Veidt...your plan sucks

[ShadowBoxing]

There, I said it.


Let me preface this thread with a simple statement: I love Watchmen and I think it's quite possibly the best comic story of all time, perhaps second only to Miracle Man and V for Vendetta (which are of course also Alan Moore).

I put this in the "Movie" section because I believe it merges with the conversation people are having about the ending, the squid, and what needs to be kept intact and what can be changed/omitted without affecting the overall story (plus I want this thread to have more traffic -- there I said it, again).

For those unfamiliar with the Watchmen ending GTFO of the thread...just kidding...spoiler beware.

Spoiler

...The heroes Rorschach and Nite-Owl, soon followed by Silk Specter and Dr. Manhattan, descend upon Ozymandias citadel just in time to catch him in the final moments of his plan. Viedt (Ozymandias) admits to killing The Comedian, Edward Blake, to cover his actions. Viedt has mastered the art of teleportation with a price, everything he teleports dies and blows up, so that's just what he uses it for. He transports an "alien" squid which is really a genetically altered clone of a psychic. His death upon arrival in New York kills millions and subjects millions more to psychic torture for the rest of their lives. Viedt justifies his mass murder by saying that it will unite the world against a common, yet fictional, alien foe. The immediate news justifies his claims as Russia puts aside their differences, but perhaps only momentarily. The heroes, in philosophical stalemate with Viedt, allow him to life.

Here is where my problem starts.

Viedt's killings are not unlike a natural disaster, say a Tsunami or a massive Hurricane, of which we have seen several over the years. True, his scheme is to trick people into thinking there is a threat bigger than their petty squabbles, but has this not always been the case? Climate change, mortality, poverty, world hunger, depleting resources have been known threats to our existence since the dawn of civilization yet have prove ineffectual at causing us to lay down our arms.

It seems to me Veidt is simply a sociopath, a mass murdering psycho and not much else. I think his position as the "world's smartest man" is more his own arrogance projected, and while resourceful he obviously lacks wisdom. To illustrate this I would point to the first meeting Captain Metropolis called where the Comedian verbally abused Veidt in front of the remaining heroes. It seems Veidt is a pride driven man, and this scheme of his may be no more than a desire to enact some very eloborate revenge upon Blake, perhaps because he was jealous of how well Blake understood the world and how easily he chose to ignore morals. Blake had a command of the course of history Veidt only dreamed of. Blake killed Presidents, stopped scandals and won wars without the powers of Dr. Manhattan or the wealth a prominence of Veidt. Veidt must have been angered by this immensely.

I think some attention also needs to be drawn towards Dr. Manhattan. Osterman was becoming more and more disillusioned with humanity from the beginning of the book. The accusations of causing cancer seemed to distance him from those around him and began the slow descent of the nail in the coffin with respect to him leaving at the end as he said he would. The last question Veidt asks him is "[did it] work out in the end?" to which Manhattan replies "Nothing ends, nothing ever ends". Remember, it has been revealed Dr. Manhattan knows, intuitively, the future, so he would know whether Veidt's plan was a success or ultimately a failure. His words seem ominous.

I almost see Dr. Manhattan as the true villain, a man so fed up with humans keeping him back, that he is willing to leave their fate in the hands of a madman like Veidt.

Sure, we know that Veidt's plan worked momentarily, the book says as much, but what we don't know is how long it will last. Like floods, tsunamis and hurricanes there is a moment where the world recollects itself and united, but after that moment has past we renew our old ways. Veidt seems more than short sighted in this respect. If the hostilies renew again how many times will Veidt repeat his experiment until he deems it a failure, and how many lives will he claim in the process?

For this reason I'm not sure the squid is all that important. The squid to me seems to be it's method of commenting on the comic book medium, which is prone to using far fetched villains, like Starro (who the Squid resembles) in it's villainous plots. It could be a space laser, it could be a mysterious Cloverfield type monster. It doesn't matter. The point to me all goes back to "Who Watches the Watchmen". The notion that if you put all your faith into oversized talking atomic bombs and power hungry vigilante's this is how they will repay you. The constant theme of Alan Moore's books: the dangers of totalitarism, fascism and power hungry politicians.

 

[Beanjuice]

Hmm....i see what you did there

 

[Sam]

Oh, this discussion about if Ozymandias plan works or not exist since.. well, forever!

My opinion: it doesnt. It will work just at the beginning, but soon it will fall apart.

 

[Shifty]

Veidt would repeat it someway and justify the losses as insignificant compared to how many would die if wars were to start.

