Dmitriy Fyodorovich Ustinov Quotes

The aggressor too should know that the preemptive use of nuclear weapons would not insure victory. With modern detection systems and the combat readiness of the Soviet Union's strategic nuclear forces, the United States would not be able to deal a crippling blow to the socialist countries. The aggressor will not be able to evade an all-crushing retaliatory strike

We do not believe that a nuclear war should be fought and we do not believe that a nuclear war can be won.

One nuclear war is going to be the last nuclear - the last war, frankly, if it really gets out of hand. And I just don't think we ought to be prepared to accept that sort of thing.

If you go on with this nuclear arms race, all you are going to do is make the rubble bounce.

If an SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) system were to keep out ninety percent of incoming nuclear missiles, it would be a ninety percent success and most Americans would be dead.

For decades, we and the Soviets have lived under the threat of mutual assured destruction; if either resorted to the use of nuclear weapons, the other could retaliate and destroy the one who had started it. Is there either logic or morality in believing that if one side threatens to kill tens of millions of our people, our only recourse is to threaten killing tens of millions of theirs?

The lesson of history is when a war starts every nation will ultimately use whatever weapon it has available. ... Therefore, we must expect that if another war — a serious war — breaks out, we will use nuclear energy in some form.

The combination of human fallibility and nuclear weapons can destroy nations.

This is the reality of nuclear weapons: they may trigger a world war; a war which, unlike previous ones, destroys all of civilization.

It's a near miracle that nuclear war has so far been avoided.

Nut With A Nuke

Nuclear weapons are what make us a great power.

I could not conceive of any President engaging in all-out nuclear war unless we were in danger of all-out devastation ourselves.

A nuclear weapon is not just a football that you can use at will.

The decision to use any kind of nuclear weapon, even the tactical ones, presents such a risk of it getting out of control so quickly …

The first use of the nuclear weapon gives a great advantage to the user.

I would not recommend the use of any atomic weapon, no matter how small, when both sides have the power to destroy the world.

Massive [nuclear] retaliation: The policy under which, if "they" began the war, you could take satisfaction, in the instant of being vaporized or cooked, in the knowledge that "our" planes and guided missiles are going to do the same thing to "them" in a few minutes. If "we" started the war, massive retaliation would be what was vaporizing or cooking you.

If the Third World War is fought with nuclear weapons, the fourth will be fought with bows and arrows.

Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident, miscalculation or madness.

Nuclear weapons are the greatest national security risk to the United States, and they are the most important weapons in our arsenal.

Dwight Eisenhower… supported the nuclearization of the military and the militarization of nuclear weapons as a cost saving way of deterring the Soviets. Under Eisenhower, custody or nuclear weapons shifted from the civilian Atomic Energy Commission to the military.

The atomic bomb was the turn of the screw. It has made the prospect of future war unendurable.

To have a system where the decision to start a nuclear war can be made by one man alone is crazy.

Many foolish people believe that nuclear war cannot happen, because there can be no winner. However, the American war planners, who elevated U.S. nuclear weapons from a retaliatory role to a pre-emptive first strike function, obviously do not agree that nuclear war cannot be won.