ABSTRACT
In 1946, when the United States was the only nuclear power, the analysis was visionary. The nuclear monopoly meant that the United States could deter its enemies from attacks on its allies without its having to worry about nuclear retaliation. The policy of nuclear deterrence, as it emerged in the post-war years, was aimed at enemy cities. The US Eighth Air Force was willing to accept heavy losses in daylight attacks in order to achieve higher accuracy in bombing. The launching of a massive countercity strike seems in itself to be morally inadmissible. But one can argue that even though it is in itself inadmissible, it is not inadmissible as a part of a strategy of deterrence. War is an attempt to attain goals that are in the national interest. The destructiveness of nuclear weapons means, however, that an allout war could not serve the national interest.
