http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Duck-and-cover-America-12499994.php
Duck and cover, America
Published 9:43 pm, Monday, January 15, 2018
THE ISSUE:
A false alarm in Hawaii points to weaknesses in the nuclear early warning system.
THE STAKES:
Can we fix a climate in which nuclear war is so thinkable?
It's tempting to see the false nuclear missile alert in Hawaii this past weekend as merely a briefly terrifying but ultimately inconsequential foul-up. Wrong. It's a wake-up call.
A wake-up call to the fact that we are in the midst of a new nuclear arms race. To the reality that this is a global problem. To the realization that the decisions to use these weapons of mass destruction lie in the hands of leaders of uncertain mental stability.
The brief Hawaii nightmare, in which a warning of an incoming ballistic missile was sent out to the public by the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, is being blamed on an employee selecting the wrong "template" during a drill. The warning, authorities say, should have only gone out internally.
The first task, obviously, is for that agency to fix its systems and training procedures, and for all other such agencies around the country to make sure they're doing all they can to ensure they don't repeat such a mistake.
It's not just a matter of avoiding unnecessary fear and inconvenience; it's the numbing effect such a mistake can have on the public. Many people will undoubtedly conclude the next warning is just another mistake.
The larger issue, though, is that we are in a global climate today in which, for probably the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the prospect that such a warning could be real is all too possible. We seem to have lost our sense that nuclear war is an unwinnable proposition.
From a practical standpoint, just reaching shelter would be problematic; Hawaii's agency says a warning would provide just 12 to 14 minutes' notice of a nuclear strike.
Nor can we really expect much advance notice that a nuclear attack might be coming. Hawaii drove home that we just don't know if or when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un might decide President Donald Trump's taunts and threats are too much — too alarming or too insulting.
This problem won't likely be contained. Just as North Korea bought some of its nuclear knowledge from a Pakistani expert — who also admitted to selling information to Iran and Libya — it's hard not to imagine that North Korea, impoverished and isolated, will sell its secrets to others.
None of this is helped by a president who speaks blithely, even enthusiastically, about nuclear proliferation. Who tweets insults at North Korea's leader. Who hints at imminent war as if it's a teaser to next week's episode. Who disdains diplomacy and the details of intelligence briefings. The Hawaii alert was so believable because we have a president who has made the prospect of nuclear engagement so possible.
All the more reason for Congress to take a serious look at the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017, legislation that would prohibit a first strike without express congressional authorization.
Hawaii warns us that we can't have nuclear systems that allow one person to make a dumb mistake — or a disastrous choice. It's all the more dangerous when the finger on the button belongs to a person whose buttons are so easily pushed.
