Facing The Decision

The events of the past few days have brought about the difficulties often faced by a President, having to face the decision to send troops into harms way.

I reflected on the topic as I was watching an old HBO movie called By Dawn’s Early Light, which presented a couple of interesting hypotheticals.

The film is set in the 1980′s and the basic story is that a group of dissident Soviet military officers launch a nuclear missile from Turkey against a target inside the USSR. The Soviets, making the natural assumption that the attack is US launched, retaliate against the US. Since it was a limited attack they make a limited response, targeting key military facilities and of course Washington DC.

Shortly after the attack is launched the Soviet leaders learn the truth and send a message to the US President explaining what happened and offering him 3 choices.

1. Do nothing and no further attacks will be made

2. Recognizing the intense political pressures he is under, they will accept an equivalent attack on Soviet targets and no further attacks will be made

3. Launch a full response and the Soviets will respond in kind.

Needless to say the President has a number of military advisors who tell him the message is a fake, intended to allow the Soviets more time to attack (hardly an unreasonable view under the circumstances).

The President has less than 20 minutes before NORAD and SAC are wiped out and perhaps 10 before Washington is vaporized.

The dilemna being what to do…

At a later point in the movie the pilot of a US command plane is faced with a similar dilemna. He has a Presidential successor on board who is giving orders (the President presumed to be dead in DC). The new President is ordering a full attack but another US plane is trying to catch up to the command plane.

The pilot is ordered to avoid the plane but he is also told by others that the successor is wrong and that he must let the other plane catch up. He hears the new President talk about ‘winning the war’ and is understandably concerned (winning a nuclear war is a debatable idea) but he also has his orders and as far as he knows his nation is under attack.

Again the dilemna of what to do..

Obviously this is simply a movie with plot holes you could drive a bus through, but it is interesting to ponder what you would do.

Would you as the President wait to see if the Soviet President was telling the truth, risking that the entire US population would be wiped out, or do you attack, risking world destruction ?

Would you as the pilot follow orders (not always as ominous of a thing as it sounds) or do you make a decision on your own that could lead to the destruction of the West.

Please chime in with your thoughts.