Annie Jacobsen

But the buildup is fascinating because first of all, it happened so incredibly fast and it happened under incredibly secret classified terms.

So there was no like outside opinion.

And originally, nuclear war was set up to be fought and won, which itself is absurd.

And we know that now.

So the rules of the game have fundamentally changed.

And yet the systems are all the same.

That's what's, I think, the most dangerous component of today versus, let's say, 1952 when the thermonuclears began.

So the system of nuclear war, this idea that – well, OK.

So let's start with some basic facts.

There's a nuclear triad.

You know what that – OK.

So triad, really simple, three.

So we have missile silos.

They're called ICBMs inside of them, 400 of them.

Then we have nuclear-powered nuclear submarines that launch nuclear missiles.

There are 14 of them.

Then we have the bomber force, 66 nuclear-capable bombers, triad.

The president chooses.

what elements of that triad he's going to use when he launches a counterattack if we ever are attacked.

That system essentially exists.