[BRIEFINGS] - Nuclear Deterrence
Here you will find transcriptions of the Briefing Files in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker involving Huey. Be warned, here there be spoilers.
Nuclear Deterrence Theory
H: Let's speak in hypotheticals for a minute. Say you wanted to make a clone of yourself...
BB: A clone? Para-Medic had the same idea. It's science fiction.
H: I'm just hypothesizing here. OK, not a clone, then. You have any kids?
BB: Nnnnnope.
H: Wife?
BB: ...Uh... Never been tied down.
H: OK, then... so we're still talking hypotheticals. Say you had a son who'd inherited your genes, someone with the same combat abilities as you. Would you challenge him to a fight?
BB: ...Hmm. Not to sound cocky, buuuuut... I wouldn't want to do that. No telling who'd survive.
H: I'll bet. You picked up on the Pupa-5000's combat patterns in seconds.
BB: Only with your advice, Doc.
H: Well, if anybody could learn to do it just by listening, it'd be easy. But you - you're a born soldier. Yeah! You must have been born with genes geared for combat. Soldier genes, if you will.
BB: ...Genes geared for combat? ,,,I don't care how advanced their research is. You can't blame genes for everything.
H: Blame genes...? You think it's funny!
BB: ...What?
H: You think genes have nothing to do with this body I was born with?!
BB: I... I don't know...
H: ...Look, that fear of facing someone of equal ability in combat... Imagine that on a strategic scale. That's the concept of nuclear deterrence. The idea is, when all sides are armed with the destructive power of nuclear weapons, they'll avoid nuclear war in order to prevent mutual annihilation.
BB: Doesn't sound all that sophisticated to me.
H: Exactly! It's so simple in principle. But because it's so simple, whether or not it works properly depends on the people involved. In that sense, what we're looking at now is a malfunction in deterrence theory.
BB: Coldman...
H: You got it! Please, Snake, don't let deterrence die.
Nuclear Terrorism
H: Nuclear deterrence means preventing the use of nuclear weapons in conflicts between states. But what about other situations?
BB: Like what?
H: Terrorism has been on the rise in recent years, from separatist movements to far-left extremists. What would happen if nuclear weapons fell into terrorist hands? Without a state - that is, without territory of their own - the chances of having nukes used against them are slim. They have no reason to fear a nuclear strike. Conversely, they have no reason to hesitate to use nukes against their adversaries.
BB: You've got a point. All the ICBMs and strategic bombers in the world amount to nothing against a terrorist group.
H: Right! Of course, this is all still hypothetical. Countries keep their nukes under tight watch - there's no immediate danger of terrorists getting their hands on them. But the day may come when the proposition of nuclear terrorism makes nuclear deterrence theory a dead letter.
BB: Nuclear terrorism... Interesting.
Damage from a Nuclear Missile
H: What are we going to do, Snake? If Peace Walker attacks Mother Base...
BB: Relaaaaaax. We've got the entire MSF out to make sure that doesn't happen.
H: Yeah, but... Peace Walker's missiles have one-megaton warheads. The fireball alone'd be a mile in diameter. Everything in the vicinity of ground zero will be vaporized by the heat rays. Then there's the blast, which travels at hundreds of miles per hour. And the fires. And the...
BB: The huge dose of radiation from the initial nuclear reaction.
H: That too! There won't be a single survivor...
BB: Yeah, I'm aware of that. Look, Doc, you made that thing. You know better than anybody what it's capable of. Right now you've got to give me a rational, scientific estimate of the damage. If we're talking about a nuclear explosion, it's more than just MSF's problem.
H: You're right, Snake... sorry about that... Like I was saying, Mother Base would be wiped out. Any ships in the area could be caught in the blast, too. We'd need to send out a warning. The thing to worry about most is the fallout.
BB: The dust of death...
H: If it goes off over water, the particles will be smaller than with an explosion over land, so the wind will scatter the fallout over a wider area. Clouds will form around the salt crystals in the seawater, causing contaminated rain to fall downwind.
BB: Yeah... got a taste of that myself.
H: On Bikini Atoll? That's right, the 1954 Castle Bravo test created fallout 300 miles downwind. Poisoned a lot of local residents and ships, so I hear. The yield of Peace Walker's warheads isn't that big, but the amount of fallout will largely depend on weather conditions. I-it's impossible to make a quick and easy estimate.
