JRL NEWSWATCH: Mikhail Gorbachev: “The Madness of Nuclear Deterrence; The dangers have only become more acute in the decades since I tried to convince Thatcher.” – Wall Street Journal

“‘Deterrence cannot protect the world from a nuclear blunder or nuclear terrorism,’ George Shultz, William Perry and Sam Nunn recently wrote. ‘Both become more likely when there is no sustained, meaningful dialogue between Washington and Moscow.’ I agree … about the urgent need for strategic engagement between the U.S. and Russia. … nuclear deterrence, instead of protecting the world, is keeping it in constant jeopardy. … Nuclear weapons could go off because of a technical failure, human error or computer error. The last alarms me the most. … how many times have computers and electronics failed-in aviation, in industry, in various control systems? Nuclear weapons might also be launched in response to a false alarm. If the flight time of the missiles is reduced, leaving less time to detect a false alarm, the probability of a mistaken retaliatory launch is bound to rise. Nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists. …”

[featured images are file photos]

Click here for: “‘The Madness of Nuclear Deterrence; The dangers have only become more acute in the decades since I tried to convince Thatcher'” – Wall Street Journal/ Mikhail Gorbachev