The SIOP

A morning filled with reading about Mutual Assured Destruction is a sobering way to start the day. Single Integrated Operational Plan is the outcome of the President (USA) deciding who should be bombed, handing it to his Sec Def who then filters and refines it then hands it to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The JCS then churn out a Joint Strategic Capabilities Plan which is finally converted into the good times targeting orders for nuclear strike. Just in case you thought it went out the door with the Cold War, It did not. Aides still pack the "football" for the President, the 40 lb emergency satchel for war communication. Jimmy Carter is one of the few Presidents in office since SIOP's have been around to really read and understand (he was the commander of a nuclear sub) the directives contained in the football. He ordered from that point on a summary be included. A former aide compared it to nuclear targeting options served up Denny's menu style.

Well, I suppose shrub has his favorites picked out already then.