General George Lee Butler is appointed head of the American SAC (Strategic Air Command). In the first weeks of his tenure, he decides to scrutinize the SIOP: the list of nuclear targets on Soviet (soon Russian) territory. He finds bridges in the middle of nowhere in Siberia hit by multiple nuclear warheads to ensure their destruction, targets hit dozens of times. Moscow would be hit by hundreds of nuclear warheads, many to destroy individual radar installations. He declares that, with the possible exception of the similar Soviet document, this is the most absurd and irresponsible document he has ever seen in his life. He adds that he firmly believes we avoided nuclear holocaust through a combination of skill, luck, and divine intervention, but the latter factor was probably the determining factor. Butler will eliminate 75% of the targets.
