Two can dance to suicide.
Scott has got his nuclear threat all wrong! First of all, McNamara interviewed Castro before his death. McNamara asked Fidel what he would have done if the US had bombed the missile sites. Castro confirmed that the missiles were nuclear armed and loaded and he would have been launched on notice of the attack. McNamara said if Cuba had nuked Washington the US would have blasted Cuba off the face of the earth. Castro said ‘so be it’. McNamara was appalled, but Castro was only reflecting the US attack position!
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Here is the problem- if a major top animal takes on a serious competitor there is a second order problem. The leader may be confident of winning but if the target wounds the top animal even if the top animal kills the target the top animal may now become prey to its competitors. His competitors now see the top animal wounded and their opportunity arising before he heals. They would go for the kill. Strategically, the top animal cannot take on a fight just because it is confident of winning.