'Threads' Revisited

I was always of the opinion that, while extremely bleak, Threads was more accurate than TDA.

Although generally I am of the firm belief that the US would come out far better than the UK. The UK is small enough to be completely swamped in fallout after a large scale attack. The US on the other hand has vast tracts of virtually empty land that would not be as affected by the war as the cities.

The one thing that could make matters worse in the US is the Second Amendment. Imagine all of the post-war awfulness from Threads... with guns.

You may be right in a general sense that there will be pockets of the US that remain fairly unscathed, but the great clusters of population in the Northeast, Midwest and Southern California will be decimated, as will most of the major urban areas in the rest of the nation due to their proximity to military installations. The economically productive core of the US would be devastated as thoroughly as anything in Europe. What's left will be lucky to emerge with an 18th Century standard of living.
 
I was always of the opinion that, while extremely bleak, Threads was more accurate than TDA.

Although generally I am of the firm belief that the US would come out far better than the UK. The UK is small enough to be completely swamped in fallout after a large scale attack. The US on the other hand has vast tracts of virtually empty land that would not be as affected by the war as the cities.

The one thing that could make matters worse in the US is the Second Amendment. Imagine all of the post-war awfulness from Threads... with guns.

True, true.

Sorry if I seem lost but this started out in Iran then moved to Iraq?

The Iraqi civil war hasn't started yet............but believe me, it will soon.

You may be right in a general sense that there will be pockets of the US that remain fairly unscathed, but the great clusters of population in the Northeast, Midwest and Southern California will be decimated, as will most of the major urban areas in the rest of the nation due to their proximity to military installations. The economically productive core of the US would be devastated as thoroughly as anything in Europe. What's left will be lucky to emerge with an 18th Century standard of living.

It'll actually depend on how many missiles get launched, but yes, incredibly significant numbers of fatalities could occur even in only a 'limited' exchange.
 
My personal theory is that "Threads and "The Day After" represent two different nuclear war scenarios.

"TDA" seems more oriented toward counterforce (military and strategic targets only), while "Threads" was countervalue (destroy your enemy's economy and infrastructure). After all, Lawrence, KS didn't get nuked in "TDA," whereas "Threads" described major cities and industrial centers getting trashed.

At the end of "TDA," the American and Soviet governments reached a cease-fire (indicating C3 remained intact enough to stop the war), while it seems in "Threads," the war sputtered out when there was nothing left to shoot.

Of course, given how Britain is much smaller and more densely populated, a "counterforce" attack might do "countervalue" damage since everything is closer together.

However, if the U.S. comes out of the war relatively intact (i.e. 10 million dead, like in the "window of vulnerability" scenarios and with most of its infrastructure and population surviving), why would they let Britain essentially collapse into a steampunk dark age? Even if home desperately needs resources, you might see some help come.

(I'm now imagining Americans as Numenoreans bringing aid to benighted Middle-Earth, aka Britain, in the years after the fall of Morgoth--oh, I'm sorry, the USSR.)

I think to put it more basically, TDA is more optimistic or less realistic as it's based on military planning.

Protect and Survive is in my opinion a much more accurate account where the USA and probably the USSR have lost every major city and military installation with the towns in the countryside quickly collapsing as well from radiation, starvation and disease.
 
You may be right in a general sense that there will be pockets of the US that remain fairly unscathed, but the great clusters of population in the Northeast, Midwest and Southern California will be decimated, as will most of the major urban areas in the rest of the nation due to their proximity to military installations. The economically productive core of the US would be devastated as thoroughly as anything in Europe. What's left will be lucky to emerge with an 18th Century standard of living.

Ok, time for me to have my little rant here. Decimated does NOT mean destroyed. It means that one in ten have been killed. Rant over. :eek:
 
Oh man....I tried to watch this in it's entirety on Youtube, but, man it's just so sad and brutal I can't do it all at once. Makes The Day After look like Sesame Street
 
Jun. 1st, 1985, 6 am EDT

"I'm Nikki Therault for NBC News in New York. There has been a growing amount of unease in the political circles of both Washington and Moscow concerning the situation in Baghdad. While neither country has made a direct statement, it has been noticed that tensions have begun to rise slightly as of late. Already, dozens of IAEA personnel have been sent to Iraq to investigate the matter, and we should have some answers in a relatively short time."

