While it was obviously very scary when it happened, there was a bit of western propaganda surrounding the event. With information that has come out since and the perspective that comes with time, I dunno if it was ever THAT close to be honest. The closest we ever came yes, but the brink, probably not.
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I’m always amazed these sportscasters and announcers can call the game with McDavid’s **** in their mouths all the time.
What I remember as a teen is walking the 4 miles home from the movies with two friends. We got to the streetlight where we eventually would part ways at about 11 PM. We spent the next 5 hours standing under that streetlight discussing the situation. Yeah we were scared.
India and Pakistan have been pretty close in the past as well, and arguably just as close at least (and still are pretty close for that matter). Whether or not that would have led to a global nuclear war is debatable, but they have had crises in the past that make the Cuban Missile Crisis look like just another day at the office. In fact, that region scares me the most because it is almost to the point that I think they are becoming desensitized to the threat.
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
I almost take a little bit of offense to the notion that the man who decided to not "push the button" is credited with "saving the world".
I would like to think that 99.99% of the world's population would have decided to not destroy humanity. The problem is that the psychopaths that tend to find themselves with the power are part of that 0.001%.
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
Having spent my honeymoon in Cuba in 2010 I can say opening the doors to American tourism dollars would be HUGE. Some of the old mob hotels in Havana could regain some of their previous luster, and the infrastructure would likely get a huge upgrade as well.
But I'd agree with what Cheese said, if you want a taste of "old" Cuba get your visit in before the gates open. The consistently best coffee I've had in this world was in Cuba, even rickety old carts had top shelf espresso, you don't want Starbucks in there frapping it all up.
Honestly the nation is a bit like a time capsule, classic cars, soviet architecture, Mexican coke bottles... the lucky strike cigarette packs almost had me taking up smoking.
Don't get me wrong, opening the doors up to American tourism/trade will be great for the nation and should have happened a long time ago. But there will be a certain charm lost in the process.
Good to know it only takes 50 years for the U.S. to acknowledge an abject policy failure.
Sometimes it takes 50 years for a really scary guy to become impotent.
__________________ I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love." - John Steinbeck
Good to know it only takes 50 years for the U.S. to acknowledge an abject policy failure.
Yip, the policy was complete and utter bull####, but you have to give credit where it is due.
Obama has/had the balls to get this started.
I am not sure that this is the start of the re-Americanization of Cuba. I think for that to happen there needs to be a change in the gov't, and I am not sure that will happen anytime soon.
It is most definitely a move in the right direction, but an opening of the flood gates, nope I don't see it.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
Oh, I believe that's why it is just happening now. I don't think any President prior to now would've considered this move with Fidel Castro still in power. Whether that is because they thought he was scary or because the American people were led to believe he was scary is another question.
But absolutely that's the reason.
If you want to know my opinion the fact I used the word scary should tell you all you need to know.
__________________ I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love." - John Steinbeck
I still stick with what I said. Your original post was inferring good Cuban Cigars are cheap in Vancouver, when it would be better said that you're buying cheap Cuban Cigars in Vancouver.
That link shows they carry a nice array of Cuban Cigars. The ones under $20 are definitely on the low end of the spectrum.
Oh, I believe that's why it is just happening now. I don't think any President prior to now would've considered this move with Fidel Castro still in power. Whether that is because they thought he was scary or because the American people were led to believe he was scary is another question.
But absolutely that's the reason.
If you want to know my opinion the fact I used the word scary should tell you all you need to know.
Actually at the time of the revolution, Raul was the scary guy as he was the known communist. Watching the Canadian news at the time we were sympathetic to the revolution because they were intent on overthrowing a corrupt regime. The question was whether Fidel would follow his brother to embrace the communists. The American government made this a done deal when they opposed the revolution forcing Fidel into the USSR's realm.
Actually at the time of the revolution, Raul was the scary guy as he was the known communist. Watching the Canadian news at the time we were sympathetic to the revolution because they were intent on overthrowing a corrupt regime. The question was whether Fidel would follow his brother to embrace the communists. The American government made this a done deal when they opposed the revolution forcing Fidel into the USSR's realm.
Yep, and then they made him into the poster boy for communism.