BB: ...If it gets into the trade winds... it could come straight to Costa Rica.
H: What was it Coldman was saying? About leaving people "free to help out"? He's out of his mind. What does he think's going to happen? When they get hit by rain containing high concentrations of fallout, a lot of them will die from the external exposure alone. The rain will seep into the ground, contaminating the water supply and crops... When they ingest the stuff, the internal exposure starts. Strontium-90 and Cesium-137 have half-lives of around 30 years - the effects stay with you your entire life. Leukemia... cataracts... dermatitis... cancer... And it affects reproduction, too!
BB: ...I know.
H: Even today, 30 years after World War II, thousands of people still suffer from exposure to the bomb. We can't let Coldman create more of them just to prove his point. I know it sounds crazy, but I created Peace Walker so that that kind of thing would never happen again.
BB: Don't worry, Doc. We'll stop it, one way or another.
Metal Gear and Nuclear Weapons
BB: I gotta say... I'm... surprised you helped us arm Metal Gear with Nukes.
H: What of it?
BB: Don't get me wrong, I'm... grateful and all, but... you sure about this? They may be for MSF's self-defense, but... they're still nukes. It's essentially the same thing as Peace Walker, which you despised.
H: ...See, that's exactly it.
BB: What is?
H: You don't hide your motives. You tell the truth. That's what makes you different from those CIA bastards. They lay on the charm - win you over. And then, when things get hairy, they turn their backs on you.
BB: ...I'm just telling it like it is.
H: Which is why I get the feeling that you wouldn't be stupid enough to use them... OK, I'll come out and say it. I trust you.
BB: You give me too much credit.
H: You think so? Besides, there's more uses for bipedal locomotion technology than weapons. We make it small enough, and it could have applications in robotics and prosthetic limbs. Maybe one day I'll even be able to walk.
BB: Nice thought.
H: I wanna stand on my own feet, be master of my own fate. And I'll use your strength to help me do it... if you don't mind, of course.
BB: Nah, it's a fair enough deal.
H: Thanks. People can change, I know... but I trust you, Snake. I trust you to be the guy I know now.
Nuclear Deterrence Theory
H: Let's speak in hypotheticals for a minute. Say you wanted to make a clone of yourself...
BB: A clone? Para-Medic had the same idea. It's science fiction.
H: I'm just hypothesizing here. OK, not a clone, then. You have any kids?
BB: Nnnnnope.
H: Wife?
BB: ...Uh... Never been tied down.
H: OK, then... so we're still talking hypotheticals. Say you had a son who'd inherited your genes, someone with the same combat abilities as you. Would you challenge him to a fight?
BB: ...Hmm. Not to sound cocky, buuuuut... I wouldn't want to do that. No telling who'd survive.
H: I'll bet. You picked up on the Pupa-5000's combat patterns in seconds.
BB: Only with your advice, Doc.
H: Well, if anybody could learn to do it just by listening, it'd be easy. But you - you're a born soldier. Yeah! You must have been born with genes geared for combat. Soldier genes, if you will.
BB: ...Genes geared for combat? ,,,I don't care how advanced their research is. You can't blame genes for everything.
H: Blame genes...? You think it's funny!
BB: ...What?
H: You think genes have nothing to do with this body I was born with?!
BB: I... I don't know...
H: ...Look, that fear of facing someone of equal ability in combat... Imagine that on a strategic scale. That's the concept of nuclear deterrence. The idea is, when all sides are armed with the destructive power of nuclear weapons, they'll avoid nuclear war in order to prevent mutual annihilation.
BB: Doesn't sound all that sophisticated to me.
H: Exactly! It's so simple in principle. But because it's so simple, whether or not it works properly depends on the people involved. In that sense, what we're looking at now is a malfunction in deterrence theory.
BB: Coldman...
H: You got it! Please, Snake, don't let deterrence die.
Nuclear Terrorism
H: Nuclear deterrence means preventing the use of nuclear weapons in conflicts between states. But what about other situations?
BB: Like what?
