Annie Jacobsen: belief

Transcript context

…I would say a 60 percent to 70 percent chance that we retaliate, not that we do nothing. But a decent chance we do nothing. Who understands really what goes on in the president’s mind? Because it is up to the president, as you point out repeatedly. Yes, no, okay. Again, we’re intellectualizing here. Doesn’t what you are suggesting really underscore this idea that this is madness to even have these arsenals that are capable of such things? Now remember, I’m not a peace activist. That’s not my job. My job is, as a national security reporter, to tell you the story of what would happen, what could happen in nuclear war: a scenario, not nuclear war: the only scenario. The takeaway, I believe, is that more nuclear weapons make us less safe, and I think you might be saying the same thing. The word madness doesn’t have much force with me. My life is a lot of different kinds of madness. I’ve heard people say marriage is madness. A lot of social conventions seem to me to be madness. The question is getting the least harmful form of madness out there. Then, I’m not convinced that those who wish to disarm have really made their case. Certainly, saying nuclear war is madness doesn’t persuade me. If anything, if enough people think it’s madness, we won’t get it, and it’s fine to have the nuclear weapons.…

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