The insane question of whether Washington state should prepare for nuclear war has been resurrected by The Seattle Times [“Washington stopped planning for a nuclear war in 1984. Should we start now?,” April 3, Local News].
It is not a matter of one Russian bomb dropped on the Bangor nuclear submarine base, as envisioned in the article scenario. Russia has more than 4,000 long-range nuclear weapons, plenty to hit all military and government facilities in Western Washington many times over.
And even if some people further away survived, the question then is, survived for what purpose? Radiation aside, the amount of debris released in the atmosphere would be sufficient to cause tremendous damage to crops. Infrastructure to process and deliver food would be destroyed. Radiation poisoning, psychological trauma, and slow starvation await anyone who “survives.”
Arguing that more lives could be saved if people prepare is an irresponsible and foolish statement.
Kathleen Braden, Seattle