For DUers who lived through the Cuban Missle Crisis

[berni_mccoy]

Is the "Nuke Iran" crisis
A) Not as Scary
B) Almost as Scary
C) Just as Scary
D) More Scary
than the Cuban Missle Crisis?

[Vincardog]

1. D) More Scary JFK was not bat shit crazy

[EFerrari]

3. I agree. n/t

[misternormal]

49. I agree completely... n/t

[madokie]

63. Count me in too

[slackmaster]

2. Nowhere near as scary

The Soviets were the Evil Empire incarnate, and had actual nukes.

[GrumpyGreg]

4. Not as scary! I remember it as if it were yesterday--

the pics with the missiles just 90 miles from our coastline.

My husband was in the reserves(as most men were) and was about to be called up when it ended.

[BeachBuckeye]

5. "A" Not even close

I was 16 during the Cuban Missle Crisis and I can tell you that much of the population was under the impression that the world would go up in a mushroom cloud at any moment. At our school they cleaned out the coal bins in the basement and made it into a makeshift bomb shelter. People were very frightened.

[sojourner]

6. depends on what scary means...

do you mean scary as in THEY are scary or scary as in WE are scary?

THEY aren't scary. We are!!!!!!!!

[Blue_In_AK]

7. Not as scary...

...except for the fact that ** is insane, which ups the scariness factor by quite a bit.

[slackmaster]

10. The "insane" act is part of the plan to keep you scared

Don't worry, Blue. Nobody is going to nuke anybody any time soon.

[Blue_In_AK]

27. I'm not really worried...

I think ** will have a lot harder time pulling this off now than he did with the Iraq thing since everybody's on to him. But I'm just getting kind of tired of all the stupidity. Human beings (one would think) should be much smarter at this point in our evolution than to think that war and more war solves ANYTHING. Why aren't we spending all these trillions of dollars on projects that benefit us and our planet rather than threatening to destroy it? The whole war mentality is just so stupid -- I'm sick of the vast majority of good-hearted people worldwide being at the mercy of these crazy leaders.

[killbotfactory]

76. I thought it was an act, too

I thought no president would be stupid enough to launch an invasion of Iraq.

Bush is a fucking nutjob.

[Trevelyan]

8. K&R I was in elementary school but can remember my mother's extreme fear

I think it is equal in terms of emotional wear and tear and I think the PTBs are very happy to be pulling another national trauma.

At least I can write and sign petitions and keeping busy DOING SOMETHING helps and you never know what results your efforts will bring as many DUers have in their sig lines.

[NYCGirl]

9. A) not as scary. I was just a kid, but we really thought it was OVER. NT

[longship]

11. Not as scary.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis we were looking at less than 20 minutes to global thermonuclear war. People were *SCARED*.

If Kennedy had listened to some of his military advisors and attacked Cuba, they would have launched, we would have launched in response, Russia would have launched in response, and the whole thing would have fallen apart very, very quickly.

Again, People were scared!

On edit: I was a "paperboy" for the Detroit News at the time. So I got to read all the news fresh off the press. During those 13 days, the afternoon edition was late nearly every day as the news was breaking fast and furious. Every day was effectively an "extra" edition with vast coverage of the events. Did I write that people were *scared*? I can't over emphasize this point.

The Iran deal doesn't come close to the Cuban Missile Crisis.... at least not yet.
One only hopes that rational minds prevail and it stays that way.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

12. Not nearly as scary. I was in a target area.

I was in the Marine Air Wing stationed at MCAS El Toro. A fighter squadron. We had just shipped our planes out to be junked and were a few days away from shipping out to Japan.

All of the other squadrons were scattered to other bases to prevent losing them all at once. We were literally locked in our barracks with chains and padlocks on the doors and MP's on guard to prevent any of us from getting the idea that being targets was such a hot idea.

Most of us were to young and dumb to be really scared at the time, but in retrospect, we should have been terrified.

