In the Next Life, Canto I, stanzas 116-120

Does anyone recall an H-bomb test?
If you’re as old as I am, then you would,
but lately, they’ve been pretty rare at best
(or, rather, “worst”, since “best” implies they’re good).

I’ve one more question that we must address
to help us find out how much blood is spilt
(if that’s the measure of a bomb’s success):
By whom and how were they designed and built?

I don’t mean to disparage those who toiled
or dreamed or drafted plans or tracked down bugs.
Let’s face it, though, their efforts would be soiled.
Their overseers were bureaucrats and thugs.

Some missiles fizzle; some planes get shot down;
some subs don’t get the message that they might;
some smart bombs hit a nonexistent town,
evaporating all the trees in sight.

A few big cities here and there get wiped;
head counts go down by ten or twelve percent.
This kind of war is not as bad as hyped,
although I’d have to say it makes a dent.

©2010 Louis A. Merrimac

Pretty rare: From this we’re expected to infer that one of the causes of Fiasco #3 is nuclear test ban treaties. I had to read this passage back and forth a couple times to grasp this. When the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed in 1996, there was general agreement that the existing weapons did not require further testing.
Overseers: This kind of strident anti-government rhetoric could have been pulled right out of Miss Rand’s cherished typewriter. It almost sounds like he’s trying to soften up his libertarian friends so they won’t disown him when they see how he treats them in the third canto.