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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DM_Matt" data-source="post: 3083896" data-attributes="member: 1213">It sounds to me like Gabrial Shear is a Strangelove device updated for modern times.  The device in the movie Dr. Strangelove was intended to bypass the flaws of nuclear deterrance.  They created an integrated, inaccessable, and untamperable computer system guanunteed to respond to any nuclear attack with the total nuclear destruction of their nation's enemy.  By leaving the decision to strike in the hands of an unfeeling machine, lack of resolve, unwillingness to slaughter civilians, hopeful attempts to deescalate, moves to capitulate, and delays relating to communications issues, killing of leaders, etc, deterrance became a lot more effective because mutually assured destruction really was assured.  Its reletively safe and inaccessable position eliminated any hope of a successful first strike and the scale of its response made hopes of a sucessful strike irelevant.  It also did not matter who did the nuking.  The target would be the same regardless.  Plausable deniability was thus also rendered useless.The device failed becuase an accidental nuclear detonation occurred between the time it was activated and the time it was announced to the world, and there was nothing that could be done to prevent it from going off even though they knew the accident was coming.Enter Gabrial Shear.  A reliable human sociopath hiding in the shadows, having a clear purpose and set of rules for the use of nukes but without responsability can serve much the same purpose as that machine, but could avoid some of the falibility ot computers while preserving much of that reliability.  It also gives plausable deniability to the user of nukes in this case, which is a bonus of sorts I suppose.</blockquote>

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