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This is deservedly being sent around for how terrifying it is to have someone close to decision-makers who thinks 20M civilian casualties is deal-able, but I’d just like to point out that his concept of “winning” is a very dangerous misconception (see the last couple lines).
Winning in war is not about just determining which side is stronger in some sense. Winning is about causing the opponent’s costs to outweigh his benefits. If he thinks you’re stronger, but is fighting for sthng v important, a rational foe will go asymmetric.
The idea that a nuke exchange killing tens of millions of ppl on both sides would lead to a “I guess you’ve got a leg up on us! Good fight, what?” is misleading. That would depend on the objectives for which each side was fighting, and on their ability to shift strategies.