[maveric]

13. "A". I was six but recall my parents and neighbors...

cramming the grocery aisles for canned food, candles, sterno cans... People were told to fill their bathtubs up with water, in case of attack. People were dusting off their bomb shelters. I was in 2nd grade where we had "Duck & Cover" drills every day. Air Raid sirens were tested regularly.
When JFK made that doomsday speech, it freaked my parents out. I remember it clear as day.

As much as this Iran situation disturbs me, the "Thirteen Days", incident scared the shit out of the world.

[annabanana]

14. almost

US & USSR were toe to toe and there actually was the possiblity of us getting into a shooting war with two well stocked nuclear arsenals...

[denidem]

18. Not as scary.

I was in third grade, lived in Miami just miles from Homestead AFB. We would have been vaporized for sure.

It was a tense time, which most kids did not know the reasons for, we just heard the newscasts and the whispers and the looks of fear in our parents' and teachers' eyes.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

15. I was 13 and we spent one weekend preparing a fallout

shelter in the basement.

It was terrifying.

The situation in Iran is no where near as scary because WE AREN'T IN IRAN. These missiles in the Cuban missile crisis were pointed at Miami, DC, NYC, etc.

Plus we all thought Kruschev was a loon, pounding his shoe on his lectern and screaming "We will bury you."

[EVDebs]

16. (A) Not as Scary. Read Juan Cole on this and you'll see why

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x914131

[MyNameGoesHere]

17. Good question

I would say by current gut feeling not as scary. However if i look at the potential of this madness it scares me worse. JFK was not going to be bullied by the military. This idiot we have now wouldn't hesitate to launch without considering the consequences. Now that is terrifying.

[htuttle]

19. I'm a 'Missile Crisis Baby' -- I was born 9 months after October 1962.

It must have been pretty scary. My parents were obviously very happy when it was over....;)

[livetohike]

20. Not as scary. Get a copy of "Fog of War", if you haven't seen

it yet. Thank God that JFK was President then.

I was in elementary school, but remember being scared to death.

[berni_mccoy]

33. Thanks. I was just at the JFK Library at the beginning of March

And watched the presentation there on the Cuban Missle Crisis. I wasn't born yet, when that crisis happened. The thought of the U.S.A. STARTING A NUCLEAR WAR with another country is the scariest thing I've seen.

The current situation with Iran reminds me very much of the emotions I saw portrayed in that presentation. But it's almost in complete reverse...

Here we are on Iran's doorstep (like the Soviet Union was on ours). And the U.S. has come out and said it is considering Nukes as an option (like Cuba had nukes). The only difference is, Iran can not retalliate like the U.S. could during the Cuban Missle Crisis.

[livetohike]

70. I'd love to go to the JFK library. That must have been interesting

I am scared too, because Bush is an idiot. What scares me is the other countries that also have nukes. Who will stop them from deploying theirs, if we start it??

[ramapo]

21. This is a pebble next to a boulder

I was seven years old. I could write a very, very long post about that time. It was very close to home and it was very scary for everybody, JFK and RFK especially I bet.

The only scary part of this Iran thing is that Bush is such a complete moron with his delusional ideas of rightousness, that you can't disallow the possibility of these wackos deciding to break the box and use nukes as a first-strike defense.

There is simply no comparison about the times. In fact, I hear those a generation and younger bemoan how "scary" this terrorism stuff is. I laugh at this. Scary is the very real threat of thermonuclear warfare coming to your town soon.

I grew, and live, not far from NYC, obviously a prime target. The picture of the mushroom clouds over NYC, spreading my way, are still part of my memory.

[NNadir]

22. Not as scary.

I was a kid.

We all went to school expecting to die in the afternoon.

[RebelOne]

23. Not quite as scary.

I lived in Miami at the time, which was a sitting duck for missiles to strike.

[napi21]

24. NOT as scary becausse JFK was rational!

I don't think there are ANY rational thinking people in the entire current admin!

[Sisaruus]

25. Bush scares me more than Iran does.

I don't think crouching under my desk will comfort me this time. Not to say that I'd even fit under the desk like I did when I was 10.

[newyawker99]

78. Hi Sisaruus!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Norquist Nemesis]

26. D) People were actually informed back then

They took the time to read and learn the facts. They could smell bullshit a mile away.

[bdamomma]

57. yes informed then

not informed now, and they keep giving us the BS.

[Zen Democrat]

28. Not nearly as scary.

JFK and RFK were holding the line against bat-shit crazy Joint Chiefs and WH advisers, who were demanding a preemtory nuclear strike. As "spectators" the American people knew that the Russians had nuclear missiles in Cuba that could strike as far as 1,000 miles.

There was palpable fear.

[coalition_unwilling]

29. In the immediate sense, I would say "A". Having said that,

both JFK and Kruschev were sane, by comparison with today. Ellsberg traces deepening involvement in Vietnam to conclusions drawn from the Cuban Missile Crisis. That is, Ellsberg says that once it became clear that actual use of a nuclear deterrent would prove suicidal for both parties, the U.S. had to demonstrate its "commitment" and "seriousness of purpose" by fights like Vietnam at the periphery of empire.

I'm really simplifying Ellsberg's point, so let me apologize in advance if I've mis-stated it or left out some element.

[Alamom]

30. It's according to how much you knew at the time.

I was a kid (10) and what I saw on the news, heard from parents and teachers, it was scary enough.
We had Air Raid drills at school. People built Shelters. The Civil Defense was always handing out information.

My husband was 19, in the Navy and stationed at the War Planning (whatever) in Norfolk. He was in Telecommunications and had top secret clearance. He said he saw and heard more than he ever wanted to hear. He said it seemed to him we came very close to a War. Much closer than the public was told.

He has the highest regard for President John F. Kennedy. He believes JFK handled it as well as could be and kept the country out of war with brilliant diplomacy.

However, everyone has their "war" stories and he was a kid hearing and seeing a lot of stuff.

Someone else may have a different perpective.


I believe it's scarier now due to the Idiots in Charge.

[Marymarg]

31. Not as Scary

The Cuban Missile Crisis was terrifying. I was scared to death but very confident in President Kennedy.

[datadiva]

32. D, More scary

We actually had a leader we trusted. Not like today. I am more scared of our leadership than the "enemy", how sad is that? :cry:

[bdamomma]

58. we have to stop

putting our leaders on a pedestal, they do not do it in Europe. That is why this dim wit half wit is in office, because people thought bush was genuine, someone to have a beer with? how sick is that.

[tjwash]

34. The Soviets actually DID have nukes, and actually were 45 minutes...

...away from being able to hit us with them. So from our American perspective, it is not as scary, but from the Iranian perspective, probably more scary than we could ever know.

[Vincardog]

59. What do you think happens after a US First strike?

Hint. Iran attacks Israel. Israel Nukes Iran. Syria launches chemical and biological against Israel. The US goes Nuclear ion Syria. China launches on the USA.

MAD ensues. And all because GW Batshit crazy bush wants to bring on the
"End Times"

[longship]

68. Iran attacks Israel?

You mean with conventional weapons? Just like happened in the Iraq/Kuwait mess during Bush I when Israel held off retaliation? Do you really expect them to retaliate with nukes against Iran now? With the US involved? Do you think Sharon is crazy enough to give ChimpCo an excuse to escalate further?

China needs the US to buy their junk shit to sell at Walmart. Jintao and Jiabao are no fools. Sure, China's in the Iran sphere of influence, but they're not crazy enough, or foolish enough to send nukes to the US. Anyway, Chinese ICBM force is not that formidable. They have mostly MRBM's which cannot reach the US. No, China isn't a realistic threat in this scenerio.

And Putin is no fool either.

