When you think about the United States and the Soviet Union almost going to war, the image of ships meeting off the coast of Cuba back in the fall of 1963 comes to mind.
But who knew that, twenty years later, the Soviets and the United States had a similar stand off that almost led to war?
That was during my own lifetime, although I do not remember this particular event at all. Nor, most likely, would many others, because this was information that was just released to the public, after formerly being classified.
The National Security Archive at George Washington University published this formerly classified document earlier this week following a Freedom of Information Act struggle that lasted well over a decade.
This event took place in November of 1983. American national security was faulted for missing numerous key signs that could have prevented the situation from escalating as much as it did.
It occurred because the United States had initiated a major military exercise in eastern Europe, which was called Able Archer. The Soviets assumed that this was an actual military action being taken against them, and mobilized their forces for a response. They believed that the United States was trying to initiate and win a nuclear war against them.
Soviet leaders believed that the United States actually wanted to launch a first nuclear strike. It should be remembered that these were the days of Ronald Reagan and his aggressive approach, with an increased military budget and a renewal of the arms race between the two superpowers. Paradoxically, American officials believed the opposite: that the Soviets would never seriously consider launching a first attack against the United States.
When you stop to think about it, this really is a huge story with huge ramifications, even three decades and change later. The thought of just how close we came to war, and how well guarded this secret remained ever since, is enough to send shivers down my spine. After all, I was actually alive and around for that episode, which was not the case for the Cuban Missile Crisis which was not a secret at all. In the autumn of 1983, I was in fourth grade. The Transformers had not yet come out, Return of the Jedi had been the popular movie with a hugely successful line of toys that I was big on collecting, among others. The Los Angeles Raiders would enjoy their last Super Bowl championship season to date after upsetting the defending champions, Washington, in the Super Bowl by a rout. The Baltimore Orioles had just defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. Hulk Hogan was the reigning WWF Champion. Those are some of the things that I remember from my life back in those days.
Who knew that we had come so close to an actual nuclear holocaust?
Here is the link to this rather stunning story:
This declassified US intelligence report from 1990 is one of the most terrifying things you'll ever read
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