First of all, pmonett, I don't think anyone was talking about nuclear weapons, because by today's standards, they really quite lo-tech, and I don't know what use you're talking about, because to my knowledge, no nuclear weapon has been used either before or since the two that ended WWII. But even in the case of nuclear weapons, first realize that the cold war, during which the nuclear profileration took place, had no where near the computing power that we have today. And it was in fact, the increased precision, due the technology of the guidance systems that we did have, pre-GPS in fact, that allowed for both smaller and safer warheads. I am not an advocate by any means of nuclear weapons, but facts are facts. At peak times, the US had about half the number of warheads as the USSR, with an average yield of almost a full order of magnitute SMALLER than those of the the USSR. Why? Because the substantial increase in accuracy meant you needed less and smaller for the same effect. Against a hardened target, 100 yards is a long way, that's why the USSR built 100 Megaton warheads because that's what was needed to take out a hardended military target from a distance of 100 yards. To my knowledge, the U, had nothing larger then 20 megatons (1/5 the size), primarily because our guidance systems allowed us to measure distances in intervals considerable smaller than the yard. That's a much smaller swath of destruction. Thank God, that premise was never put to the test, and here's to hopes that it never will.
All war is a horrifying experience pmonett. As a Vietnam veteran, I've seen, up close and personal, those horrifying effects, and I can tell you first hand, that nothing has done more to safeguard the lives of our soldiers, and to substantially reduce collateral damage and protect non-combatants, than the technological advancements in weapons technology. In fact, when collateral damage makes the headlines, it's most likely because of a technological failure.
War is ugly and should be avoided whenever possible, but sometimes you have to stand up and defend yourself, and when that time comes, I'm thankful for all the technology that at our disposal.
Good Luck
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As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein