CRISIS

Forty seven years ago today marked the beginning of what we call the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1962, the Soviet Union and the United States were the two major powers in the world. Each had nuclear weapon capabilities. Each country's ability to deliver those weapons was a huge limiting factor. Missiles carrying nuclear warheads launched from the Soviet Union toward the United States, or vice-versa, would take enough time to reach the other country that preventive or retaliatory measures could be taken. Our reconnaissance discovered that those kinds of missiles were being installed in Cuba by the Soviets. Cuba is so close to U.S. soil that a strike from that point would be unstoppable.

President John F. Kennedy demanded that the missile installations be dismantled and no new missiles delivered. The Cubans and Soviets refused. U.S. Navy ships challenged and stopped Soviet ships heading for Cuba on the high seas. It was a bold move that brought the two military giants to the brink of war. The crisis lasted for two weeks and the whole country was on edge. It finally was resolved peacefully with negotiations taking place at the United Nations. The missile installations were dismantled and the missiles with nuclear warheads sent back to Russia.

A similar scenario is brewing today. Iran is moving toward having the capability to produce nuclear warheads and the ability to deliver them as far away as its avowed enemy, Israel. It is about 1000 miles from Tehran to Jerusalem (that's about the same as Cincinnati, OH to Palm City, FL).
:D