Steven R. David weighs in with the cheery thought that “the prospect of a nuclear weapon from Pakistan exploding on American soil is much higher than a Soviet attack from Cuba ever was.”

How high? David is already trying to convince cooler heads to prevail in the aftermath:

Lashing out at Pakistan, especially if the regime was not behind the attack, makes little sense. Learning from the Pakistanis just how many weapons went missing, how it happened, and whether it could happen again might not be as emotionally satisfying as a counterstrike, but makes more sense.

David, I think, leaves out an important detail in his article. Pakistan most likely stores its nuclear weapons disassembled. A post-coup Taliban or al Qaeda would face a significant challenge in getting nuclear weapons parts assembled, operational, and into the U.S. safely. That’s not to say it couldn’t be done, but I think it’s a bit premature to speak of us not getting carried away with countermeasures.