A pessimist could come up with some scary nuke scenerios, but they aren't that realistic in this context. A nuke delivered to US soil would certainly result in nuke retaliation. No sane government would risk that.

The real danger here is not nuclear retaliation, but diplomatic, trade and other things. If US nukes Iran there will likely be instant and drastic measures taken to isolate the US politically and economically. That would be the response by any country which considers carefully the disposition of the current US government. I can't think of any country which would support the US. And I cannot think of any nuclear power crazy enough to attempt a nuke response.

Also, use of nukes in Iran would likely bring down our government. The people would not stand for it, no matter what ChimpCo says. There would be active resistance, people on the streets, etc.

Using nukes in Iran would put Chimp in serious trouble both domestically and internationally.

[killbotfactory]

72. Sharon is in a coma

If we attack Iran, things will quickly spiral out of control. Southern Iraq will openly rise up against us. They could disrupt oil exports by blockading the straights of Hormuz. Hezbollah will likely start a war from Lebanon against Israel. Syria is in a defense pact with Iran, so who knows what they will do, but they have chemical and bio weapons.

The only sane way out of this is diplomacy, and Bush's style of diplomacy is "do what we say, or else..."

[longship]

79. I agree with your assessments.

But not the specifics. We don't know what will happen. I don't think that there will be a nuke response, even if we use a nuke or two. But it will be a huge mess.

The real mess will be the world's response, especially if ChimpCo drops a nuke or two. Instead, there will be political and economic isolation, hard sanctions which will be extremely tough on the USA. We'll be alone, an island in a world united against us. ChimpCo and his Repug cronies will be a political dead meat.

And, no. I do not wish this would happen. I would much prefer that the be political dead meat next November in a peaceful way.

[killbotfactory]

82. You're right, we won't get nuked

The conventional warfare following will be bad enough.

[longship]

83. The ME will be an utter mess.

What I do see happening, is a single, conventional weapon attack by air to neutralize Iran's perceived nuke capability. Israel has done this in the past to protect their ME interests with little political damage. ChimpCo can probably justify this under the existing "war on terr". He might take a political hit, but it won't be as bad if he did something as stupid as invade, or (horrors) use a nuke.

ChimpCo is a political animal. They see every solitary thing in a political sense, ignoring virtually all other parameters. That's why their sole response is always political. Fucked up Katrina? Fix it with politics. Messed up 9/11? Fix it with politics. Repug scandals? Fix it with politics. It's their only response to anything. It's really quite amazing that they've lasted this long. Were it not for lame journalism, these guys would have been toast immediately after 9/11.

[Vincardog]

80. Also, use of nukes in Iran would likely bring down our government

I hope that is all that happens. Iran has said they would retaliate against Israel.
They would immediately wipe out all our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan at a minimum.

you are thinking rationally, remember The Idiot Bush WANTS to bring on Armageddon.

[BonnieJW]

35. This is much more terrifying

There is an idiot at the controls and worse, there are apathetic idiots in Congress. I'm almost hoping for a military takeover.

[tjwash]

40. I hate to be the bearer of bad news...

...but we already have had a military takeover of our country.

Paul Revere---the British are coming! The British are coming!

Presidents Eisenhower through Reagan---The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!

Bush #1, Clinton, and Bush #2---The Iraqis are coming! The Iraqis are coming!

The next President---The (insert brown skinned far away people here) are coming!

[TrogL]

36. There was the potential for "saner heads will prevail"

There are no saner heads in positions of power.

[montieg]

37. I was 15--and this aint in the ballpark

I remember a Sunday morning radio show (out here in west Texas we only had one tv station and it came on Sunday at 12:30) by a fundy preacher in the next town. He was preaching that it was God's will that you shoot your neighbors DEAD if they tried to get in your bomb shelter---marked me for life! Now I have to take Dr Daniels home remedy every night!

[starroute]

38. Not nearly as scary

I was a senior in high school, and everybody was going around making "at least now I don't have to worry about getting into college" jokes. It really did feel like being on the brink for 3-4 days there.

