The man who saved the world ?

[Guest]

Having lived through the Cold War, watched The War Game, seen the Berlin Wall at first hand and visiting the Soviet Union during the Cold War, my blood ran cold when I read this article.

So close....so...so...very close.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24280831

[Pabmusic]

Amazing, I'd shoot the journalist though. The world was not "saved from potential nuclear disaster" - it was saved from disaster.

Another instance was the first Bikini Atoll atomic test (which killed loads of Polynesians and Japanese (but they don't matter so much, eh?). US scientific advisers warned that the test might use up all (yes - all) of the Earth's oxygen. The USA still went ahead.

Still - we got a new item of swimwear out of it.

[Nick Armstrong]

my blood ran cold when I read this article.

So close....so...so...very close.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24280831

...yes, jaw-dropping stuff

The world was not "saved from potential nuclear disaster" - it was saved from disaster.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Yes! It's a brilliant - and terrifying - story. Brilliant, because a decent, sensible "ordinary" chap made the right choice under unbelievable pressure. Terrifying becuase had it been a jobsworth on duty at the time ...

[amateur51]

A remarkable story and very alarming as RM says.

I'm reminded of the slogan that the Samaritans used to have on their telephone room wall - "Don't Just Do Something - Sit There!" It seems that Comrade Stanislav Petrov was filled with the same credo

[Beef Oven!]

Yes! It's a brilliant - and terrifying - story. Brilliant, because a decent, sensible "ordinary" chap made the right choice under unbelievable pressure. Terrifying becuase had it been a jobsworth on duty at the time ...

So, we must remember that the next time we're confronted with a public employee that can't even do the simple job they've been trained and paid to do, don't get angry, they may be saving the human race and we don't realise it

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

So, we must remember that the next time we're confronted with a public employee that can't even do the simple job they've been trained and paid to do, don't get angry, they may be saving the human race and we don't realise it

- I hadn't thought of that, but it's now my excuse!

[Tevot]

Indeed the early 1980s were dangerous times - particularly 1983. The Soviets became convinced that the US was going to launch a pre-emptive strike against them during a NATO military exercise code-named "Able Archer"

Details can be found here : -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Able_Archer_83

I would highly recommend "Revolution 1989" by Victor Sebestyen - a book which covers the final years of the USSR and Eastern bloc. One of the chapters deals with Able Archer and the fatalism - deathwish almost - of the dying Soviet leader Yuri Andropov who was itching to pull the trigger...


Sweet dreams

Tevot

[Nick Armstrong]

So, we must remember that the next time we're confronted with a public employee that can't even do the simple job they've been trained and paid to do, don't get angry, they may be saving the human race and we don't realise it

[Stillhomewardbound]

I recently watched John Badham's 1983 film, 'War Games' for the first time. Essentially, it's a bit of a kids' movie but it is very detailed and factual on the whole early-warning system and imminent strike response strategy as the powers that be attempt to remove the human from command chain leaving it all down to a computer.

It's available on Netflix.

[Resurrection Man]

I recently watched John Badham's 1983 film, 'War Games' for the first time......

I quite enjoyed War Games.

Still, not to be confused with The War Game http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Game and can be watched here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrGg8PfkbZw&noredirect=1

[Stillhomewardbound]

When I was in school we were subject to a screening of The War Game. I very much hope that still continues to this day. They remade it in the late 80s, I think, or was it a similar film envisaging a direct detonation over London. Whole unnecessary as the orginal was terrifying, plenty.

[Serial_Apologist]

Andropov had an appropriate name then!

[Petrushka]

I was in Moscow in May 1982 and it wasn't until some years later that I became aware that a potential coup had been put down at around the same time. I'm still not sure of the facts regarding this and would appreciate any details. Perhaps the Sebestyen book mentioned above would help. I'd agree that the 1982/83 period was a very dangerous time and probably more so in some ways than the early 1960s.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

When I was in school we were subject to a screening of The War Game. I very much hope that still continues to this day. They remade it in the late 80s, I think, or was it a similar film envisaging a direct detonation over London. Whole unnecessary as the orginal was terrifying, plenty.

Early-ish '80s, Shb (they'd be making it around the time of this near miss, in fact) if you mean this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threads

... set in Sheffield.