Because the United States’ strategy for national defense is focused on deterrence and containment, any invasion of U.S. territory, whether on the mainland or otherwise, would face the major hurdle of a nuclear arsenal. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan’s nuclear program, wrote in Newsweek that no nuclear-armed country has ever been invaded or occupied. The United States certainly fits this bill and has employed the strategy since the Cold War, when it was known as the doctrine of mutually assured destruction.
The Arms Control Association notes that the United States possesses the second-biggest nuclear arsenal after Russia. According to War on the Rocks, this large arsenal serves the principle of mutually assured destruction if the U.S. encounters with potential rival hegemons such as Russia and China, a policy dating back to the Cold War under the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. Ideally, if Russia or another state launched a nuclear attack against the United States, the retaliation would annihilate the enemy many times over.
According to Dr. Matthew Kroenig’s testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, these nuclear weapons allow the United States to strike back against any enemy anywhere in protection of any allies and of itself with the goal of crippling their ability to wage war. Thus, they serve as a deterrent against nuclear attacks on U.S. soil, but logically also against any ground invasions of U.S. territory. In this regard, Khan’s words ring true. No one will ever attempt to invade the United States if the price is a barrage of nuclear missiles.
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Publish date : 2023-10-09 03:00:00
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