H: Terrorism has been on the rise in recent years, from separatist movements to far-left extremists. What would happen if nuclear weapons fell into terrorist hands? Without a state - that is, without territory of their own - the chances of having nukes used against them are slim. They have no reason to fear a nuclear strike. Conversely, they have no reason to hesitate to use nukes against their adversaries.
BB: You've got a point. All the ICBMs and strategic bombers in the world amount to nothing against a terrorist group.
H: Right! Of course, this is all still hypothetical. Countries keep their nukes under tight watch - there's no immediate danger of terrorists getting their hands on them. But the day may come when the proposition of nuclear terrorism makes nuclear deterrence theory a dead letter.
BB: Nuclear terrorism... Interesting.
Damage from a Nuclear Missile
H: What are we going to do, Snake? If Peace Walker attacks Mother Base...
BB: Relaaaaaax. We've got the entire MSF out to make sure that doesn't happen.
H: Yeah, but... Peace Walker's missiles have one-megaton warheads. The fireball alone'd be a mile in diameter. Everything in the vicinity of ground zero will be vaporized by the heat rays. Then there's the blast, which travels at hundreds of miles per hour. And the fires. And the...
BB: The huge dose of radiation from the initial nuclear reaction.
H: That too! There won't be a single survivor...
BB: Yeah, I'm aware of that. Look, Doc, you made that thing. You know better than anybody what it's capable of. Right now you've got to give me a rational, scientific estimate of the damage. If we're talking about a nuclear explosion, it's more than just MSF's problem.
H: You're right, Snake... sorry about that... Like I was saying, Mother Base would be wiped out. Any ships in the area could be caught in the blast, too. We'd need to send out a warning. The thing to worry about most is the fallout.
BB: The dust of death...
H: If it goes off over water, the particles will be smaller than with an explosion over land, so the wind will scatter the fallout over a wider area. Clouds will form around the salt crystals in the seawater, causing contaminated rain to fall downwind.
BB: Yeah... got a taste of that myself.
H: On Bikini Atoll? That's right, the 1954 Castle Bravo test created fallout 300 miles downwind. Poisoned a lot of local residents and ships, so I hear. The yield of Peace Walker's warheads isn't that big, but the amount of fallout will largely depend on weather conditions. I-it's impossible to make a quick and easy estimate.
BB: ...If it gets into the trade winds... it could come straight to Costa Rica.
H: What was it Coldman was saying? About leaving people "free to help out"? He's out of his mind. What does he think's going to happen? When they get hit by rain containing high concentrations of fallout, a lot of them will die from the external exposure alone. The rain will seep into the ground, contaminating the water supply and crops... When they ingest the stuff, the internal exposure starts. Strontium-90 and Cesium-137 have half-lives of around 30 years - the effects stay with you your entire life. Leukemia... cataracts... dermatitis... cancer... And it affects reproduction, too!
BB: ...I know.
H: Even today, 30 years after World War II, thousands of people still suffer from exposure to the bomb. We can't let Coldman create more of them just to prove his point. I know it sounds crazy, but I created Peace Walker so that that kind of thing would never happen again.
BB: Don't worry, Doc. We'll stop it, one way or another.
Metal Gear and Nuclear Weapons
BB: I gotta say... I'm... surprised you helped us arm Metal Gear with Nukes.
H: What of it?
BB: Don't get me wrong, I'm... grateful and all, but... you sure about this? They may be for MSF's self-defense, but... they're still nukes. It's essentially the same thing as Peace Walker, which you despised.
H: ...See, that's exactly it.
BB: What is?
H: You don't hide your motives. You tell the truth. That's what makes you different from those CIA bastards. They lay on the charm - win you over. And then, when things get hairy, they turn their backs on you.
BB: ...I'm just telling it like it is.
H: Which is why I get the feeling that you wouldn't be stupid enough to use them... OK, I'll come out and say it. I trust you.
BB: You give me too much credit.
H: You think so? Besides, there's more uses for bipedal locomotion technology than weapons. We make it small enough, and it could have applications in robotics and prosthetic limbs. Maybe one day I'll even be able to walk.
BB: Nice thought.
H: I wanna stand on my own feet, be master of my own fate. And I'll use your strength to help me do it... if you don't mind, of course.
BB: Nah, it's a fair enough deal.
H: Thanks. People can change, I know... but I trust you, Snake. I trust you to be the guy I know now.