 

[Killing Joke926]

Wonderful discucssion and points Mr. Boxing, very impressive indeed. I can concur with most of your logic reguarding Viedt and possibly Comedian; however I don't really imagine Manhattan as the true villian though. Now don't get me wrong, your thoughts of Viedt and his Manhattan's probabal future upcomming as the main plan is brilliant, but IMO I think he's a little bit too technical to be that mischevious. After Osterman's accident, Manhattan grew away from normal human behavior and developed new interests that revolve around his godly intellegence and capabilities; as Moore and Manhattan stated himself, he explained "he's only a puppet who sees the strings." To me he's not very much of a leader, but moreover an independent being; and on top of that he matches Moore's idea of anarchy rather perfectly. His interests and appeals contridict with one another in very much like V's (V For Vendetta) obsession of treating anarchy like a romance; thus Manhattan's obsession, or his overall characteristics towards science and knowlege, is no more of a romance than when he's having sex with Laurie. And even then when duplicates himself he's working on other things while having intercourse at the same time. LOL And like it's been said many times his interests and obsessions lean more towards all sciences and very much in the manner of a clockwork state, giving him a much flatter outlook on all humanity until towards the end when convinced by Laurie. Other than that, due to his interests, he seems very unable to comprehend human emotions and behavior; also his abilitlies to predict the future ties into my thoughts. He doesn't really take much these events such as the war and all the deaths and ect. to heart simply because he's aware he cannot perform any sort of time paradox and can't change the outcome of the future. So in that retrospective, with his unfamiliar sense towards human beings and has more things that appeals to his fancy, I believe Manhattan wouldn't take the time to plot such a plan even if it locks in place with the future, otherwise he would be no different than Viedt himself.

LOL I'm tickled silly over this discussion, it's a rather wonderful debate.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

I meant villain in more of a benign sense in that he lets things happen, and probably, in his mind believes mankind somewhat deserves Veidt, and he may have a point.

 

[Killing Joke926]

I meant villain in more of a benign sense in that he lets things happen, and probably, in his mind believes mankind somewhat deserves Veidt, and he may have a point.

Oh I understand that, but I really don't think that's in his character; his capabilities to be unable comprehend human life or to think that dirastically of the overall human nature doesn't fit his persona because he has interests else where. I understand completely what you're saying and believe it's a great idea, but my inner guts and sense tell me otherwise that Manhattan wouldn't commit to such an outlook.

 

[Steyin]

I'll disagree considering the world doesn't really unite after natural disasters. We know, for the most part, how to deal with them (although it be temporary). Veidt's scheme is more about something we have no idea about; a force that we don't understand or know, hell one that we couldn't even begin to. Alien invasion/attack is far more troublesome than mother nature IMO, and would require teamwork/uniting as a civilization to overcome another. It reminds me of Robotech, how the arrival of an alien threat (SDF-1) unites the world and shocks them into realizing that there are greater, more dire threats than we could ever conceive, and the only way to overcome such a force is to put aside our petty differences and work together.

The only thing I'd say is wrong with his scheme is that after a while of not having another alien threat, people will begin to go back to the way things were, thus there would need to be occasional reminders that there is a bigger danger out there. Now, how does that get resolved? Does Veidt do the same thing again at random times to scare the world's population into staying united? In all honesty, I think after 10 years of nothing happening after the squid incident things would head down the same old path.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

Steyin, the world would though eventually figure out that wasn't an alien, and furthermore natural disasters are not always something we've seen before or understand: Global warming for example is very alarming and something we haven't dealt with in the past.

 

[CrimsonMist]

I agree in that i think the plan, overall, is a failure. It works in the beginning but ultimately won't. I think even Rorschach realized this. He states that President Truman is his idol(or one of them). Truman had to make the decision to drop the bomb on Japan, and for a moment, the world was at peace. Until the Korean War started several years later.

To quote Manhattan,"Nothing ever ends." and Rorschach realized this. Now, his whole "Never compromise" ideal is one thing. Aside from knowing that Viedt needs to be turned in, i think Rorschach knew that his plan wouldn't work anyway. Maybe it wasn't stated in the book, but perhaps Rorschach realized this same situation with Truman? Then he saw it happening with Viedt and knew it wouldn't work.

