[atemerev]

We were _really_ preparing for nuclear war. While US military adopted the MAD doctrine, considering their nuclear weapons just the ultimate deterrent, Soviet generals thought that nuclear war can actually be fought — and won.

I am quite surprised that we are not living in Fallout by now.

[arethuza]

Pretty sure the US and NATO had "flexible response" where they would have options other than MAD.

NB I'm having a binge of reading novels about WW3 scenarios in Europe at the moment, my favourite being "Chieftans" by Bob Forrest-Webb, mind you it doesn't end well.

[NB Rather hoping WoT gets to Challengers/Chieftans/M1s vs T-80s at some point...]

[chiph]

Their tank expert is an actual tanker:

http://www.militarytimes.com/story/veterans/best-for-vets/20...

He's got a Youtube channel that has fascinating reviews of WW-II era tanks, Watching him try and fit his over-6' height into some of them is hilarious.

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheChieftainWoT

[digi_owl]

Maybe after the Cuban Crisis. But Kennedy basically had to tell his advisors to shut up, because they were slavishly following RAND's escalation policy.

[nickff]

Kennedy repeatedly dismissed other opinions and had to change his positions after being proven wrong. He accused Eisenhower of allowing the Soviets to accumulate more missiles than the USA, and found out he was wrong after getting elected. Kennedy then supported the Bay of Pigs assault, but pulled back at the crucial moment when the rebels needed support, and the whole affair was a disaster. Kennedy even refused to admit that he had agreed to all of Kruschev's terms in relation to de-escalating the Cuban missile crisis, and pretended that it was a victory of American diplomacy and intimidation.

Castro was also a troubled character who actually advocated using nuclear weapons against the USA, and had to be persuaded that it was a bad idea because the fallout would hit Cuba.

[bootload]

" Kennedy then supported the Bay of Pigs assault, but pulled back at the crucial moment when the rebels needed support, and the whole affair was a disaster."

Kennedy was handed the Bay of Pigs by Ike. I've wrote up a timeline of the Bay of Pigs (citations included) about 3 weeks ago ~ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12324273

"Castro was also a troubled character who actually advocated using nuclear weapons against the USA, and had to be persuaded that it was a bad idea because the fallout would hit Cuba."

Maybe, the decision to use tactical nukes in the battlefield was left to commanders in the field.