You have to remember this was part of a whole climate of atomic doom. Books, movies . . . I recall that somewhere around then there was a "live" air raid drill. I don't know if it was nationwide or just in New York City, but it was the spookiest thing ever. Nobody on the streets, no buses moving, the whole city just shut down for 10-15 minutes or whatever it was.

I've never seen this mentioned since, but I'm sure I didn't dream it. These days, they've learned to keep the climate here at home relatively "normal." Back then, they hadn't, and the Cuban Missile Crisis came as the climax of several years of barely suppressed panic.

[watercolors]

39. not as scary

I remember it well, stocked up on water and food, my grand father had just finished building his house and he decided to make part of the basement as a shelter for the family. Yes we were all pretty uptight. But the *idiot scares me more! I feel the lower his ploe numbers go the more he will want to go to war, after all he is the war president, No!

[patdem]

41. Not scared at all, they used to blow the Air Raid Sirens from time to time

and if we were on the steet we would just keep walking. We might look up in the sky to see if something was there, but we never missed a step. I don't know if my parents protected us from fear or if they just were not afraid. We never discussed it. I do recall seeing on the TeeVee Kruschev (sp?) say "We will bury you" to America.

[DearAbby]

42. I was only seven at the time

I remember my parents were scared. I remember the night Kennedy spoke on TV about the situation. I even remember the news reports about the naval blockade with Walter Cronkite.

I was not scared. I had no idea what it really was all about. I just remember the fear in my parents..
I never understood it completely until I was old enough to study it. It was then I understood why they were afraid.

I also remember that Halloween, when the situation over. MOM AND DAD (Both) ACTUALLY TOOK US AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD to trick or treat >>> in the car!

They never did that before. Like they really wanted to be with us.

I would say this situation is not as scary for the reason we are not the target. Iran has no missiles capable of reaching us. If some intelligence is correct... they don't have the bomb, and wont for years.

Plus America had never, before Bush, done preemptive strikes. Even with Cuba, the Russians were given the option of removing the missiles, to avoid war. Blockade was placed to use diplomacy.

What Bush is thinking of doing is morally wrong. Why should that stop him, What he did in this country and Iraq was morally wrong. Lying to people to create war.

Maybe it is just as scary...Because I seriously doubt Bush's sanity.

[JohnnyRingo]

43. I was in grade school

Imagine yourself during an air raid drill with sirens screaming, crouched under your school desk while an assigned student turned out the lights and drew the shades.

At home the Daily Blab and TV news routinely assessed the situation as imminent and devastating. For a couple weeks we didn't know if we'd see our parents again when they went to work.

[lpbk2713]

44. Where I live in central Florida

it was a little more tense way back then. There were troops camped out in the parks and ball fields in my small town making it a lot more up close and personal. And all the adults were worked up about it and that just magnified it.

[Jack Rabbit]

45. This is worse

First of all, I was ten years old and a lot more interested in the fact that the San Francisco Giants were playing in the World Series.

However, the reassuring thing about the Cuban missile crisis is that nobody wanted war. Neither Kennedy nor Khrushchev was crazy.

This time, Bush and Ahmadinejad, a couple of messianic escapees from the state farm, are facing off. To make matters worse, this is Bush with his approval ratings in a free fall and serious talk at the grass roots level about impeachment. There is no real urgency to deal with Iran at this time (she is still years away from building a nuke), but Bush is crazy enough to put the world at risk in order to look like a hero and inept enough to get millions killed in the process.

[longship]

52. We didn't know that Khruschev didn't want war.

This Iran stuff is scary, alright. But the Missile Crisis had an immediacy that this does not, and likely will not achieve.

There are no nukes in Iran and likely will not be any anytime soon. 180 centrifuges are totally incapable of refining nuke-grade oralloy, unless one has decades. We know that they do not have nuke-grade reprocessing capability because it is simply impossible to hide such a thing.

