Russian Presence Near Undersea Cables Concerns U.S.

Ny Times ^ | OCT. 25, 2015 | DAVID E. SANGER and ERIC SCHMITT

[dfwgator]

[jonascord]

You might be buying into the greatest myth of the 20th century, MAD.

Mutually Assured Destruction was a term invented by or for Robert McNamara. JFK had won the 1960 election largely on the meme that Eisenhower and his VP, Nixon, had allowed a "Missile Gap" to develop between the United States and the USSR.

In April of 1961, as the new SecDef, he asked for a briefing from the JCS and SAC detailing the "Gap."
They sat him down, and explained that the Missile Gap didn't exist. We had so many missiles and bombs, from ICBMs, SLBM, and B-52s in 24 hour orbit, down to tactical nukes from fighters, that police stations and Party headquarters buildings in towns of more than 10,000 had been had been targeted, just to use them all, and confirm that the USSR would never be able to mount an attack.

Here is the tippy top secret: Our intent was "Launch On Warning." If the CIA and the NSA came to the President with proof that the USSR was PLANNING an attack, (Remember, that by this time, we were watching every movement by satellite.), we would launch first. Within 2 hours, on the President's order. There is no point in nuking an empty silo. Estimates ran to 380,000,000 Russian dead, before one of their unreliable birds cleared a silo. The Russians knew that there was a finger on the Button, itching to vaporize the entire country. They never came close. It was always bluster, and back door subversion.

MacNamara was horrified. For the rest of his career, he spent every waking moment trying to convince the President not to listen to the CIA. He came up with MAD, and put it out, trying to pressure the rest of the country to reject 'launch on warning.' You hear a lot about MAD, still, as if the Feds would have let NYC vanish as a justification for shooting back.

[Chode]

tapping fiber optic cable isn't like tapping wire,,,

[fso301]

A lot of transoceanic cable tapping/cutting went on during WWII

[BobL]

Does that mean that I won’t have to deal with anymore foreign-language Netflix movies which Netflix refuses to let me know about until I’m stuck reading subtitles.

[Savage Beast]

You don't suppose the Russians would take advantage of U.S. self-imposed weakness, do you?

I mean...didn't our dear leaders tell us that we acquire strength through weakness...or that weakness is strength...or war is peace, and love is hate, and freedom is slavery...or something like that?

Anyway, everybody knows that when President John Kennedy said, "We dare not tempt them with our weakness," he was just spouting off mindless rhetoric, like politicians do all the time.

[jonascord]

What?? You can't read fiber optic traffic via induction, like you can copper wire? I'm shocked.

As if the Left would understand induction if it came up and bit them on the ass...

[Typelouder]

Read Blind Man’s Bluff by Sontag and Drew.

It is still available on Amazon. It is about the US tapping into the undersea cables years ago. Fascinating stuff.

[Chode]

100%...

[SaveFerris]

Don’t tell the anti-preppers. Because that’s crazy talk, ya know.

[wastedyears]

You hear a lot about MAD, still, as if the Feds would have let NYC vanish as a justification for shooting back.

You really think this current administration would shoot back at anybody that took credit for the mushroom cloud? He'd invite them over for a beer summit to talk things out.

[mkjessup]

Any WWIII will destroy most of the earth. There will be no winner.

Bullshit.

Sounds like that liberal scare-movie 'The Day After' really left an impression on you.

The fact is, a nuclear war would NOT be the end of life on Earth as we know it. It was established long ago by multiple studies (RAND corporation to name one) that if the U.S. and the Soviets had engaged in unlimited nuclear war back in 1962 due to the Cuban crisis, that by 1972 the U.S. would have recovered to the point where we would be enjoying a 1965 standard of living.

I remember 1965 and life wasn't half bad.

Buying into that whole 'end of all life on Earth' meme is exactly where the disarmament crowd and the left wing doomsayers want you.

[mkjessup]

All true. Good history lesson FRiend.

An additional fact seldom reported is that up to the point of the Cuban crisis, our planned military response to any Soviet aggression was to ‘shoot the works’ not only at the Soviet Union, but at Red China, North Korea, Communist East European Warsaw Pact nations, ANY point on the planet that represented even the slightest threat to us.

McNamara WAS horrified, although General Curtis LeMay was urging a preemptive first strike (and personally, I think he was correct in doing so, had we taken out the Soviet Union for good in ‘62, history would have taken a far more favorable turn so far as our Nation is concerned), it became apparent that there was a need to develop measured partial retaliatory options, hence the creation of the ‘SIOP’ (Single Integrated Operational Plan).

[SunkenCiv]

Or maybe a Christmas ornament, part of the Defender of the Faith series.

[Svartalfiar]

The good news is that if the Internet was cut your kids might even have to talk to again. Dude, where's my Facebook? Of course FR would be down also. Time to panic.

How would cutting of those lines affect that? Even if the Ruskies manages to hit every cable running the oceans, that would only cut off Asia/Europe. Anything hosted inside NA would still be perfectly accessible , not affected in any way.

[shalom aleichem]

The United States has routinely tapped into and monitored USSR and Russian cables for years.

http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Mans-Bluff-Submarine-Espionage/dp/006097771X

[bgill]

There are countless cables. So, when isn't any country's ships near them?

[Ax]

His name is Ronald W. Pelton. I know, because he used to work for me and was a neighbor on base. He’s still in a Supermax but is scheduled to be released this year. He’ll have been locked up for 30 years

[Colorado Doug]

Any WWIII will destroy most of the earth. There will be no winner.

Or more likely, the outcome will be pre-determined and we will find out that we have been completely sold out by the Washington Establishment. The "war" will have been only for show.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

I was wondering the same as I looked up how many cables we have under there.