Why it won't work is ambiguous. Manhattan only hints that it may not. And to say Manhattan is a villain for not doing anything, i don't really agree. As i see it, it's more of an extension of Moore's work on Miracleman. After Johnny Bates kills 40,000 people, Miracleman kills him and brings the planet under totalitarian control. After a while, Miracleman reveals that he has lost his humanity and realizes that his utopia is ultimately harmful to humankind.

Moore touches on this in Watchmen. Viedt tries to create his own utopia, which ultimately won't work. Manhattan knows this. I think Manhattan doesn't lose his humanity, but loses his faith in humanity in general, especially with Viedt's actions and refuses to be apart of it any longer. He embraces himself for what he is and decides to leave. And why he didn't do anything to intervene is because of this.

Or something like that. I'm pretty tired, but i do know that one draft had Viedt kill people using lightning that resembled Manhattan's powers and led the world powers into believing that Manhattan is watching the world, turning into a totalitarian state, sort of downplaying Moore's work, which i didn't really like.

Sorry if this seems crackpot or incoherent. Again, i'm tired and my head hurts.

 

[ampersand]

I agree, for the most part, with Steyin.

Veidt's plan cannot be compared to natural disasters because specific natural disasters are not a threat to the entire world. Some countries, states or cities are in danger of damage from earthquakes. Some are in danger of hurricanes. Others are in danger of tsunamis. While it can be argued that disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes or earthquakes are possible almost all over the world, no one really believes this to be true. The world cannot be united against something if only part of the population is in danger.

Furthermore, Veidt's plan cannot be compared to climate change, mortality, poverty, world hunger, or depleting resources because each of these problems can be blamed on other countries, states or cities. We're not totally sure if climate change is caused by humans, so we still blame each other. World hunger, poverty and depleting resources are easily explained as the fault of others, even if the person doing the blaming is also at fault. Mortality is pretty universally accepted, being as we haven't even come close to figuring out how to stay alive forever and everyone knows their lives have a limit.

So, the idea of an unknown alien threat that has already attacked a major city, causing unprecedented loss of life, is very different from the everyday problems humanity faces. The purpose of making the giant squid creature was to cement the idea in everyone's minds that the attack did not come from any country on earth. Veidt reasoned that the only way the entire world could ever be united was in the face of a clear and present, yet unknown common enemy.

It is difficult to argue Veidt's logic in the short term. Every way I imagine it, an alien attack would put to rest or at least put on hold the differences of men. Again I agree with Steyin when says that humanity would quickly forget about an alien threat and turn again to earthbound aggressions if there were not a continued alien threat after a great deal of time.

I would imagine that a man with Veidt's intellect would see this problem and would either know going in that he was only delaying the inevitable or was capable of keeping up the illusion in the long term. ShadowBoxing, I disagree when you say that Veidt's position as "world's smartest man" is mostly arrogance. I think Veidt's ability to use his intelligence to examine the global market and make good enough investments to finance his own multinational corporation as well as his arctic home and behind the scenes monster making island is argument enough that Veidt is an incredibly smart person. Judging by his display of intelligence within the book, I would argue that Veidt wouldn't be naive enough to ignore the high probability that the world would forget about alien aggressors and continue to argue their own differences in the future.

I don't think that Veidt intended on creating a Utopia or solving all the world's problems. Ending or Stalling the aggressions between the US and Soviet Union would be a good enough outcome for a man in Veidt's moral position to warrant going through with the plan. After all, the world of watchmen was on the brink of nuclear war. Veidt not only prevented this (at least for the time being) but put himself in position to cash in on the change global markets would undergo following the immediate end of the Cold War and a looming alien threat. Veidt may have been preventing nuclear war and therefor acting in the interest of most of the world (save the people directly or indirectly affected by the loss of life during the attack), but he was also acting in his own self interest; He had no desire to perish in nuclear war and he found a way to boost his already substantial fortune.

 

[joke]

Sure, we know that Veidt's plan worked momentarily, the book says as much, but what we don't know is how long it will last. Like floods, tsunamis and hurricanes there is a moment where the world recollects itself and united, but after that moment has past we renew our old ways. Veidt seems more than short sighted in this respect. If the hostilies renew again how many times will Veidt repeat his experiment until he deems it a failure, and how many lives will he claim in the process?

Well, that was pretty much one of the main points of the book, no? Veidt thought of himself as the most intelligent man on Earth (and he could've been), but he was too short-sighted to see that his plan will ultimately fail.. which is what Manhattan was saying with "Nothing ever ends."

