An American SSBN or six, on the other hand, could sneak right up to within a couple of minutes range of just about anyone in the world and in two minutes an enemy couldn't even pull their finger out. Depending on their load out and configuration, six boomers could deliver 384 independently targeted nukes all at once, with precision, and without any real warning.
That's what you'd do if it came down to it.
-- John R. Carroll
***************************************************************************************************************************** John that policy (MAD, mutually assured destruction) worked with the USSR during the Cold War. Both sides in the Cold War had leaders that were SANE. I can think of at least TWO or more countries that have leadership that may be insane. Pakistan currently has Muslim leaders that are friendly towards the USA to some extent. But they might be taken over by Radical Islamists at anytime. Iran and N. Korea are going to have Nuclear weapons soon and the delivery systems to deliver them several hundred miles already. In the scenario in the story in OSA the missiles were launched from freighters at Sea. A MAD policy would not deter an insane leader that really believes in Martyrdom for killing infidels.
DL