I agree with guest columnist Matthew Hoey (“Target on our backs —Why L3Harris must leave Northampton,” Gazette, Aug. 29) that the presence of L3Harris in Northampton should be a matter of public debate regarding U.S. nuclear policy and the ever-present risk of Armageddon. With the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings freshly in mind, we should question every aspect of the nuclear weapons enterprise and the morally dubious strategy of “massive retaliation” that sustains it.
Unfortunately, Hoey clouds this important conversation by falsely stating that L3Harris’ work here would make Northampton a nuclear target in the case of war.
Nuclear doctrine can be arcane and opaque, so it’s easy to misunderstand the fundamentals. As the Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Arms Control Association (armscontrol.org), the country’s oldest and most respected independent source of information on nuclear weapons policy, I have been thoroughly (and painfully) educated on the topic.
Any nuclear war with China and/or Russia, most experts agree, would most likely begin as the outgrowth of a conventional, non-nuclear war in Asia or Europe that imperils one side or the other’s conventional forces, causing it to employ so-called “tactical” nuclear arms in a desperate attempt to avert catastrophic defeat. Such a move would undoubtedly trigger retaliation by the other side, leading to a full-scale nuclear exchange.
In the resulting inferno, both sides would seek to destroy its rival’s nuclear-strike capabilities — ballistic missile silos, strategic bomber bases, and missile-submarine facilities — to limit the damage it suffers from enemy strikes. Because the L3Harris site in Northampton does not harbor any nuclear-delivery systems that pose a threat to America’s adversaries, it would not appear on their nuclear target lists. However, as many other sites in the Northeast would no doubt be targeted, we will not be safe from a nuclear war’s catastrophic consequences in any case.
So yes, let’s consider the larger implications of L3Harris’ presence here. But in doing so, pundits like Hoey and aspirants for political office should avoid distorting the issue by falsely suggesting that the L3Harris facility makes Northampton a target for nuclear attack.
Michael T. Klare, professor emeritus of Peace & World Security Studies, Hampshire College and Senior Visiting Fellow, Arms Control Association
Northampton