 

[The Riddler]

as already pointed out by other astute posters:

the point of the squid is to create a common enemy that can actually be battled. natural disasters, hurricanes and earthquakes cannot be fought against or prevented. veidt's idea is to unite the world with a common otherworldly enemy. disasters only strike certain areas; with an enemy like the squid, vedit creates an enemy that could potentially endanger the entire world. in this respect, vedit's plan is successful.

i don't think the novel ever intended for one to dissect vedit's plan and its success; it's mentioned it does turn out to work (for at least the time being). the main ideas surrounding the plan, in my opinion, is the moral dilemma in actually carrying it out, the ramifications of its successes, parallels in the real world, and the short sightedness of it all.

 

[Spade]

My problem with Hayter's solar lenses is that it diminishes what Dr. Manhattan says with his last words. With the solar lenses, Veidt could conceivably continue to hold the world in thrall for centuries after his own death, if he developed his plan further. Yes, what Dr. Manhattan says can still hold true in the original Hayter draft. But there's an issue that's still present: Veidt's nightmares. Veidt clearly has visions of the dreaded Black Freighter in Moore's original story, which is representative of impending doom; it's not hard to compare the visage of the Freighter to a hazard symbol. He may have saved the world in Moore's comic with his telepathic monstrosity, but Veidt's dreams act as foreshadowing- he will live to see the day when his murders catch up with him, and he will be as damned as the nameless man in the Freighter tale. It's an idea of karma that's important to keeping the moral ambiguity of it all. In the end, there's no clear answer as to when it's going to happen, but Manhattan's shred of doubt reminds us that one day the world will forget about the peace that Veidt's hoax invasion created. We know is that the antagonist has not completely survived unscathed. That's important, in my eyes. We have all signs pointing to Veidt's downfall, but the story would rather leave it to our imagination when this'll happen. The "space laser" and methods like it can still lead to an eventual crumbling of the forced peace, but by then Veidt could be dead with only as much remorse as he professes himself to have. It doesn't leave the same parting note on his character that Moore intended.

 

[The Riddler]

My problem with Hayter's solar lenses is that it diminishes what Dr. Manhattan says with his last words. With the solar lenses, Veidt could conceivably continue to hold the world in thrall for centuries after his own death, if he developed his plan further. Yes, what Dr. Manhattan says can still hold true in the original Hayter draft. But there's an issue that's still present: Veidt's nightmares. Veidt clearly has visions of the dreaded Black Freighter in Moore's original story, which is representative of impending doom; it's not hard to compare the visage of the Freighter to a hazard symbol. He may have saved the world in Moore's comic with his telepathic monstrosity, but Veidt's dreams act as foreshadowing- he will live to see the day when his murders catch up with him, and he will be as damned as the nameless man in the Freighter tale. It's an idea of karma that's important to keeping the moral ambiguity of it all. In the end, there's no clear answer as to when it's going to happen, but Manhattan's shred of doubt reminds us that one day the world will forget about the peace that Veidt's hoax invasion created. We know is that the antagonist has not completely survived unscathed. That's important, in my eyes. We have all signs pointing to Veidt's downfall, but the story would rather leave it to our imagination when this'll happen. The "space laser" and methods like it can still lead to an eventual crumbling of the forced peace, but by then Veidt could be dead with only as much remorse as he professes himself to have. It doesn't leave the same parting note on his character that Moore intended.

is this some early draft of the script? to my understanding, the ending isn't going to stray far from the source.

 

[Spade]

Yes, that was the idea from Hayter's draft that's going unused in Snyder's film. His draft's pretty remarkably accurate given the change in dates up until the end. I wouldn't have been completely against that angle, but- like I've said- it diminishes the unspoken consequences of Veidt's plan.

Which is rendered moreso moot in the draft by his death, but since that's been excised there's no need for discussion on that.

 

[The Guard]

Veidt's plan in WATCHMEN isn't about permanently changing the world's mind about hating each other. It's about stopping nuclear conflict that he saw coming, and then, once this is accomplished, about finding a way to make the world a better place later.

Labeling people heroes and villains misses one of the grand points of WATCHMEN, the gray area between them.

The squid may be a method of commenting on the comic book medium, but it's also metaphorically significant to Veidt's "common enemy" plan, and it is representative of humanity's dark side, of the evils that have brought humanity to the point it finds itself at. The method of Veidt's plan COULD be almost anything, but I'd argue it wouldn't be as interesting.

Veidt's plan is twofold.

1. Prevent war.
2. Usher the world into a new era

He states this explicitly.

