How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
Quote #1
VOICEOVER: Each B-52 can deliver a nuclear bomb load of 50 megatons, equal to 16 times the total explosive force of all the bombs and shells used by all the armies in World War Two.
Our friendly neighborhood announcer just wants to remind us how much more devastating a potential war would be. This mention of WWII would've really struck home with the film's original audience since a good number of them probably fought in WWII themselves. The message here is: You think Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bad? You ain't seen nothin'. The newer bombs were equivalent to a million Hiroshimas.
Quote #2
MUFFLEY: General Turgidson, I find this very difficult to understand. I was under the impression that I was the only one in authority to order the use of nuclear weapons.
The President might be the Commander in Chief of all our boys in uniform, but here we see him having totally lost control of a pretty crucial sector of the military. President Eisenhower actually signed off on a policy that high-level military commanders could launch a nuclear attack if they couldn't get in touch with the president and the situation was urgent. Eisenhower didn't like the policy, but he thought it was better than being unprepared. JFK was shocked when he found out about it and instituted different strategies for preventing a Jack Ripper-type situation. (Source)
Quote #3
TURGIDSON: Plan R is an emergency war plan in which a lower echelon commander may order nuclear retaliation after a sneak attack if the normal chain of command is disrupted. You approved it, sir. You must remember. Surely you must recall, sir, when Senator Buford made that big hassle about our deterrent lacking credibility. The idea was for plan R to be a sort of retaliatory safeguard.
Whenever a horribly destructive weapon is created, there are always assurances that there are safeguards in place around it. Dr. Strangelove shows a scenario in which the safeguards around the bomb not only fail, but result in the destruction of life on Earth. Yup, we'd say those safeguards were a total bomb.