Who Cares about the Cuban Missile Crisis?

This video, by Don Morrison, is a little long winded but argues that in order to get rid of nuclear paranoia the worlds leaders must all get rid of their nuclear weapons. In Gary Will’s “Bomb Power”, he argued that the Cuban Missile Crisis was triggered by the aggression of an overactive White House. Castro and Khrushchev put tactical and intermediate range nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba to deter the United States from re-invading Cuba and to balance the deterrent power of American nuclear-tipped missiles in Turkey. The video explains why leaders can be so paranoid. An attack on their country first would not only kill millions of people, it would trigger an all out nuclear war that could destroy the world.

from crazy-frankenstein.com

I view the Cuban Missile Crisis as one of the most significant events in the past 50 years. We were very close to what many considered world annihilation, man-kind has never had this kind of power. I think Mutually Shared Destruction (MAD) is a big deterrent in nuclear war, but one little mistake or miscalculation could cause a reaction that would lead us into war. Russian Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov may have single handedly saved the entire world. He was manning a nuclear site, and the Russians had reports that missiles had been shot by us. The radar was clear and they went into code red, he was given permission to fire missiles in retaliation. He chose not to act, saving perhaps billions of lives.

(online source) (Another Online Source, Washington Post)

It’s certainly possible for a nuclear war to happen even when no one wants it, but it’s extremely unlikely and can only ever be a mistake. I believe most world power leaders realize that any kind of nuclear attack on a country would either mean certain destruction themselves or severe consequences from the U.N and most other world leaders. However, mistakes can be made, and if a terrorist organization was ever to get ahold of nuclear weaponry the results could be devastating. We need to work together to get rid of all nuclear weapons, but I doubt we will see it happen in our lifetime.

~ by jpas47 on September 16, 2012.