NUCLEAR MAD NO MORE: The real threat posed by Islamic fascism comes in the form of a nuclear device in the hands of a terrorist surrogate. In the present case, the Cold War's deterrent doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) does not apply. A nuclear strike against the United States won't come in the form of a missile launch from silos on the other side of the world, or a submarine lurking off our shores. Rather, as a recent RAND study speculates, a nuclear terrorist attack against the U.S. will come from a cargo container aboard a freighter arrived in a U.S. port, or, alternately, transported across the porous southern border with the same mechanisms used to smuggle tens of thousands of illegal aliens every year. . . . For these reasons -- the nature of our enemy's threat and his determination to see our destruction -- the only applicable defense is the doctrine of pre-emption. . . . Our only strategic option and our best hope of averting a nuclear attack, though it's certainly no guarantee, is pre-emptive warfare against our enemies. -- Mark M. Alexander, townhall.com, 9/1/06