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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday November 29 2018, @08:43AM   Printer-friendly
from the would-you-like-to-play-a-game? dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

The war game that could have ended the world

On 7 November 1983, around 100 senior military officers gathered at Nato headquarters in Brussels to ‘fight’ World War Three. The annual simulation, known as Able Archer, came at the end of a large-scale conventional exercise ­– Autumn Forge – involving tens of thousands of Nato troops across western Europe.

[...] The imagined ‘war’ started when Soviet tanks rolled across the border into Yugoslavia. Scandinavia was invaded next, and soon troops were pouring into Western Europe. Overwhelmed, Nato forces were forced into retreat. A few months after the pretend conflict began, Western governments authorised the use of nuclear weapons.

Role-playing Nato forces launched a single medium range nuclear missile, wiping Ukrainian capital Kiev from the map. It was deployed as a signal, a warning that Nato was prepared to escalate the war. The theory was that this ‘nuclear signalling’ would help cooler heads to prevail. It didn’t work.

By 11 November 1983, global nuclear arsenals had been unleashed. Most of the world was destroyed. Billions were dead. Civilisation ended.

Later that day, the Nato commanders left their building and went home, congratulating themselves on another successful – albeit sobering – exercise. What Western governments only discovered later is that Able Archer 83 came perilously close to instigating a real nuclear war.


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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 29 2018, @12:29PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 29 2018, @12:29PM (#767716)

    I've spent some limited time looking into the recent naval skirmish near Crimea. So far I haven't found enough data/information to form an opinion. Plenty of opinions trusted upon me, but not enough data. I'd appreciate if you can provide some good sources.

    Anyway, you need some history lessons so please look into how the US got involved in WW2 Europe, WW2 vs Japan, Vietnam, Iraq part 1, Korea, and there's probably a few more following the exact pattern you are accusing Russia off. So now, the US has entered Afghanistan, Iraq again, Syria, Yemen, Lybia, ...
    And every single time we hear some bullshit about protecting someone from something, it truly is amazing that you still believe that bullshit.

    Yemen: If you provide training + bombers + bombs + political support to the invading nation, you can't really claim to not be involved. (Oh, and when your ally's tactic is to try and starve half a country, you're not fighting with the good guys.)
    Iraq 2: this one is a bit different, the US just invaded. This was no response to something, they just went in because they could and there was oil. (And they could because 15 Saudi Arabians flew a few planes into NYcity buildings)

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by tangomargarine on Thursday November 29 2018, @04:07PM (1 child)

    by tangomargarine (667) on Thursday November 29 2018, @04:07PM (#767762)

    Anyway, you need some history lessons so please look into how the US got involved in WW2 Europe, WW2 vs Japan, Vietnam, Iraq part 1, Korea, and there's probably a few more following the exact pattern you are accusing Russia off. So now, the US has entered Afghanistan, Iraq again, Syria, Yemen, Lybia, ...
    And every single time we hear some bullshit about protecting someone from something, it truly is amazing that you still believe that bullshit.

    No duh, we're shitheels too. That doesn't mean we don't call Russia on it. "It takes one to know one"

    how the US got involved in [...] WW2 vs Japan

    We wrote Japan a very sternly-worded letter and wouldn't lift the oil embargo, then they fucking attacked us at Pearl Harbor? Please tell me you're not one of those "it was a conspiracy and FDR wanted them to attack" people.

    Back in the day, honorably declaring war before the attack used to matter (back in the day, declaring war used to matter...). Japan actually tried to time it so that the diplomats would get the declaration a half hour before the planes arrived, but due to security issues the one guy translating the telegram didn't finish it in time.

    Lybia

    Libya.

    --
    "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 30 2018, @06:11AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 30 2018, @06:11AM (#768186)

      FDR wanted to go to war, of that there is no doubt. He had plenty of good reasons to want to. That Japan finally managed to give it to him was pure foolishness on their part. Even then, it might not have gotten past Congress if Germany hadn't declared war against the US, too. It still blows me away that they did that.

  • (Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Thursday November 29 2018, @05:50PM

    by bzipitidoo (4388) on Thursday November 29 2018, @05:50PM (#767815) Journal

    Not everyone in the US believes all the propaganda. Especially now, with a pathological liar in the top spot. However, thanks to him, the art of critical thinking could become more fashionable.

    What's especially ridiculous is that even in wars in which the US was definitely a hero, it seems some still aren't satisfied and have to make out that the US was even more saintly than was the case.

    And yes, I've read some things about US meddling in the Ukraine that goes against the prevailing narrative. Went so far as to suggest that the civil war in the Ukraine is as much or more the fault of the US than Russia. A question that used to be asked a lot was "who lost Russia?", as in, were we going to screw up the end of the Cold War, and turn Russia against the US? That question doesn't get asked much anymore. Guess greedy capitalists are losing Russia, maybe have already lost Russia, and the media will not expose their cheating and swindling.