... U.< /b> S.< /b> and < /b> Russian nuclear forces have been re-duced substantially in size and < /b> readiness and < /b> have clearly moved tothe “back burner” in discussions of < /b> critical national security issues and < /b> battles ... missileson nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) and < /b> in hardened si-los, disarming them with a nuclear first strike would have been vir-tually impossible, although the United States ... United States has used its nuclear forces for < /b> most of < /b> those pur-poses. Even more significant, it has not used them in combat sinceNagasaki. Most notably, of < /b> course, the United States used nuclearweapons...