But how will that stop the USSR? "Stop the USSR?"

PugJesus@lemmy.world to NonCredibleDefense@lemmy.world – 101 points –
9

Aiming at territory that was controlled by the USSR at the time doesn't seem like a dumb idea... Wasn't there serious concern that the USSR would try to expand further, as well?

West Germany was our side.

Well, where do you think an invasion would start? They wouldn't start with parking an army in East Germany ready to be nuked. They wouldn't start by shipping troops to Spain.

Nukes were a deterrent no one wanted to use. It didn't NEED offensive capabilities to serve its purpose perfectly fine.

West Germany was under the control of the Allies. This would be like Mexico nuking the USA if they got attacked by Canada.

No it's not. It'd be nuking an invading army on the land they stood. Kind of like how Ukraine bombs their own land when Russians are on it.

It was meant as a deterrent, not an attack. It didn't need to reach all the way to enemy territory from where it sat to serve its purpose. It's like complaining about defending yourself from a home invader because you might get blood on the carpet...