QUOTE OF THE DAY…. I appreciate the role a nuclear arsenal can play in serving as a deterrent against adversaries. But Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota may not appreciate the notion of a proportionate response.
“If in fact there is a nation who is compliant with all of the rules ahead of time and they’ve complied with the United Nations on nuclear proliferation, if they fire against the United States a biological weapon, a chemical weapon or maybe a cyber attack, well then we aren’t going to be firing back with nuclear weapons,” Bachmann said. “Doesn’t that make us all feel safe?”
“No!” shouted the crowd of thousands in Minneapolis.
There are obviously a lot of errors of fact and judgment in that quote, but that “maybe a cyber attack” is the part that stands out.
To be sure, attacks on a country’s computer networks can be severely damaging. But even Bachmann, as confused as she is, has to realize that responding to a cyber attack with a nuclear bomb would be the most insane act in the history of humanity. Does she understand what a nuclear bomb does?
So to answer Bachmann’s question, no, the United States will not use a nuclear arsenal to respond to a cyber attack. That doesn’t mean we’d welcome a cyber attack; it doesn’t mean we’d let a cyber attack slide; it doesn’t mean our conventional weapons couldn’t serve as a sufficient deterrent.
The right really is getting worse.
