I was in Singapore the day that Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. All of Singapore was on high alert and soldiers were everywhere even though it’s half a world away. It’s basically a basic level of readiness when something out of the ordinary happens. It shows the world that even if you tried to sneak attack the US with nukes that the US was capable of retaliating. The entire point of Mutually Assured Destruction requires the ability to strike back as part of the defense otherwise attacking first becomes a better solution.