rarely win wars, but the unfortunate thing about them is that they can mean a country never loses a war without the other side losing, as well. For instance, if you’re Israel, and surrounded by enemies, owning nuclear weapons means that you can threaten to use them in extremis against the surrounding nations. It’s a bit like an animal with a poisoned skin. You can eat me, but you’ll die doing it.

Same with Pakistan/India.

I think for that reason that many countries will continue to seek atomic weapons. And if they have them, well, then everyone else is going to have to have them to, else a nuclear war really does become winnable.

While, to many of us, nuclear weapons conjure up images of burning flesh, moral appeals are lost on the Pentagon. Its only concern is winning wars. The path to peace may lie in speaking to the Pentagon on its own terms….