When I was reading a chapter in the book, History Lessons: How textbooks from around the world portray US history, about the Cuban missile crisis, it brought back somber memories of that dangerous time.
When President Kennedy put up a blockade around the country to prevent Russian ships from carrying cargo to Cuba, it was an act of war. Some administration officials thought that there was a 50-50 chance of nuclear holocaust if they put a blockade in place.
But they did it anyhow.
Kennedy was not the king of Camelot; he was a madman. He and his lackeys were willing to put the whole world to the fire over some meaningless missiles in Cuba in an attempt to prove who had the bigger balls.
I was in Florida at the time and watched the madness with disbelief, and a great deal of fear.
In the end, Khrushchev proved to be saner than Kennedy and backed down, pulling his missiles out of Cuba. Nuclear war was averted, but it was close.
Posted by Deck at January 27, 2007 09:51 PM