yeah what was that story at the beginning of the book 'Sum of all Fears' about the knight drawing the sword to kill the asp and genocide ensuing?
Once the first missle is launched it won't just stop there. thankfully most everyone realizes this, which is why there is a US and there is a Russia today.
I saw a show just last night (on Discovery channel, I think) about the Cuban missile crisis and the four Foxtrot submarines in the Sargasso Sea area. Scary how close we really came to that awful scenario.