With "Nothing ever ends", Manhattan isn't just saying he can see the future, and chiding Veidt about it. He's referencing the fragile nature of history, and our inability to see the future. That's the whole point of this part of Manhattan's arc. The utter futility of attempting to do so. I don't even really think Manhattan knows how things will turn out, as he's still in range of Veidt's tachyon generators when he says this. Unless he's turned them off. Does he? I can't remember.

In almost every draft (and I have read all of them until THE shooting draft), the "creating common enemy with history's greatest practical joke" theme is present. However, in a relatively relevant and clever twist, the common enemy is the heroes themselves. I rather liked that angle, but the squid is still pretty cool, and relevant in several ways.

 

[CaptainGenerica]

I'm surprised at how many people seem to take for granted that Veidt's plan won't work, and assume that it is unquestionably wrong. It actually seems like people would prefer that Veidt's plan fails.

Personally I see Veidt as the hero, or at least the "tragic hero"--what bigger sacrifice is there than to give up your very soul for the sake of the world? And while I don't have the logistical knowledge to judge whether the plan will ultimately work or not, if I found myself in Veidt's shoes, and such a plan seemed the best option, I would have tried my best to do the same thing.

 

[joke]

I'd say it's common sense to think that Veidt's plan wouldn't work in the long run. Sure, it's an "alien attack" and the whole world bands together to get over that tragedy, but once they figure out there aren't going to be anymore attacks (unless Veidt orchestrates another), everybody will be back to their petty squabbles and axe grinding. An alien attack doesn't change human nature. Honestly, even if there were more similar "attacks", people would still be at eachother's throats pretty soon. They'll just find new reasons for it.

 

[Solidus]

Oh I understand that, but I really don't think that's in his character; his capabilities to be unable comprehend human life or to think that dirastically of the overall human nature doesn't fit his persona because he has interests else where. I understand completely what you're saying and believe it's a great idea, but my inner guts and sense tell me otherwise that Manhattan wouldn't commit to such an outlook.

With the Manhattan thing I agree with KJ, its not so much that he turns his back, to me its a weird way he is the metaphor for a possible "god", that really might not give a damn about our petty squabbles because we are so different, its like us trying to understand ants, and why they do what they do.

To me it was more of the sense that Manhattan was not really human anymore, to me it was like 2001, he was re-created in a way that our feeble minds could never comprehend, yet he is thrust into living with us, and just does not seem to understand, what to do. Not so much caring one way or another.

As for Veidt's plan I agree with the starter of this thread, to a point. Yes it may unite man kind for a short while, but would it hold?

To me I think it would hold, and it does not make Veidt a sociopath. I think in my opinion, the reason mankind continues to fight one another, is the feeling of uncertintiy/our place in this universe. Mixed with some lonliness. Trying to prove to the others that they have the superior knowledge to living life, and understanding it, that is truly what most wars seem to be about. Having the belief we have the great knowledge.

And I think having an

Spoiler

Fake alien invasion

would truly unite the world. Because then we would understand, we are not alone, and that we amongs this Earth need to unite to gain more knowledge against other races/beings in this universe. Would this be? It truly could be one way or another so I'm not saying with 100% certaintiy.

But I think an alien attack truly would wake up the world to see how pathetic we are, and our fights are, that there is a whole universe out there, and there may be more powerful beings out there wanting to kill us, so only uniting would truly let us survive. And we as humanity would look onto bigger problems out there. Kinda like the Star Trek: First Contanct way of things, except with Watchmen its the bad way lol.

I just think psychologicaly from the peoples point of view I have a feeling most people would understand the greater threat.

So all in all I think Veidt's plan worked. And he may have known how to stop us from fighting amongst ourselves, now we have someone else to fight lol.

 

[The Guard]

I think that's a nice thought, but somewhat naive.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

I think that's a nice thought, but somewhat naive.

I have to agree. I think part of the point of Watchmen is showing the futility of superheroes. In comics, generally, superheroes hold an inordinate amount of sway and determinism in their world. They can shape their own destinies and the destinies of others on a whim. In Moore's world, however, they are puppets, and even the most powerful among them, Manhattan, is a puppet, but he understands he's a puppet and can comprehend his puppeteer. He can see the inner workings of the clock, whereas others cannot.

Veidt is not much different. In Veidt's mind he is a hero, but in reality he is just a scared, panicky human who makes a rash and overly destructive choice to end the war. I see, somewhat, people who point out the alien might drive some sense of unity...yet did he really have to kill millions to do that?

