...a war that luckily never turned hot. I think the reason it did not go hot is that the Soviet Union's (USSR) leaders as well as those in our government all realized that if it did there would be no winner and the world would be lost as we know it. Of course there was also some remarkable diplomacy and brinkmanship that played out well for all of us.
Sadly though, we are involved, once again, in a cold war with Russia and have been ever since Russia invaded Ukraine. No matter what President Trump tries, it seems he cannot quell the desire of Vladimir Putin for more power by way of victory in Ukraine and after that - who knows! As with other rulers from Russia and the former USSR - more power and tyranny are apparently the most desirable of goals for them. One must hope that Putin realizes that if he starts WW III, there is not going to be a winner. Then again, maybe like Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and others - he is blinded to that fact by his insatiable lust for more power. To say the man is an egomaniac is a huge understatement. If he were to be assassinated today, I would stand up an applaud the assassin and then hope maybe beyond any hope that the next ruler of Russia was much more sensible and moderate to his approach to world affairs.
There was a song, many years ago in my younger days (my late 20s, yes the Cold War was still ongoing then), about fear & paranoia that the end was upon us. People feared the end because they had thought the then president of the USA, Ronald Reagan, was about to start one with the USSR. Luckily in real life just as in the song, it all turned out to be a false alarm. That song is below in both the original German and then in an English translation and it expresses the paranoia perfectly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpu5a0Bl8eY
The thing is today, if it appears the end is upon us because of something caught on radar approaching in the air, it probably will not be a false alarm. I doubt it will be an attack on us at first but rather that a NATO nation will be attacked by Russia either mistakenly or purposefully just as almost happened in Romania and as has almost taken place in Lithuania More at the source: https://www.foxnews.com/world/nato-member-scrambles-jets-after-russian-drone-attack-witkoff-meets-putin. Either way, if a NATO nation is attacked - mistakenly or purposefully - it may not matter which as the wrath of NATO may rain down on Moscow in such a case. If that happens, then the nukes most likely will be sent flying in all directions from all nuclear armed nations. One can only hope that Trump can bring an end to this madness before WW III is commenced and that any flying objects detected on radar will be nothing more than red or luft (air) balloons, or maybe a flock of birds. Yet, with the latest attack on Ukraine coming within only a half mile of Romania (a NATO nation and thus a U.S. ally), it is probably only a matter of time before such an attack hits one of our allies.
If that happens, nuclear war could follow. An invasion on our shores would possibly, maybe even probably, soon follow. Russia may have depleted a lot of its armaments in Ukraine but then so too has the U.S. by sending them to Ukraine and the U.S. is dependent upon Red China for the minerals to make much of our weaponry. Red China has not depleted any of their armaments and they are an ally of Russia at least for now. We would be in a mire of deep shit doo-doo if they joined in, which I am certain they would.
Along those lines, I hope you are at least somewhat prepared with a decent stock, for a month or several months, of: food & water, necessary medicines, first aid supplies, gas masks with plenty of filters, firearms and ammo, bladed weapons & tools, and whatever else you may need. I don't know about you but if the commies actually invade, I want to send as many to hell as is possible before they send me to the same place.
(I have to note, that song brings a few tears to my eyes because I clearly remember and feel the worldwide paranoia of my childhood; a paranoia that was felt within my home. I could see it in my mother's face when one sunny beautiful day in 1962, the noises of NY City were muted by the sound of powerful jet fighters flying overhead and then causing a sonic boom. I actually saw four or five of them, as I best recall, fly low right over our home in Brooklyn, NY; and I do mean low and directly over our apartment building. Then seconds later we heard the sonic booms of them breaking the sound barrier. We did not know they were sonic booms. My mother panicked and got me back inside quickly and under the bed. She told me it must be the Russians attacking, she thought they were dropping bombs. She was afraid, very afraid. I had only a child's idea of what was happening, but I already knew from grammar school that we needed to run, duck and take cover (what a farce, them teaching us that in school). I either had just turned seven years old, or was just under seven with my birthday coming soon, but am pretty sure that happened during the October Crisis, so I would have been seven by them. That crisis, was better known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was supposedly the closest the world had come to a nuclear war up until then; the thing is though, we may be closer to one now.
They were scary times that lasted until Ronald Reagan's cunning brinkmanship and diplomacy in the 1980's brought the cold war to an end, instead of starting a hot war as many had feared he would do. The cold war had gone on for many years, in fact for around three decades by the time it had ended under Reagan. It seemed like it was all over for good for a bit; yet, here we go again and once again the world is a very scary place in which we live thanks to the aggressiveness of the Russians! Hopefully President Trump also has the cunningness to carry out the diplomacy & brinkmanship needed to save us, the world, from destroying ourselves. I hope with all my heart that the words of Nina's song (English version) never come true: "This is what we've waited for, this is it boys, this is war..."; because war with Russia means WW III and it may well be the actual war to end all wars, unless that is cockroaches can fight wars. I am feeling the same fears of my younger years they're not nice at all. Let's hope that sanity triumphs.)
All the best,
Glenn B
