Fossils tell you what happened after the fact. The claim of 'imminent threats' will be judged the same way, by the evidence that eventually surfaces. If missiles were about to fly, a strike looks like prevention; if not, it looks like a reckless lesson in power. Still, breaking launch capacity can stop a future tragedy, and that is why hawks keep their fans. The trouble is that every layer of secrecy becomes another layer of mistrust.