Now imagine San Francisco after a couple of hydrogen bombs have come close.

Thank God for calm, cool and collected.

The local Soviet commander in Cuba had tactical nuclear weapons under his control. They were artillery shells with a range of 8 to 15 miles. And the US didn't know it.

Now what would have happened had the US invaded Cuba as the hotter heads wanted to? The "patriots" who would "teach Russia a lesson"? And an invasion were mounted?

The Russian, knowing he was given the weapons to use, would nail the invasion fleet. No question about it. And the US would have to nuke Havana. Not only that, but knowing that there would be an escalation, the US would simultaneously launch a massive strike against the Soviet Union.

Farfetched? Not at all, if Nixon, Bush the Second or McCain were president instead of a very bright man who listened to opposing viewpoints without screaming "traitor".

To imagine the horror, realize that 9-11 was the excuse for Iraq, an innocent country.

By the way, it was Conservative asses which were spared, too.

Arf