The Cold War

There are many issues regarding the Cold War. If you think really hard about it, it seems almost like a little boy's school yard brawl taken to a global scale. Which of course got a bit scary with the Cuban Missile Crisis. But thinking about it, if i could sum up all the reasons for the war, it should the lack of communications, and communal hysteria fueled by politicians with their own agendas for making people believe what they wanted them to believe.

Its a bit sad, but many of the veterans who fought in the Cold War on the American side were seldom welcomed back as heroes. Some were even villified as they returned. This was a huge change from the scenes of jubilation that greeted the vets returning from WWII. What changed? Was it that people realised that the war was just not worth it? Did some people think that they were fighting the war the wrong way? Of course. Esp during the 1960s and 1970s. But thats a whole different topic althogether.

If you look at the speeches of Kennedy and Krushev, we have to be thankful that these men were not as insane as they seemed to be and Kennedy especially, the global implications of both countries hitting out at each other. Its almost like an old western with two gunmen facing off but luckily, these gunmen are quite smart to know about the kind of gun they both had. Krushev came off worse and was replaced because of the way he handled the situation. Kennedy unfortunately was assasinated in 1963 by what was believed to be a lone gunman (which is another point of historical contention).

Looking back, whose fault is it? Why not ask Cuba? They should know. Castro is still alive. but they often get ignored in discussions. Too small an island. (sound familar?)

Strangely, we still are arguing about the crisis even til today and it is a hot topic that perhaps can never truly have one answer. So it boils down to our own value systems to make the judgement.