In 1962 there was immediacy. There were medium range missiles 90 miles off our shore which were armed and ready to go. We had a military which was ready, willing, and able to attack Cuba, and would have been fully justified in doing so. Thankfully, we had a president who had great advisors and had the foresight to realize that an attack could have easily evolved in a conflict that only a madman would want.

But that was little comfort to anybody who was informed about the events of those 13 days. Upon a Cuban attack, the missiles were likely to be launched--a speculation which was later validated by release of formerly secret documents in the former Soviet Union. That would automatically have plunged us into global nuclear conflict.

We were all scared, very, very scared.

Concerning the Iran thing, there is no immediacy. It's still all talk.
However, as soon as ChimpCo drops a nuke, all bets are off.

[Jack Rabbit]

61. As soon as ChimpCo drops a nuke, all bets are off.

OK, then, all bets are off. These idiots don't need to drop a nuke to create that kind of "immediacy". All they need to do is rattle their sabers.

There's a thread on another page about a state department spokesman saying that Iran can produce a nuke in sixteen days. Do you believe him?

The fact that "do you believe him" is even a reasonable question is indicative of why bets are off. I'm used to believing what state department say; when somebody there issues a declarative statement, it's usually a fact. But not in this administration.

They lied their way into one war and can't be trusted not to do it again. Saddam didn't have any weapons that should have concerned us, but that didn't keep them from saying he did using the CIA as a fall guy when it turned out he did not.

An untrustworthy president with free falling approval ratings, like a wounded animal, can be very dangerous.

[longship]

65. I agree, if they invade, or drop a nuke.

But Iran does NOT have nukes. Nor do they have delivery system that will reach the US.

In 1962 we were looking at hundreds of nuke-tipped missiles pointing directly at the US all of which were within an hour of reaching their targets. Not even China has that capability right now. The immediate danger to the US is quite diluted compared to 1962. Putan isn't a lunatic. Neither is Xiang. North Korea has a couple of nukes but no way to deliver them. It's really not the same thing as in 1962.

The US government had been demonizing Khruschev for years. We all thought he was as mad as a hatter. When Cuba happened, in spite of the trust in the Preident, there was great fear that the US would inadvertently do something wrong and the world would cease to exist an hour or two later. You cannot measure how scary that is.

The only way this Iran business is going to approach the fear factor of October 1962 is if a major nuke power publically says that any attack on Iran would be equivalent to an attack on them justifying a full retaliatory strike on us.

[Jack Rabbit]

67. OK, let's look at this

I say the present situation is scarier.

At that time, the situation was scary. It was scary because the Soviet Union had placed nuclear weapons in Cuba. That was unacceptable, but nobody really wanted to use them. It was scary enough, but everybody involved was looking for a way out.

Now let's look at this situation:

Iran does not have nuclear weapons. Iraq did not have biochemical weapons in the spring of 2003, but that did not keep the Bushies from saying she did and going to war over it. They are capable of starting a war on false pretenses.

Bush has nuclear weapons and has plans to use them, according to Seymour Hersh. Bush denies that he has any such plans, but he also said he was seeking a diplomatic solution in Iraq when he was in fact undermining any effort to head off a US invasion.

Bush has said that the US has the right to use nuclear weapons "preemptively", by which he means preventively. "If we wait for a threat to materialize, we will have waited too long."

So, the Busn has nuclear weapons and, rather than looking for a way out, he is looking for a way to use them. And nobody seems to be talking about how to stop this lunatic.

As for Iran, Ahmadinejad acts like he's as mentally unhinged as Bush. However, it really doesn't matter what he says or does; three years ago, it didn't matter what Saddam said or did.

[longship]

69. Really a pointless exercise.

Apparently you didn't live through the CMC. So this is really pointless.

[Hamlette]

46. not even close to as scary

1. The stand off was with the USSR and they had nukes.
2. We had a blockade up already and were preparing to turn away Soviet ships.

