posted on Oct, 28 2015 @ 04:46 PM
a reply to:
real_one
Thanks for the kudos on the OJ thread, it's one of those rare consipiracy-type things I've come to find has merit (not the cop aspect, the "his son
did it" aspect which I think holds a lot of water).
I think there is a great deal more to the idea that the Cold War was largely pushed by the political and industrial/bureaucratic interests of
"elites", mostly in the US but also in the USSR. You have to remember, people like General Patton were calling for the nuclear annihilation of the
Soviet Union just after WWII, at a time when it had been devastated by the loss of 20 million and very nearly destroyed. And it was a politically
popular thing, to hate on "atheistic commies".
Both countries, but mainly the US, were also left with a vast munitions and war infrastructure that had lifted the country out of the Depression.
Those well-paying jobs had to be protected, and there was no other way for that to happen at scale other than having a perpetual enemy that like to
yell scary words and bang shoes on podiums. Also, the bureaucratic generals in the Pentagon all knew that the coming nuclear armies would require
all-out efforts against the real enemies--their opposite numbers in the sister armed services! (Army, Airforce, and Navy/Marines). So you had people
like Curtis Lemay demanding fleets of 10,000 Minuteman missils and similar numbers of bombers, and multi-billion dollar nuclear carrier groups or even
individual nuclear submarines which could, all on their own, completely destroy the USSR. Even the army got into the act, with nuclear-tipped
surface-to-air missiles set to explode over the cities they defended, and tiny nukes with two-man crews whose lethal radius extended past their
range.
I doubt it was all of a plan, however--just grubby, powerful people justifying their personal ambitions and greed with the fear of the day. It's the
oldest story in humanity.