The fact that Johnson overruled Westmoreland actually shows the power of the so-called taboo in this case.https://twitter.com/kroenig/status/1048599315193778176 …
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I mean, the argument I think that would be made is, did LBJ overrule because he felt some strong, not-purely-strategic reason that nukes shouldn't be used? Or was it pure strategy? The non-tabooers usually try to make latter argument.
I think one can detect non-strategic, "irrational" (we might say), "emotional," etc., arguments in LBJ, but he tended to frame his policies in strategic logic (e.g., don't want a wider war). So I can certainly see why one might read him one way or the other on this.
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I think the stronger arguments for a taboo in LBJ admin come from some other figures (McNamara's emotional/ideological vehemence against use seems to vastly outstrip any kind of pure rationality).
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And I think (as I mentioned elsewhere) ironically the strongest arguments for a taboo existing come from those who wish it didn't exist — they feel the need to emphasize that this OUGHT to be thinkable (because it isn't), that it OUGHT to be rational (because it isn't).
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Hard to differentiate between the strategic vs. taboo-centric interpretations in a case where strategic reasons for non-use were extremely strong -- far larger than not wanting a wider war w China (derailing détente, NPT, domestic political reaction, international revulsion).
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Yes I agree, on the aggregate, esp. since strategic justifications are convenient cloak no matter what (because they are given a lot of weight in this context). I think on individual level you can sometimes see them switch into a moral mode of discussion that is telling.
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Plus there's a gray area: much of the global & domestic political reaction could have been based on a taboo against use, even if US policymakers were thinking instrumentally.
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And of course one need not believe that there are such fine lines between strategic, moral, instrumental, etc., lines of thought. They're all messy human beings, after all! But this is the historian in me speaking, I know. :-)
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