On the other hand, Kennedy and his people were trying to AVOID a confrontation, hence the "pretend we didn't get it" approach to the aggressive sounding letter from the Soviets. Cooler heads prevailed. I don't have that faith in our leadership. Actually, I have more faith that the Iranians will stop this than that we will.

[pinto]

47. Iran's no imminent threat. Cuba was very imminent. The missiles

weren't a ten year plan, they were on USSR launch vehicles. The Naval blockade of Cuba wasn't a plan. It was happening as JFK spoke to the country. Three generations of my family watched his address together in total silence. As far as we knew, nuclear war by proxy with the Soviet Union was a very real possibility, in a matter of hours.

Oddly enough, I don't remember a lot of celebration when the announcement of a stand down was made. People seemed chilled by the stark reality of the whole thing.

[Generator]

48. Since I was in utero

at the time, I cannot compare. My mother said everyone was scared to death and she being eight months pregnant-I can't imagine. After reading everyone's replies-what's more scary to me that we are even discussing this. THIS is what this nightmare administration has given us-thinking about more nightmares. Obviously, it wouldn't be life threatening immediately to any of us if they attacked Iran-but the long term consequences, the thousands unknowns of another war especially anything nuclear make me want to put my hands in my ears and say la la la and STAY far away from DU.

[Breeze54]

50. I was pretty young. In grade school but

the scary part to me was the Air Raid Sirens going off all the time!!
And we had to practice getting under our school desks!
(Lot of good that was going to do!) :sarcasm:
I remember being very frightened all the time!!!
So were my parents and the nuns, which scared me more!!
One day the sirens went off and I was alone, walking home from school,
and I almost pee'd my pants and was hiding in the bushes, covering my ears...argh!!
This is now scary knowing that two fucking morons are at the buttons!!!
But from a CHILD'S POV?
The Cuban Missle Crisis was scarier!!

But I was freaking out and angry also, when * kept saying that Saddam was going to 'nuke' us!
Maybe that was due to what happened when I was a kid... :shrug:

http://www.airraidsirens.com/audiovideo.html

The Cuban Missile Crisis
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A563852

[Buck Laser]

51. Missile Crisis scared me shitless, but

as others have noted, no one doubted the sanity of the main participants--JFK, Khrushchev or Castro. In this one we have the massive stupidity factor, and a couple of generations of people who don't remember when nukes were actually used in war.

Just as a point of reference, I was in my final year of graduate school when the missile crisis broke.

[Historic NY]

53. No where close, we knew that & all out invasion

was about to happen any minute.....the guns of Oct. were cocked & loaded. We were trusting our President then to do the right thing and work this out with the Ruskies. What was bug-ass crazy were all those duck & cover drill we had in school. In the end talking, diplomacy and reason ruled the day. JFK didn't listen to the military and came up with his own plan of action.

Iran now is trying to show off to the world......they know its is foolish for the US to attack. What does scare me is Israel will, and we supposedly back Israel.

[jaysunb]

54. NO COMPARISON !!!!!

Apples and collard greens......

[Greybnk48]

64. Agree...not even close.

The Cuban Missle Crisis was terrifying. Apples to Collard greens may be too close since they're both green.

[Coastie for Truth]

55. Different

Iran has less actual capability then Cuba (that was a Russian contingent in Cuba)

BUT Bush is far far less stable and far far more trigger happy.

We had more confidence in Kennedy then in Bush.

Background - I was an undergraduate. That was back in the days when the first two years of ROTC (no obligation, no scholarship) was compulsory at my college and the last two years of ROTC was an elective (active duty required after graduation, army paid your tuition) -- and the rumor was flying that "they" were going to mobilize the ROTC cadets to fight in Cuba (ROTC cadets are generally useless). October 31 was the "deadline" to void your contract. Needless to say -- I voided my ROTC contract.

