Right, but I think the Russians would have the means to retaliate in an almost equally destructive manner, so it would effectively annihilate the USA as well. It would at the very least utterly ruin the economy and general society for quite some time. The costs to all concerned would be so prohibitive that it is quite unlikely to happen. What is more likely is a series of ruinous proxy wars and limited wars, fought out in 3rd World nations with the backing and management of the major players. And that is what we have underway right now. We have two ruinous proxy wars occurring in Afghanistan and Iraq. We have another raging in Africa. They are side effects of various competitive games that are being played by the USA and other great powers. I think that more such wars are likely. Such wars may eventually involve some limited use of nuclear weapons. The Bush administration has been hinting at that option for some time now.