__________________ I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love." - John Steinbeck
Ok, fair enough. I had never heard that story, and as mentioned in the articles, it wasn't officially released till many many years later. So people living through it and judging it based on what they were going through at the time, doesn't really add to the argument. As was mentioned by another poster, I'm not sure it really means anything to have someone NOT push the button though. As the articles mention, they did not have orders from Moscow.
The ones I had read mentioned that the DEFCON level had never been raised above 3 (except for one unit at 2 I believe?) and that many people in the military were not expecting nuclear war. From Wikipedia...
David A. Burchinal recalled that, by contrast,[63] 'the Russians were so thoroughly stood down, and we knew it. They didn't make any move. They did not increase their alert; they did not increase any flights, or their air defense posture. They didn't do a thing, they froze in place. We were never further from nuclear war than at the time of Cuba, never further'
Probably just arguing semantics here. What constitutes 'brink of'. You gotta remember, in times of crisis things do seem a lot headier than they do in retrospect, of course. And in times of crisis, governments are very good at getting the population on their side. Look at America after September 11th. Everyone was freaking out that something more might happen for quite some time after that. Not to say that that was a wrong feeling, it's natural to be scared. Just that, there wasn't any evidence that more attacks were on the way.
So personally I still feel a bit grey on the use of the word 'brink'. But I do thank you for the story and I do see why people would say that.
Ok, fair enough. I had never heard that story, and as mentioned in the articles, it wasn't officially released till many many years later. So people living through it and judging it based on what they were going through at the time, doesn't really add to the argument. As was mentioned by another poster, I'm not sure it really means anything to have someone NOT push the button though. As the articles mention, they did not have orders from Moscow.
The ones I had read mentioned that the DEFCON level had never been raised above 3 (except for one unit at 2 I believe?) and that many people in the military were not expecting nuclear war. From Wikipedia...
David A. Burchinal recalled that, by contrast,[63] 'the Russians were so thoroughly stood down, and we knew it. They didn't make any move. They did not increase their alert; they did not increase any flights, or their air defense posture. They didn't do a thing, they froze in place. We were never further from nuclear war than at the time of Cuba, never further'
Probably just arguing semantics here. What constitutes 'brink of'. You gotta remember, in times of crisis things do seem a lot headier than they do in retrospect, of course. And in times of crisis, governments are very good at getting the population on their side. Look at America after September 11th. Everyone was freaking out that something more might happen for quite some time after that. Not to say that that was a wrong feeling, it's natural to be scared. Just that, there wasn't any evidence that more attacks were on the way.
So personally I still feel a bit grey on the use of the word 'brink'. But I do thank you for the story and I do see why people would say that.
Robert McNamara, US Secretary of Defence during the crisis, on how close they came:
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Ok, fair enough. I had never heard that story, and as mentioned in the articles, it wasn't officially released till many many years later. So people living through it and judging it based on what they were going through at the time, doesn't really add to the argument. As was mentioned by another poster, I'm not sure it really means anything to have someone NOT push the button though. As the articles mention, they did not have orders from Moscow.
The ones I had read mentioned that the DEFCON level had never been raised above 3 (except for one unit at 2 I believe?) and that many people in the military were not expecting nuclear war. From Wikipedia...
David A. Burchinal recalled that, by contrast,[63] 'the Russians were so thoroughly stood down, and we knew it. They didn't make any move. They did not increase their alert; they did not increase any flights, or their air defense posture. They didn't do a thing, they froze in place. We were never further from nuclear war than at the time of Cuba, never further'
Probably just arguing semantics here. What constitutes 'brink of'. You gotta remember, in times of crisis things do seem a lot headier than they do in retrospect, of course. And in times of crisis, governments are very good at getting the population on their side. Look at America after September 11th. Everyone was freaking out that something more might happen for quite some time after that. Not to say that that was a wrong feeling, it's natural to be scared. Just that, there wasn't any evidence that more attacks were on the way.
So personally I still feel a bit grey on the use of the word 'brink'. But I do thank you for the story and I do see why people would say that.
You need to take into consideration what was going on at the time. We were in the Cold War where daily headlines were about each side threatening each other to the point that it looked like insanity. Anyone with an ounce of sense knew the danger that was happening. It was even called brinkmanship and a dangerous game it was which also kept the population on edge. 911 was a disaster but it was a one off in comparison.
One of the often ignored aspects is that Kennedy removed missiles from Turkey so the USSR would take out their missiles in Cuba and it was probably a forerunner of future nuclear agreements between the two.
