President Nixon prevented a nuclear war from happening ?

According to a Dutch article Nixon prevented a nuclear war.

The Soviets were about to strike China after some boundary issues. They asked America to stay neutral. America responded with the thread of a full nuclear counter attack.

This article says there were this is found in Chinese history and the source quotes it from direct phone calls of the time.

The article was without a source.

My question.... Has anyone heard of this before or maybe knows more ?

If someone does or did... Please feel free to share.

reply to post by Sinter Klaas


Hey, I've done a google search and can't find anything.

Could you link to where you read this please?

There were boundary disputes between CCCP and China in the late 1960's ... but I've never heard this theory that CCCP was about to launch a nuclear attack on the Chinese.

Could you hook us up to your Dutch article so we might have a look ?

It sounds really interesting, thank you.

Here you go the Dutch article.
www.spitsnieuws.nl...


I asked because my google search also came up empty.

Circumstantial evidence at most but it's interesting that 1969 (when this reportedly happened) was when the Chinese began construction of the Beijing Underground City.

hua.umf.maine.edu...

The Beijing Underground City (Běijīng Dìxiàchéng) was built between 1969 and 1979. It runs under much of central Beijing and perhaps to Tianjin more than 69 miles away. It was built as an air-raid shelter in a time of fear. It could hold most of the population of the central Beijing City at that time. In 1979, the entire world had changed and it was clear toward the end of the project that it was not worth maintaining it. It was converted to other purposes and it was decided to open two sections for tourists. It was never advertised widely, even to attract tourists. In spite of that, they have had a half million visitors from 1979 to about 2004.

Also, Kenneth Sewell, in his book Red Star Rogue, talks about the 1968 false flag attempted attack on the U.S. by Russia trying to look like China:

With the recovery of the submarine, it became clear that the rogue [Russia] were attempting to mimic a Chinese under, almost certainly with the intention of provoking a war between the U.S. and China. This were a carefully planned operation that, had it succeeded, would probably have had devastating consequences.

So, I guess I'm thinking that it very probably could have happened.

Also, a little off topic, but Richard Nixon's best quote, in my opinion:

“The Bohemian Grove, which I attend from time to time–it is the most faggy goddamned thing you could ever imagine…” – Richard Nixon

Gotta love Tricky Dick!

[edit on 13/5/2010 by Iamonlyhuman]

The British newspaper "Daily Telegraph" has an article about this, although not much more detail.

On 15 October 1969, [the Chinese author] quotes Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin as telling Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev that Washington has drawn up "detailed plans" for a nuclear war against the USSR if it attacked China. "[The United States] has clearly indicated that China's interests are closely related to theirs and they have mapped out detailed plans for nuclear war against us," Kosygin is said to have told Brezhnev. That same day he says Anatoly Dobrynin, the Soviet ambassador to Washington, told Brezhnev something similar after consultations with US diplomats. "If China suffers a nuclear attack, they (the Americans) will deem it as the start of the third world war," Dobrynin said. "The Americans have betrayed us." The historian claims that Washington saw the USSR as a greater threat than China and wanted a strong China to counter-balance Soviet power. Then US President Richard Nixon was also apparently fearful of the effect of a nuclear war on 250,000 US troops stationed in the Asia-Pacific region and still smarting from a Soviet refusal five years earlier to stage a joint attack on China's nascent nuclear programme.

Daily Telegraph

So. Nixon threatened nuclear war to prevent nuclear war ? Mm, awfully nice of him threatening to murder hundreds of millions of people.

More like the actions of someone totally deranged than anything else, nicht wahr ?

Originally posted by Ulala
So. Nixon threatened nuclear war to prevent nuclear war ? Mm, awfully nice of him threatening to murder hundreds of millions of people.

More like the actions of someone totally deranged than anything else, nicht wahr ?

Is that what you got out of that? Seriously?

Have you ever played poker?

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman


The Cold War wasn't poker.

It was little better than boys standing in a barrel of gasoline and playing with matches, but unfortunately one spark and we'd all be consumed, not just them.

People who play those games deserve condemnation, not our respect.

The Cold War is a very confusing issue to many. We still and probably will never though much what happened behind closed doors.

reply to post by Sinter Klaas

I've just been looking at Kissinger's memoirs on the subject, in the "First Steps Towards China" chapter..

He certainly confirms that the Russians were making very threatening comments;
"On September 10 a member of the Soviet mission at the United Nations remarked nonchalantly to a US delegate that the Soviets were militarily overwhemingly superior to the Chinese, and that if current Chinese hostility continued, a military engagement might become unavoidable."- Vol 1 p184.

Nixon and Kissinger agreed that the US could not allow China to be "smashed"; "A Soviet attack on China could not be ignored by us...But a direct American challange would not be supported by our public opinion."

So, nothing in his published account of more drastic preparations. This looks like new information.

So, did the Russians have a good spy system? Or was this coming from one part of their bureaucracy trying to influence the decisions of another part?

As an aside, Kennedy nearly caused nuclear war in the Cuban missile crisis. He dumped a bunch of dummy depth charges on the Russian nuclear subs, and the commander gave the order to launch. It was only stopped because an officer on board refused to carry out the order.

Originally posted by Ulala
reply to post by Iamonlyhuman

 

The Cold War wasn't poker.

It was little better than boys standing in a barrel of gasoline and playing with matches, but unfortunately one spark and we'd all be consumed, not just them.

People who play those games deserve condemnation, not our respect.

You are correct in saying the cold war wasn't poker, you are also correct that war is not a game, but you are very wrong and naive in implying that bluffing isn't a viable option in world politics. It is fact, whether you or I agree with it. AND, it cannot be changed now. Once nuclear weapons were first built there could be no turning back... would you rather have had Nixon allow Russia to bomb China? Or, would you have told Russia not to bomb China and NOT offered any determint for them doing so, naively thinking that they wouldn't do it because it was wrong? Just what would your strategy have been?

Just for the record, I don't respect Nixon nor do I condemn him because I don't know him nor do I know everything that went on - and neither do you.

Originally posted by Ulala
So. Nixon threatened nuclear war to prevent nuclear war ? Mm, awfully nice of him threatening to murder hundreds of millions of people.

More like the actions of someone totally deranged than anything else, nicht wahr ?

The Soviets threatened China with overwhelming force, the US stepped in and warned them that it would use it's might to retaliate on China's behalf thus preventing a Nuclear Exchange and Nixon is the one who is deranged?

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman


Very cool info.

I never heard of a subterranean city out there.half a million visitors is however peanuts if you consider China has a population of around 1300 million people.

Thanks.

Reply to post by Ulala

That was the exact same article I read in Dutch.

Reply to post by Disraeli

Those memoirs are confirming the situation was real ?
I assume this can very well have happened. It's no secret America works behind the eye of the public from time to time. ( if not all the time )

Thanks for the info.