Indeed, from the other comment about Teller's "Backyard" bomb it seems Kubrick's satire was more truth than fiction. The cigar smoking Ripper in the film was based on the real life Curtis LeMay, who it was later revealed really did want to start WWIII by bombing Russia, reasoning that America should strike before the Soviets developed effective retaliation, nipping the problem of Mutually Assured Destruction in the bud as it were.