Revisiting 'Fail-Safe' Page #4

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You know Mr. Swenson,

the Secretary of Defense?

No, sir.

He gives us any advice, we take it.

Get me the Pentagon

and the Omaha War Room, please.

Right away, sir.

Ready, sir.

Mr. Swenson...

...if our fighters manage to shoot down

these bombers the worst will be over.

I want your people to think what'll happen

if we can't shoot them down.

I've got Omaha on the line as well.

Please limit this discussion

to two subjects:

What happened?

And what will we do about it?

Right, sir.

Back at Omaha, we have General Bogan.

Mr. Knapp of Universal Techtotics.

Congressman Raskob of Nebraska.

They have my permission to listen

and make any comments.

In my opinion,

only two things could've happened:

A compound mechanical failure

or someone in Group 6 went berserk.

Double mechanical failure?

You know the odds against that, sir?

Mr. Secretary.

Yes, General Bogan.

Mr. Knapp here knows as much

about the electronic gear as anyone.

He's a little reluctant to talk,

but he understands how important this is.

Mr. Knapp.

Look, it's just that the more complicated

these electronic systems are...

...the more accident-prone they become.

How does that apply to our situation?

Well, sir, in this way:

If you pile all these electronic systems

one on top of the other...

...sooner or later

you'll get a faulty transistor or...

...a damaged rectifier,

then the whole thing just shuts down.

Even computers suffer fatigue.

They become erratic...

...they break down,

just like overworked people.

Excuse me. But you're overlooking

one important factor:

Humans control those machines.

Humans can see an error and correct it.

I'm sorry, sir. But you are misinformed.

The fact of the matter is

that these machines are so complex...

...and these mistakes they make

are so subtle...

...in a real war situation,

you might not know...

...whether it's an error

or telling you the truth.

May I say something, General?

This is Colonel Cascio of my staff.

I don't think it's a mechanical failure

and I don't think anyone went berserk.

I think it's a move by the Russians.

What kind of move, Colonel?

Sir, I think they found a way to mask

the real position of Group 6.

They have the capacity, we know that.

Group 6 is probably on their way home

now with the radio jammed.

What we see heading towards Moscow

is actually a group of Russian bombers.

Up there for one reason:

To make us believe that we've launched

the first strike against them.

We can think as much as we want

that it's accidental.

It's an excuse for retaliation.

If they wanted to, they wouldn't need

an excuse, they'd just attack.

This way, they made us commit a group

of our fighter planes...

...our first line of defense.

-And made us kill our own men.

-I disagree with Colonel Cascio's analysis.

We must believe this is our mistake

and not the Russians'.

Absolutely, I agree.

This is General Stark.

Project the Russian air defense.

The Russians have seven bomber groups

in the air at this moment.

All are following hold patterns

inside Soviet airspace. Next map, please.

Their fighter groups have a large number

of fighter planes in the air.

Which means?

Which means they must have seen

Group 6 cross the Fail Safe point.

That's why they scrambled

all those fighters.

And I think they're waiting.

Just as we would.

If they see our fighters shooting down

American planes...

...they'll understand that we're sincere.

-If not--

-If not, I'll tell you what I believe.

-The Russians will take no action at all.

-Even if we cross their borders--

If our bombers get through,

the Russians will surrender.

Would you explain that, please?

The Soviets believe history is based

on a series of non-human events...

...which will eventually assure the victory

of communism...

...if the Soviet Union is left

reasonably intact.

They know that a war would leave

the Soviet Union utterly destroyed.

Therefore, they would surrender.

But that would leave capitalism

the winner.

They wouldn't see it that way.

In fact, many of them believe

that capitalism must play itself out...

...to its inevitable historical defeat

before communism can really succeed.

So what do you suggest we do?

Nothing.

Nothing?

They will surrender.

The threat of communism will be over.

Forever.

Mr. Secretary.

Mr. Secretary, pardon my language,

but I think that's a lot of crap.

Don't kid yourself.

The Russian generals will react

the same way that I would react.

The best defense is a good offense.

They'll attack.

They won't give a damn

what Marx or anyone else said.

You give too much credit

to the military mind.

The Russian leaders are not

like you and me.

These are Marxist fanatics.

They're not motivated by rage or hate.

These are human calculating machines,

believe me.

They know if they hit us,

they can do terrible damage.

They also know that our second strike

will completely destroy them.

They'll look at the balance sheet

and see defeat.

Mr. Secretary, I'm convinced of it.

This is our chance!

I'd never have made

the first move deliberately.

Group 6 has done that for us by accident.

Now, we must take advantage of it.

History demands it.

We must advise the President that

no effort be made to recall those planes.

Our fighters are firing.

He's out of fuel. He's going down.

They're too far away.

Mr. President, our fighters have failed.

They've all crashed into the sea.

What are the chances of our bombers

actually getting through to Moscow?

We've done the calculations

a thousand times.

One or two of the six will get through.

Even with the entire Soviet defense

apparatus concentrated on them?

Our bombers are too fast.

The Russians won't have time.

Thank you.

Okay, Buck, I'll tell you what we'll do.

I'll speak to the Soviet Premier.

You'll tell me what he says

and his own translator...

...will tell him what I'm saying. Got that?

-Yes, sir.

-I want something more.

I want you to tell me what he's thinking.

As much as you can sense.

Anything you can pick up

that'll give me a clue to his thoughts.

-Think you can do that?

-I can try, sir.

-That's all anybody can do.

-Yes, sir.

Okay.

Let's talk to Moscow.

They're on the line.

Mr. Chairman.

This is the President of the United States

calling on a matter of great urgency.

''Does it have to do with the aircraft...

''...we've detected flying towards Russia

from the Bering Sea?''

Yes, sir, that's why I'm calling.

Your tracking and radar devices...

...must have detected a somewhat

unusual pattern.

''They reported it to me 15 minutes ago.

''I presume you are calling to inform me

that this is another of your off-course...

-''...reconnaissance flights.''

-No!

''I've warned you that your constant flying

of armed--''

This is a serious mistake.

''All right, tell me. Tell me the mistake.''

A group of bombers,

flying at speeds of 1,500 miles an hour...

...each containing two 20-megaton bombs...

...is right now flying towards Russia.

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