Letter to the Editor / I’VE SEEN THIS MOVIE BEFORE

 Roger C. Kostmayer

Russian President Putin decided to militarily attack his democratic and sovereign neighbor, Ukraine, for the second time, as the next step in his desire to recreate the evil empire known as the Soviet Union.  The cost in human lives and global cold war dangers if his act is accepted as the new norm, is staggering.

In many ways this crisis, and the concomitant nuclear threats, are a mirror image of an event 60 years ago, known as the “Cuban Missile Crisis”- and there are lessons to be learned from that narrow avoidance of WW III.

In 1962, US intelligence discovered that Russia had secretly installed at least one nuclear capable long range ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) in Cuba, within 100 miles of the US – and more missiles were on the way.  This meant the fait accompli by Russia would put a loaded nuclear gun to the head of the US, unless something was done immediately.  (Does this sound vaguely familiar?)

With another Russian missile on the way to Cuba, disguised on a Russian cargo ship, President Kennedy and his Department of Defense ordered an immediate act of war – the blockade of Cuba by American warships.  At that time, Russia had a significant number of military troops and technicians in Cuba.

It happened that in October 1962 I was a junior officer aboard a brand new amphibious assault command ship, the USS Okinawa LPH-3.  We were ordered to immediately steam down the East coast, take on 2000 combat ready marines, lots of military and civilian Cuban expert intelligence people and huge amounts of live ammunition, all without slowing down on the way to our station on the blockade. It was clear to everyone aboard the ship that we were headed for a vertical invasion of Cuba and the destruction of Russian missile sites. On the other hand, even though there didn’t seem to be many Russian warships in our area, there were Russian submarines who viewed us as their prime target.

This year, the democracies of the West, led by the US, unified and energized NATO and the European Union, which is the opposite of what Putin wanted.  But now, immediately, the West must do what they failed to do when Russia first invaded and occupied Ukraine in 2014- impose serious pain to the Russian economy, the Russian military and the Putin plutocrat cronies.  Failure to do so promptly will unlock a global Pandora’s box of horrors that will last for generations.

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]