Take, for example, Robotech where war ends because of an alien invasion (alien ship crash lands) and a Government forms around it, ever wary of the possible threat of invasion. Similar ends, but the means getting there are far less costly. It seems to me that Veidt picked the most bloodthirsty way of achieving his ends.

Another parrallel we can use is illustrated by the character Rorschach. Rorschach, as you may remember, idolizes Truman (President Harry S. Truman) as a common man who did terrible and great things to bring about peace. Namely the dropping of the atomic bomb. The atomic bomb was a wake up call. No one truly understood it's power until they saw it, much like the artists and scientists, as well as Veidt and the heroes, never understood the power of teleportation and this squid until they saw it firsthand.

Truman acts a as parrallel. On one hand his actions brought about piece, but later the ripple effect would cause the Cold War to begin and Kruschev to bang his shoe on the floor of the UN exclaiming "we will bury you". One war ends, another begins again. As Veidt casts his plan unto the world surely he creates a new arms race, new conflicts, new fears and new rivals. Remember, as Manhattan says "nothing ever ends" he disappears leaving behind the spectre of a mushroom cloud, causing Veidt to further doubt his decisions.

The idea is to show that Veidt, in all his power and intelligence, seriously has little or no say in the course of the future, no more than a man who can always see it does.

 

[The Riddler]

i don't know that anyone can argue against the fact that vedit's plan DOES work at least momentarily (as in months, years) but cannot be a long term solution (there simply is no long term solution).

either way, vedit's plan is worth it in a sense because the bottom line is that he successfully prolongs a nuclear war from occurring.

 

[The Riddler]

damn double post.

 

[ampersand]

I have to agree. I think part of the point of Watchmen is showing the futility of superheroes. In comics, generally, superheroes hold an inordinate amount of sway and determinism in their world. They can shape their own destinies and the destinies of others on a whim. In Moore's world, however, they are puppets, and even the most powerful among them, Manhattan, is a puppet, but he understands he's a puppet and can comprehend his puppeteer. He can see the inner workings of the clock, whereas others cannot.

Veidt is not much different. In Veidt's mind he is a hero, but in reality he is just a scared, panicky human who makes a rash and overly destructive choice to end the war. I see, somewhat, people who point out the alien might drive some sense of unity...yet did he really have to kill millions to do that?

Take, for example, Robotech where war ends because of an alien invasion (alien ship crash lands) and a Government forms around it, ever wary of the possible threat of invasion. Similar ends, but the means getting there are far less costly. It seems to me that Veidt picked the most bloodthirsty way of achieving his ends.

Another parrallel we can use is illustrated by the character Rorschach. Rorschach, as you may remember, idolizes Truman (President Harry S. Truman) as a common man who did terrible and great things to bring about peace. Namely the dropping of the atomic bomb. The atomic bomb was a wake up call. No one truly understood it's power until they saw it, much like the artists and scientists, as well as Veidt and the heroes, never understood the power of teleportation and this squid until they saw it firsthand.

Truman acts a as parrallel. On one hand his actions brought about piece, but later the ripple effect would cause the Cold War to begin and Kruschev to bang his shoe on the floor of the UN exclaiming "we will bury you". One war ends, another begins again. As Veidt casts his plan unto the world surely he creates a new arms race, new conflicts, new fears and new rivals. Remember, as Manhattan says "nothing ever ends" he disappears leaving behind the spectre of a mushroom cloud, causing Veidt to further doubt his decisions.

The idea is to show that Veidt, in all his power and intelligence, seriously has little or no say in the course of the future, no more than a man who can always see it does.

I'd like to hear where you believe the book supports your opinion of Veidt. To me, he seems the opposite of a scared, panicky person. All of his actions come off as calm and calculated, even if they are extreme in measure. We really have no way of knowing what the end result would have been had Veidt not launched his 'alien' attack, which is one of the driving factors behind the moral debate in Watchmen. What we do know is that his plan worked in the short term and at least delayed the start of nuclear war and gave world leaders a chance to continue diplomacy.

Veidt prevented nuclear war on very Utilitarian grounds: His actions brought the greatest good to the greatest amount of people at the cost of the suffering of a smaller group. While it's possible he could have killed fewer people and had the same effect, it's almost undeniable that loss of human life was necessary to enact his plan. If a weird squid thing just showed up on earth one day without causing any harm, the reaction would be negligible in comparison to the reaction to a perceived alien invasion. I don't know what Robotech is, but your example regarding a similar plot line in that story sounds much less realistic than the way Watchmen was handled.