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and sometimes irrational. " (p. 7) The chapters that ~ 7. 62 ~follow indicate that later American nuclear war plans Ford, Danieh?he Button: ?he Pentagon's Commandare by no means free of such problems; nor are those and Control System. New York: Simon & Schuster,of other nuclear-armed nations. Of particular impor- 1985. LC 84-27616. ISBN 0-671-50068-6.tance are the chapters by David Rosenberg, "U. S.On the basis of extensive interviews with keyNuclear War Planning, 1945-1960;" Ball, "The policymakers and decision makers, Ford identifies manyDevelopment of the SIOP, 1960-1983;" Richelson, fundamental problems in the arrangements for maintain-"Population Targeting and U. S. Strategic Doctrine;" ing control over nuclear weapons during both intenseand David Cattell and George Quester, "Ethnic Targeting:Some Bad Ideas. " international crises and actual conflict. He asserts that"Ethnic targeting" refers to the there is a sizeable "gap between official rhetoric anddeliberate targeting of specific population groups in theSoviet Union, notably the "Great Russians, " Pentagon plans" for nuclear war. (p. 17) The rhetoricas opposed calls for the use of American nuclear weapons only into members of other Republics. This approach, note retaliation for an enemy attack, but the actual plansthe authors, was advocated by key advisors to the involve the capacity for a pre-emptive, first strike withCarter and Reagan administrations. Cattell and Quester U. S. nuclear weapons. Ford also exposes the tendencyassert that the employment of such a targeting schemewould constitute "genocide. " of presidents to be quite ignorant of the nuclear(p. 281)weapons and war plans for which they are responsibleas Commander in Chief of all U. S. military forces.* 7. 60 *(p. 89-90) And he critically examines the "technologicalBundy, McGeorge. Danger and Survival: Choices illiteracy" of senior military officers responsible forAbout the Bomb in the First Fifty Years. New York: nuclear weapons: "The military commanders' lack ofRandom House, 1988. LC 88-42824. ISBN 0-394- knowledge about the new technology at their disposal52278-8.makes it very difficult for them to make sensibleA well-informed former presidential advisor relates choices. ... " (p. 186)the history of the nuclear age, from the decisions tobuild and then use the first atomic bombs to the present + 7. 63 *period. Bundy not only examines key actions hy the Gay, William C. , and Michael Pearson. 1he NuclearUnited States and the Soviet Union, but also explores Arms Race. Chicago and London: The Americanwhy other nations, like Great Britain and Israel, decided Library Association, 1987. LC 86-32087. ISBN 0-to acquire their own nuclear weapons.8389-0467-X.The authors have written excellent essays on the~ 7. 61 ~history of the arms race, consequences of nuclear war,Carter, Ashton, John D. Steinhrunner, and Charles A. and alternatives to present policies. They have providedZraket, eds. Managing Nuclear Operations. Washington,DC: Brookings, 1986. LC 86-32655. ISBN '0-annotated bibliographies on a wide range of issues, andappended a helpful section on how to obtain additional8157-131-4 pa.information. Their chapter on "The Probability ofLike 7. 59, this startling book goes beyond the Nuclear War" is particularly noteworthy.verbiage and rhetoric of much of the writing on nuclearstrategy to focus on details about actual arrangements * 7. 64 *for the weapons, both during peace and in the event Gay, William C. , and Ronald E. Santoni. "Philosophyof war. The editors, in their introduction, assert that and Contemporary Faces of Genocide: Multiple"All the widely accepted notions about the role of Genocide and Nuclear Destruction. " In Genocide: Anuclear weapons in security make strong, but frequently Critical Bibliographic Review. V. I. Ed. by Israel W.tacit and sometimes unjustified, assumptions about the Charny. London: Mansell and New York: Facts onability of the command system to manage nuclearweapons. " File, 1988. ISBN 0-7201-186-X (Mansell).(p. 2) Indeed, an important theme runningThe authors begin this essay on the philosophicalthrough the hook is the doubtful ability of maintaining dimensions of mass killing in the nuclear age by notingcontrol over nuclear weapons in the event that a nuclear that "For the first time in human history, the issue ofwar breaks out. The titles of some of the chapters give whether or not human beings possess the capacity toan idea of the array of issues that are examined:"Alerting in Crisis and Conventional War, " destroy all life on the planet Earth is heing debated. ""War"(p. 172) They then examine a number of topics,Termination, "Delegation of Nuclear Command including the possibility"of human extinction in a"Authority, "Targeting, "The Psychological Climate nuclear holocaust and traditional moral criteriaof Nuclear"forCommand, and "Sources of Error and so-called "just-wars. " The"essay is followed by anUncertainty. See also 7. 62. excellent annotated bibliography that will be useful to140 GENOCIDE