[SheilaT]

56. This is absolutely no where near as scary.

Keep in mind that back then there was no CNN, no way of constantly getting news. I was in high school, and for about three days it was as if we were all collectively holding our breaths. Kids had transistor radios then -- they'd bring them to school even though they weren't supposed to, and between classes we'd huddle around someone's radio trying to catch a top of the hour or 30 minutes after the hour news break to find out what was happening.

There was this powerful feeling that we truly were on the brink of atomic war, which would actually have brought about the end of civilization.

While I don't put it past our crazy government to set off a few nukes in Iran, it would not precipitate a total all-out nuclear war. No way.

[Tom Rinaldo]

60. Short Term: Not as Scary. But...

Then hundreds of nukes were almost launched at every U.S. and Soviet major city. Fate was dangling from a thread and we knew that the time left in our lives might have been numbered in hours.

But we could now well be witnessing a 50 year war between civilizations being born, and it could make daily life brutal in a way that American civilians have not known since the Civil War.

[tulsakatz]

62. I was a kid too

And we knew it was a scary time but we also didn't understand what was happening.

I remember our neighbors down the street had a bomb shelter. And we were wishing we had one too.

Living in Oklahoma we figured if they did launch, we might not be immeditely affected.

And like someone else said, JFK was not crazy like Bush so I think many people had faith that he would do the right thing.

Actually, I didn't even know how bad it had been until after I grew up and started learning about what had happened.

[Rocknrule]

66. I wasn't alive back then

but I thank God that Bush wasn't president during the Cuban Missile Crisis

It would've made "Independence Day" look like a snowball fight

[GliderGuider]

71. I was 11 then, so my fears are more adult today.

I knew what was going down, but I was shielded from most of the angst by my age and my location in Canada. This time I'm a lot more frightened, but in retrosoect I wonder if this situation is more objectively dangerous. There were lots more nukes on both sides back then, vs. only on the one side this time (as far as we know, of course - and I wonder why Ahmedinajad feels so free rattle his saber this hard...). On the other hand you have the fruitbat factor. Two testosterone-poisoned fruitbats making nuclear noises is certainly discomfiting.

My nightmare scenario is that Ahmidinajad feels safe because he's already planted Ukrainian warheads in some US cities to act as a counter to American aggression, but Bush is crazy enough not to care. One way or the other, this thing looks to end in tears.

[NoPasaran]

73. Not as scary

Actually, I must be suffering from terror fatigue. Is there actually a crisis right now?

[killbotfactory]

74. I didn't live through the Cuban missle crisis

But with the hindsight of history, the only danger at that time was US right-wingers overreacting and attacking, instead of using diplomacy, and starting a nuclear war.

Cuba wasn't going to attack us, they just wanted defense from another Bay of Pigs style invasion.
Russia had control of the nukes, and didn't want a nuclear war either.
JFK wasn't insane, and didn't listen to right-wing psychopaths, averting a nuclear war.

Bush is a psychopath. He already invaded Iraq, which most knowledgable people predicted would be a total clusterfuck, and know he is itching to salvage his shit presidency by "remaking the middle east" by attacking Iran. This fucker will start WWIII for some misguided glory if he's not impeached.

[bikebloke]

75. Back then it was real.

I was in early grade school in metro DC. We had the duck and cover drills. Which meant opening the class room windows and pulling the drapes closed. Then we crawled under our desks and were told to close our eyes so we wouldn't be blinded by the flash.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

77. Not as scary--YET

Okay, I was twelve years old, and there had been years of nuclear fearmongering, as documented in the film The Atomic Cafe. The Russians were going to nuke us all to smithereens, but we'd be okay if we just got into our basements in time.

Many people who were children at the time report having nightmares about nuclear war. I know I did.

The context that made the Cuban missile crisis so frightening--all the fearmongering in the background--hasn't been present in this case. I doubt that today's children have continual nightmares about nuclear war.

[Neil Lisst]

81. much scarier then - we were doing drills, practicing getting out early

it was serious business, and the only thing anyone was talking about