The quote stated by Bernard Brodie, “Thus far, the chief purpose of our military establishment has been
to win wars. From now on its chief purpose must be to avert them” is trying to tell you that after the
discovery of the atomic bomb war should be avoided no matter the reward or consequences. For the
simple reason that there is zero types of defenses to combat the offensive power of nuclear weapons.
Once a country sends a nuclear warhead there is nothing from stopping the missile from hitting its
destination. Brodie’s quote states this concern at the end, “From now on its chief purpose must be to
avert them.” Knowing how destructive one atomic bomb can do. Could you imagine if Russia sent 20
atomic bombs at the United States? Nothing would be standing anymore, and the entire country would
become a radioactive wasteland. There is no victory when the enemy never surrenders.
The first-take capability is step taken by a country that can conduct an initial assault that will render the
victim unable to retaliate. This type of attack will only lead to more violence and unsafe areas because if
you allow a country that can wipe out another country with WMDs then consequences will occur. The
countries land is permanently poisoned, and all the resources from that country is gone too. Also,
eventually other countries will team up to destroy your land because they view that your country has
too much power. There will always be a check-and-balance. The United States, and Russia signed a bill
to ban any type of nuclear missile defense systems. The reason for this is it stops any country from
retaliating if a nuclear missile is shot at them. If nuclear missile defense systems were allowed, then it
would be breaking the first-take capability number one rule: conduct an initial assault that will render
the victim unable to retaliate.
The reason the superpowers came to an agreement on not using any nuclear warheads was simply that
no country wants to be known for destroying the world. In the past, the US were known as the most
