Ditto. But the best defense is a superior, and survivable, counter threat. One that really Deters...
I agree.
I'm not of the camp that believes that nuclear war will mean the end of the world. This is not 1963, and the odds of an all-out, city-busting nuclear attack on the U.S. by any nation are small. (Those that could do it won't; those that would do it can't.) The main threat today is isolated nuclear attacks by terrorists. While losing a city would be a major disaster, I'm confident that life would go on as usual outside of the immediately-affected area.
That being said, I do think that any use of nuclear weapons — here, there, or anywhere — will throw the markets and the economies of the world into chaos, and kick off a major economic disaster, maybe even a global depression. For that reason alone we must prevent any other country from acquiring nuclear weapons, and must not use them ourselves except as a last-resort guarantee of national survival.