Why Nuclear Deterrence is Key: America and its Allies Came Close to Launching Nuclear Strikes on China, North Korea and the Soviet Union Before They Could Retaliate The threats North Korea faced before completing its nuclear deterrent were far from unprecedented, and as early as 1945 the Pentagon had planned for nuclear strikes against 66 Soviet cities using 204 nuclear warheads, which Britain in particular had persistently lobbied for to prevent the USSR from developing its own nuclear bomb.171 The Soviets achieved such a capability six years earlier than expected, which was key to deterring use of nuclear weapons either against their country or against neighboring China during the Korean War. Subsequently in the 1960s conventional and nuclear attacks on China were seriously considered by the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson administrations, and were widely advocated in the West to prevent the country from developing a nuclear deterrent. As summarized by U.S. Naval War College Professor Lyle J. Goldstein: “Infiltration, sabotage, invasion by Chinese Nationalists, maritime blockades, South Korean invasion of North Korea, conventional air attacks on nuclear facilities, and the use of tactical nuclear weapons on selected targets” were among the means considered to destabilize China and set back its nuclear development. These attack plans mirrored the widespread calls in the West up to late 2017 either for a limited “bloody nose” strike to set back North Korean weapons development, or for what lawmakers referred to as an “an all out war against the regime” intended “to take the regime completely down.” Extract from A. B. Abrams’ new book Surviving the Unipolar Era: North Korea's 35 Year Standoff with the United States... - Power and Primacy: The History of Western Intervention in the Asia-Pacific | Facebook

Why Nuclear Deterrence is Key: America and its Allies Came Close to Launching Nuclear Strikes on China, North Korea and the Soviet Union Before They Could Retaliate The threats North Korea faced before completing its nuclear deterrent were far from unprecedented, and as early as 1945 the Pentagon had planned for nuclear strikes against 66 Soviet cities using 204 nuclear warheads, which Britain in particular had persistently lobbied for to prevent the USSR from developing its own nuclear bomb.171 The Soviets achieved such a capability six years earlier than expected, which was key to deterring use of nuclear weapons either against their country or against neighboring China during the Korean War. Subsequently in the 1960s conventional and nuclear attacks on China were seriously considered by the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson administrations, and were widely advocated in the West to prevent the country from developing a nuclear deterrent. As summarized by U.S. Naval War College Professor Lyle J. Goldstein: “Infiltration, sabotage, invasion by Chinese Nationalists, maritime blockades, South Korean invasion of North Korea, conventional air attacks on nuclear facilities, and the use of tactical nuclear weapons on selected targets” were among the means considered to destabilize China and set back its nuclear development. These attack plans mirrored the widespread calls in the West up to late 2017 either for a limited “bloody nose” strike to set back North Korean weapons development, or for what lawmakers referred to as an “an all out war against the regime” intended “to take the regime completely down.” Extract from A. B. Abrams’ new book Surviving the Unipolar Era: North Korea's 35 Year Standoff with the United States... - Power and Primacy: The History of Western Intervention in the Asia-Pacific | Facebook