Posted on 12/30/2007 3:59:57 AM PST by vertolet
great article.
Now we have an equally paranoid Putin in charge, so it’s not over.
ping
The Discovery Channel or maybe Documentary had a two hour show on this last week. Probably do a rerun again.
Nuclear weapons are evil because the US had 'em first.
If the Communists had 'em first and the West did not, well the only rational path would have been to surrender in the face of superior weaponry.
Since both sides has had them, the world has had to live in fear of the reckless West and their doomsday devices.
“But the Soviet leadership, with its eye on Reagan’s supposed recklessness, chose not to believe them.”
This is where our Leftist media enters the equation. They painted Reagan as “reckless” and could have caused a nuclear conflagration, as a result. The msm’s hatred of Republican presidents and their unflagging attempts to ruin their time in office does have consequences in this dangerous world.
Thanks for a fascinating read.
Whew !
Many don’t know how close we were to going to war with USSR in October, 1973, at the height of the Yom Kippur War. USSR was rattling sabers and acting as if it were about to jump into the fray to support Syria. Nixon, for all his domestic faults, was a great leader in foreign affairs. He warned USSR leader Brezhnev that if USSR got involved on the side of Syria, it would be fighting US forces, because US would go in to support Israel. US forces went on alert. Bombers were being prepped, and many took to the air in case the “Go” order were given.
USSR had miscalculated US resolve, thinking that since the Vietnam War had just months earlier wound down as far as US involvement (the cease-fire of January, 1973), and convinced the American people were so tired of war that they would never condone a new US military action, especially one in which the foe would be the ultimate enemy (USSR), it felt relatively safe from any US counter to its adventure in the Middle East. Nixon brought USSR back to reality, and neither side became overtly involved in the Yom Kippur War.
I remember that bit of excitement. I was in the USAF at the time.
There is good evidence that it sunk after the attempted unauthorized launch of a nuclear missile at Hawaii.
And, as we now know, the CIA went and raised it.
Or pieces of it.
The above idea is put forth without any background in modern logistics or strategy, so I am skeptical of it.
The nuclear forces do not launch in a vacuum.
There would be massive worldwide redeployment of logistical supports and active military assets, not to mention to complete mobilization of the reserves and co ordination with civil defense.
The war gaming in Europe is a small theater piece in the whole puzzle
Exactly.
In those days - CBS, NBC, and ABC almost completely dominated the televised media.
There was no "new media", no large talk radio audiences or programs, and no Internet.
If you watched the network broadcasts - it was even worse than today.
The MSM had absolutely no brakes on their reckless words; and no checks or balances to their complete bias and hatred of President Reagan.
It works both ways. In those times it was advantageous for the Russians to believe we were as crazy as they were. Candlelight Kumbaya vigils for Peace would have only earned their contempt.
Also, having a "Cowboy" elected got the Iranian hostages home, and quickly.
One cannot reason with someone who seriously wants to kill them. That is why negotitations with Iran and Mideast Peace Talks are such a futile self-defeating joke. Our adversaries have only contempt for cheap talk, and properly see it as weakness.
Geez. Time for me to change shorts ...
I’ll have a hard time going back to bed (I was planning on sleeping in - thanks a lot) ;(
Another factor in the Cold War in our favor, Americans play poker, Russians play chess. War more closely approximates poker because one can never KNOW with certainty all the variables. No matter how much info the Reds gathered, there was always some uncertainty, so they would never call a bluff.
bttt good read
Moscow took a step back from the brink its own fevered imagination had created.
I read the entire article with an eye on current affairs. Substitute DailyKos or Democratic Underground for Moscow and the Soviet Union, and you have the same mentality and ideology. I've included some quotes above for illustration.
Never forget that the American Left represents as great a threat to our freedom as any force in history.
“I still believe that the closest that we may have come was that rogue Russian submarine off Hawaii.”
What year did this occur?
It was June 22, 1941, not 1940. Also, neither the USSR nor the USA had any capability to sit and watch for silo doors to open in real time via satellite recon imagery, as the article suggests. At best there were snapshots from birds moving 18,000 miles per hour which had to be downlinked and processed. That was all strategic information, not tactical.
“I still believe that the closest that we may have come was that rogue Russian submarine off Hawaii.”
***What year did this occur?***
Some time back in the late 1960’s a nuclear sub sank.Only a US satalite recorded it. Howard Hughs built a special ship (Glomar Challenger)to recover it. According to reports, the part of the sub with missles broke off and sank back into the sea.
This is some of the top secret info that was spilled by the Dems when it was revealed to them in the Watergate hearings.
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