The good old sixties: When our Enemies were Sane

When we thought the Cuban Missile crisis was over, it wasn't.   The Soviet Union still had to retrieve dozens of tactical nukes, that we didn't know about, from Cuba.

The scariest moment in history was even scarier than we thought.

- via Instapundit
That they realized what they'd done and made it right changed things a lot.  Ronald Reagan must have known about this and used it to his advantage.

- It's too bad Reagan didn't lift the Cuban Embargo at the same time he 'dismantled' the USSR. Freedom of ideas would have affected the Cuban people much more than it subverted ours.
- It's also too bad Reagan didn't talk to China about prying open the borders of the prison camp we call North Korea
Dalrymple in DPRK:The Wilder Shores of Marx

Now, in Iran and across the middle east, we're dealing with insane people.  Who think God wants them to immolate Israel and die in his name.  Well.. that's not our God, so you figger out who wants them to die by fire.

For more on the Missile Crisis story, CBS Sunday Morning (10/14) has an in-depth transcript available.

When the U.S. was on the brink of nuclear war

 It features exactly the reason we did not invade Cuba. Those tactical nukes.  We were sane. The only insane voice we had was General Curtis LeMay, founder of the Strategic Air Command.  And, even in the mid to late sixties, he was recognized as such and shoved to the side.

But it WAS the threat of Mutually Assured Destruction that saved the world.

And even now, while we see Russia ending the partnership to reduce arsenals, we still have stupid people saying that we can reduce chances of destruction by eliminating our own.. thus shaming our enemies by taking the moral high ground.
This of course is the narrative of the International Socialist Community,  and our own 'Progressive Thinkers'.. brilliant as they are.