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To: vertolet

Many don’t know how close we were to going to war with USSR in October, 1973, at the height of the Yom Kippur War. USSR was rattling sabers and acting as if it were about to jump into the fray to support Syria. Nixon, for all his domestic faults, was a great leader in foreign affairs. He warned USSR leader Brezhnev that if USSR got involved on the side of Syria, it would be fighting US forces, because US would go in to support Israel. US forces went on alert. Bombers were being prepped, and many took to the air in case the “Go” order were given.

USSR had miscalculated US resolve, thinking that since the Vietnam War had just months earlier wound down as far as US involvement (the cease-fire of January, 1973), and convinced the American people were so tired of war that they would never condone a new US military action, especially one in which the foe would be the ultimate enemy (USSR), it felt relatively safe from any US counter to its adventure in the Middle East. Nixon brought USSR back to reality, and neither side became overtly involved in the Yom Kippur War.

I remember that bit of excitement. I was in the USAF at the time.


10 posted on 12/30/2007 4:48:35 AM PST by ought-six
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To: ought-six

How right on target you are! I was serving at the Comm Center in Tehran then. The teletypes were going nuts and everyone was called in on alert and prepared for issuance of weapons which we were not supposed to have available to us.


26 posted on 12/30/2007 5:51:34 AM PST by mazda77
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To: ought-six
Many don’t know how close we were to going to war with USSR in October, 1973, at the height of the Yom Kippur War.

It was darn close. Soviet Union was not bluffing when they alerted their Airborne Division in the Crimea and put the Black Sea Fleet to combat movement when the Egyptian 3rd Army was cut off as Ariel Sharon's Armored Brigades crossed the Suez.

78 posted on 12/31/2007 6:24:08 AM PST by AU72
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