Narrowly Missed Apocalypses Essay

The reasons why McNamara and Kennedy and other U.S. politicians were so fearful of a nuclear was because according to U.S. analysts at the time, the 24 MRBM’s (Medium range-ballistic missiles) and sixteen IRBM’s (intermediate-range ballistic missiles) that were found in Cuba had significantly increased the number of U.S. targets that the Soviet’s could lethally attack by forty percent.[8] Furthermore, having missiles within Cuba allowed the Soviets to bypass the U.S. warning radars, especially the Ballistics Missile Early Warning system, which was stationed in the North Pole.[9] By bypassing the U.S. warning radars, it certainly amplified the risk of a surprise strike upon certain American air bases and important command posts.[10] To address this risk, the U.S. army went from “Defence Condition Five” (peacetime alert) to “Defcon 3” (war alert) which further illustrated the high levels of precautions the U.S. government were taking in order to protect itself from an offensive attack from the Soviet.[11] It was quite clear from these precautions that the impending nuclear threat in Cuba threatened the lives of American civilians, troops, and government officials. In the event that the situation escalated out of control, the two world superpowers could have engaged in a third World War that, with nuclear technology had the potential to kill hundreds of millions of civilians and soldiers.[12] Fortunately, the Cuban Mission Crisis never escalated this

By 1962, the Soviet Union was considerably behind the United States in the nuclear arms race. The Soviet Union had limited range missiles that were only capable of being launched against Europe, but the United States possessed missiles that were capable of striking anywhere within the entire Soviet Union. As it is often said, when it comes to national security, leaders sometimes make irrational decisions. In an effort to restore the balance of power Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev devised the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba (14 days in October). This deployment of weapons in Cuba would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a credible deterrent to a potential U.S. attack against the

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a warning to all the countries in the world. The US and the Soviet Union both knew the world had come too close to a nuclear war; both super powers knew there had to be better communication. After eight months, a hotline was installed. The phoneline linked the Soviet government, the Kremlin, and the White House. As a backup, a teletypewriter linked Washington, DC to Moscow. In addition, in 1963, the US, the Soviet Unions, and other countries signed the Limited Test Ban

In the 1950’s during Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidency which was also the peak of the Cold War, The Soviet Union’s development and testing of WMD’s (Atomic, Nuclear and H-Bomb) raised fears of war around the world. The Soviet Union started to expand their idea of communism to democratic nations in Europe, this raised tensions with the U.S. which heighten fear and anxiety of the American public of an imminent nuclear/Atom/H-Bomb war between the super powers.

The crisis began when the United States discovered the existence of offensive Soviet Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), nuclear capable, barely 90 miles from the southern coast of Florida, in Cuba. U-2 spy plane reconnaissance missions over Cuba captured the

The United States government had been given private intel from an inside source that had sent details about the bombing of America to the CIA. Henceforth, sending Cyrus, America’s best spy, on a mission to infiltrate the missile launch facility to stop the countdown timer and destroy the launch site located on Paektu Mountain in North Korea.

On December 7, 1941, a little before 7 a.m. Lieutenant William W. Outerbridge saw an object in the water and told his crew to fire at it. The unknown object was soon realized to be a midget Japanese submarine. This is one warning that was ignored. At 7 a.m. U.S radar picked up blips on their screens showing that aircraft was flying in. They were thought to be signals from flying fortresses that were expected to arrive at any moment from California, said Deborah Bachrach, the author. This was yet another warning that was

The event of the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war. Fifteen years into the cold war, the two superpowers continued the fierce competition to increase their military strength. In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the nuclear arms race. Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe, whereas the US missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union. In late April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba which would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real deterrent to a potential U.S. attack against the Soviet Union. The fate of millions

When these assurances proved fake, the deployment of missiles in Cuba “required the responses I have announce…I hope that your government will take the necessary action to permit a restoration of the earlier situation. In the early morning two ships, the aircraft carrier USS Essex and the destroyer USS Gearing hail and attempt the Soviet tanker Bucharest. It could continue to Cuba, they were not suspected of carrying contraband. Later that day the U.N. would send messages to both Kennedy and Khrushchev, it would ask them to avoid direct contact between Soviet and U.S. ships while the quarantine is in effect. The Soviets would be asked to keep out of the quarantine zone for a limited time, and the U.S, re-laid to their ships, “to avoid all contact with the Soviet ships in the next few days, no

The secret launch code for the United States Minuteman nuclear missiles was set at 00000000 for over 20 years. Originally mandated as a safeguard by the Defense secretary, this intent was overridden by the Strategic Air Command, which immediately had them all set to all zeros, and this was even included in their printed standard operating procedures.

The CEO and the board are responsible for “good business judgment” in guarding against the threat. So Paul’s first mistake was to dismiss the original e-mail message. All IT threats should be taken seriously, and he would have let Jacob Dale know about no IT system is “bulletproof.” Sunnylake should have had a workable, fully tested backup system to ensure uninterrupted patient service and protect everyone affected. Doctors and nurses are trained to diagnose, problem solve, and dynamically treat their patients. IT systems facilitate, but are not substitutes for, patient treatment. The fact that the hospital did not have up-to-date security software installed, or a reliable security outsourcer and an emergency plan in place, is inexcusable.

* These 2 critical errors (withdrawing the rods and slowing the reaction too rapidly) made the engineers incapable of increasing the power within the reactor.

Shortly after midnight, the bunkers computers reported that one intercontinental ballistic missile was heading toward the Soviet Union from the US. Petrov considered the detection of the missile a computer error, since a nuclear attack by the US would most likely involve hundreds of missile launches, disabling the Soviet’s means of a counterattack. He dismissed the warning as a false alarm. Petrov decided not to inform his superiors of the alarm at the time.

Why? Firstly, because the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, discussed by Laffey and Weldes in their article is about how the threat of a nuclear war reached it’s height when missiles were implemented only 90 miles away from the American.

     The new missile defense program started in 1993 after the Department of Defense decided to conduct a review that would "select the strategy, force structure, and modernization programs for America's defense in the post-Cold War era." When the U. S. S. R. broke apart, it was decided that there was not much of a threat from China or the former Soviet Union. However, it was uncertain how easy it would be for a third world country to come into possession of long range missiles. In response to their uncertainty, the Defense Department built the National Missile Defense in order to develop and keep the ability to launch a missile defense if a threat emerged (National missile defense, 2000).