[steve19]

The Russians came close to initiating accidental nuclear war [0] Sure, nobody wanted a nuclear war (MAD [1]) but a mistake or oversight could easily have triggered an accidental war.

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_assured_destruction

[dragonwriter]

"Intentional nuclear war based on false indications" would be more accurate than "Accidental nuclear war".

For that incident, at least.