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Annie Jacobsen

What Annie Jacobsen thinks about America

@annie-jacobsen · 16 positions · On ppll ↗

Investigative journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist, author of Area 51, Operation Paperclip, Surprise, Kill, Vanish and Nuclear War: A Scenario.

Annie Jacobsen did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

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Only Annie Jacobsen on America. See everyone on America

11 dated positions, 2024, in their own words. Our reading of what Annie Jacobsen has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingA nuclear war between the United States and Russia would kill five billion people.

    Russia

    Their wordsI’m coming back at you with a very dark answer and a very big number. And that number is 5 billion people.

    ↗Annie Jacobsen: Nuclear War, CIA, KGB, Aliens, Area 51, Roswell & Secrecy | Lex Fridman Podcast #420youtube.com 1st of 16 in this recording

  3. Our readingAmerican policy is to fire its nuclear weapons in response before the incoming bomb has landed, rather than wait to absorb the attack and find out whether it was real.

    Their wordsBecause we have that policy, Launch on Warning, which is exactly like it says. It means the United States will not wait to absorb a nuclear attack. It will launch nuclear weapons in response before the bomb actually hits.

    ↗Annie Jacobsen: Nuclear War, CIA, KGB, Aliens, Area 51, Roswell & Secrecy | Lex Fridman Podcast #420youtube.com 3rd of 16 in this recording

  5. Our readingOne person can start a nuclear war on his own authority in a democracy: the President of the United States asks permission of no one, and he is the only one who can do it.

    democracy

    Their wordsSo, in addition to the Launch on Warning concept, there’s this other insane concept called Sole Presidential Authority. And you might think, in a democracy that’s impossible, right? You can’t just start a war. Well, you can just start a nuclear war if you are the commander in chief, the President of the United States. In fact, you’re the only one who can do that.

    ↗Annie Jacobsen: Nuclear War, CIA, KGB, Aliens, Area 51, Roswell & Secrecy | Lex Fridman Podcast #420youtube.com 4th of 16 in this recording

  7. Our readingAmerican missile defence is a fiction: 44 interceptors that work about half the time cannot answer the 1,670 warheads Russia has deployed.

    Russia

    Their wordsFirst of all, we have 44 interceptor missiles total, period, full stop. Let me repeat, 44. Earlier we were talking about Russia’s 1,670 deployed nuclear weapons. How are those 44 interceptor missiles going to work? And they also have a success rate of around 50%. So they work 50% of the time.

    ↗Annie Jacobsen: Nuclear War, CIA, KGB, Aliens, Area 51, Roswell & Secrecy | Lex Fridman Podcast #420youtube.com 6th of 16 in this recording

  9. Our readingAmerican nuclear doctrine is not tit for tat: one incoming warhead is answered with eighty, and that is what the phrase escalate to deescalate means.

    Their wordsBut it’s actually more than that. They launch one, we launch 80. That’s called escalate to deescalate. Pound the you know what out of them to get them to stop.

    ↗Annie Jacobsen: Nuclear War, CIA, KGB, Aliens, Area 51, Roswell & Secrecy | Lex Fridman Podcast #420youtube.com 8th of 16 in this recording

  11. Our readingAmerican ICBMs do not have the range to reach North Korea without flying over Russia, which is the flaw that turns a limited counterattack into Armageddon.

    Russia

    Their wordsthere is an absolutely existential flaw in the system, which Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta confirmed with me, which is that our ICBMs do not have enough range. If we launch a counterattack against, say, North Korea, our ICBMs must fly over Russia. They must fly over Russia.

    ↗Annie Jacobsen: Nuclear War, CIA, KGB, Aliens, Area 51, Roswell & Secrecy | Lex Fridman Podcast #420youtube.com 9th of 16 in this recording

  13. Our readingAs politics grows more viperous, leaders of nuclear-armed nations surround themselves with sycophants, so you can no longer count on a president being given good advice.

    politics

    Their wordsSo you don’t have wise decision makers. Long gone are the days where we had presidents who had advisors on both sides of the aisle. That’s really important, because you want to have differing opinions. But as things become more viperous, both here in the United States and in nuclear armed nations, all bets are off at whether your advisors are going to give you good advice.

    ↗Annie Jacobsen: Nuclear War, CIA, KGB, Aliens, Area 51, Roswell & Secrecy | Lex Fridman Podcast #420youtube.com 10th of 16 in this recording

  15. Our readingJudgment and cognition are the two capacities the nuclear launch decision actually turns on, which is the standard a presidential candidate should be measured against.

    Their wordsBecause why on earth there would be two candidates, one of whom has cognitive problems and the other of whom has judgment problems? These are the two biggest issues with the nuclear launch, judgment and cognition. And so where’s the young-ish, thoughtful, forward looking, wise, dedicated civil servant running for president? I know that sounds fantastical, but I wish it weren’t.

    ↗Annie Jacobsen: Nuclear War, CIA, KGB, Aliens, Area 51, Roswell & Secrecy | Lex Fridman Podcast #420youtube.com 11th of 16 in this recording

  17. Our readingNobody becomes STRATCOM commander unless they are the kind of person who follows orders, so the hope that the launch order would be refused is misplaced.

    Their wordsYou don’t wind up as STRATCOM commander unless you are someone who follows orders. You follow orders.

    ↗Annie Jacobsen: Nuclear War, CIA, KGB, Aliens, Area 51, Roswell & Secrecy | Lex Fridman Podcast #420youtube.com 12th of 16 in this recording

  19. Our readingAfter interviewing hundreds of people inside America's secret military and intelligence programs, there is no reason to believe aliens have ever visited Earth.

    war

    Their wordsWell, not just at Area 51, but in all the different national security and military intelligence and intelligence programs. And I personally have no reason to believe that aliens have ever visited Earth. That’s just me personally.

    ↗Annie Jacobsen: Nuclear War, CIA, KGB, Aliens, Area 51, Roswell & Secrecy | Lex Fridman Podcast #420youtube.com 14th of 16 in this recording

  21. Our readingAtomic weapons destroy cities and thermonuclear weapons destroy civilizations, which makes the decision to build the thermonuclear bomb more confounding than the decision to drop the first two.

    Their wordsI mean even projects within the Manhattan Project defined thermonuclear weapon, the thermonuclear weapon as the evil thing. It was evil. It’s a weapon of genocide. Atomic weapons destroy cities, thermonuclear weapons destroy civilizations.

    ↗Annie Jacobsen: Nuclear War, CIA, KGB, Aliens, Area 51, Roswell & Secrecy | Lex Fridman Podcast #420youtube.com 16th of 16 in this recording