1:00 pm BST, London

Julian Marshall was back in his London apartment. Although it was a nice and warm Saturday afternoon, he couldn't help but be a little concerned about the state of the world as of late. Rosita had made a couple of roast beef sandwiches and Julian had just finished one of them. Just then, a knock at the door: "'Ello?"

"The door ain't locked, you can come in."

And then, another face. Johnny Muldoon, an old Aussie buddy of his, visiting family in the area.

"'Ello, Jules. Thought I might stop by ter see 'ow you was doing.......oh, 'ello Rosie."

Rosita replied, "Well, fancy seeing you again. Please, do come in."

The three sat down on the couch together and decided to turn on the TV.

"Got cable Jules?", Johnny asked.

"Yep, and I'm setting it up to NBC right now, they're supposed to have an update on the crisis in Iraq right about now.", Julian replied while reaching for the remote.

8 am EDT

"This is Nikki Therault for NBC News. We have unconfirmed reports that Iranian rebels have begun to make themselves known in several Iraqi cities and are aiding pro-Communist insurgents at this time, with hundreds of fatalities already confirmed in these areas. Also, the Iranian gov't has announced it's support for the Mujihadeen fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan, and, despite the civil war in that nation, and a possible future one in Iraq, will be deploying a small number of troops to that country within the next 2 weeks."
 
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Oh man....I tried to watch this in it's entirety on Youtube, but, man it's just so sad and brutal I can't do it all at once. Makes The Day After look like Sesame Street

I watched that in 1985 on TBS.. gave me nightmares for weeks.. made my kid watch it a few months back.. (pulled out my old betamax and fired it up) he is into grim stuff .. but he looked at me and said "that has to be the most depressing, scariest thing i have ever seen, i cant believe you all lived in that kind of a world." I told him.. dont look now.. but ya kinda still do..
 
For those who wanted to find out what happened to Baghdad?

.....well, here you go.

And, holy f***ing Toledo, has it really been almost 2 months, btw? Damn.

Continued from last post:

11 am EDT

".......as of now, no contact has been available with any Iraqi gov't officials in Baghdad, only exacerbating fears. To make matters worse, several Iranian rebel groups seem to have gained a significant amount of power in these areas."

12:30 pm EDT

"......apparently one of the Apaches that tried to enter the airspace over Baghdad has been forced to pull back. Numerous reports are now coming in of the possible extent of what has gone on but no confirmations have been made as of yet..........."

"'Oly hell. You think they used the bomb?", Johnny quizzed. "Let's hope not.....", Julian replied, with a tinge of unease in his voice.

1:28 pm EDT

"Dozens of IAEA personnel were just forced to evacuate after what appeared to be a plume of toxic smoke suddenly blew in from the northeast side of the city about 15 minutes ago"


2:14 pm EDT-Confirmation?

"This is Nikki Therault. We have unfortunately been able to confirm that........that 2 nuclear explosions had occurred near Baghdad. The shock, and resulting blast waves destroyed much of the city, and it is now believed that Saddam Hussein, along with most of the rest of the Iraqi gov't is now dead"
"Nikki, I'm Peter Hibbert for the Australian Broadcasting Company. Just how did you receive this information?"
"One of the Iraqi commanders at a temporary military outpost near Tikrit was the first to inform us."
"Thank you, Nikki."

Johnny and Jules stared at each other for about a minute, then Rosita entered the room. "What is it, what's going on?" she inquired somewhat nervously. "Somebody.......blew up Baghdad. They dropped the bomb. 2 of them.", Jules replied, in a state of exhaustion.

"Who had?"

"Nobody knows yet.........but already there's been some finger pointing and accusations thrown about."

"Oh dear God."

"Sure thing. I'm gonna need a nice, big glass of water right about now."
 
"Nikki, I'm Peter Hibbert for the Australian Broadcasting Company.

A small nitpick, it isn't called the Australian Broadcasting Company at this time. From Wikipedia:

"Founded in 1929 as the Australian Broadcasting Company, it was subsequently made a state-owned corporation on 1 July 1932, as the Australian Broadcasting Commission. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act of 1983[4] changed the name of the organisation to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, effective 1 July 1983."
 
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