Cold War: Not A Shot Was Fired, Very Large Falsehood

Hey Jerald,

I knew about the Liberty, and the Stark (I was serving with the 1st IDF in W. Germany as a Combat Engineer when that happend) and of course Beirut, but the other stuff I had no idea.  I like to think that I am a student of modern warfare, and it truly is a shame that I know more about the brush wars of Africa (70s-80s) and Central America (80s-90s) than important engagements on US forces durring the cold war ("my war").  I will clip this to my Warrior's Way group.

Thank you for this info, friend request OTW.

Take care,

Aloha

Well so much for Americas staunchest allie in the middle east. One thing I did find during my time in the Army that when overseas you live in a virtual vacuum. We had no credible source of information, when the flatbed trucks loaded with tanks started going up the highway then you knew. But this was in the late fifties...

(source)The Limits of Power: The World and U.S. Foreign Policy, 1945–1954 (1972), in which the United States's Cold War policy was seen as both reflexively anti‐Communist and counterrevolutionary. Any form of challenge to the American form of politics or economics was controlled by either covert or military mean.

http://www.answers.com/topic/cold-war-1945-91-changing-interpretations

Not a great quote, but agrees with the "shots fired" concept. US Presidents have done terrible deeds over these years.

While I regret these incidents took place, I have to ask: Isn't the Cold War primarily a war between the USA and Russia? How would Israeli attacks figure in to it? Also, it could be argued that the attacks in Beirut had a different cause than the Cold War. Beirut happened shortly (4 years or so) after the revolution in Iran and a short while after Russia left Afghanistan. Couldn't that have been more of a disagreement with the enemy (Middle Eastern and American relations have mostly not been too friendly, with the exception of Saudi Arabia) close to the Holy Places? Just wondering if you lump together too many unrelated incidents.

How would Israel figure in the attack in the Cold War. The Cold War was in most instances a proxy war. US supported nations fighting the Soviets and Soviet backed nations fighting the US. Now to make the connection Xanthiana you have to understand the Middle East at the time. Egypt was a Soviet proxy and Israel a US proxy. If Israels claims are to be believed, they thought the Liberty was an Egyptians spy ship and as the war was heating up, Israel could not allow eaves dropping on its communications by a belligerent enemy power. A US proxy nation was therefore obligated to destroy the Soviet's proxy. Again, you'd have to believe the Israeli's claim. Most don't. There is your Cold War connection.

History of the US involved in Combat either directly or indirectly, from the immediate close of WWII until the fall of the Soviet Union seen every conflict we were involved in directed against a communist nation(s). Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Central America, Afghanistan, Grenada. All except the invasion of Panama were a direct result of the Cold War going hot.

Paul Dudkowski, National Secretary, ACWV

Gentlemen and Ladies,

I do not want to speak for my new friend Jerald, but I personally can see counting the events outlined in this article as Cold War related even though the evens were not directly actions US v. USSR.  For example; The Liberty incident was a result of our presence in those waters to monitor the deteriorating situation there and I think it was Israels way of sending a message to Johnson basically saying "If your not going to help, get the hell out of here.".  That is my read on the incident and our support for Israel was our MiddleEastern Bulwark against the growing Soviet  influence with the Arab states. Cold War related?  hell yes.  

Also during the cold war we had terrorist problems, and the majority of those groups were anti-western and receiving direct covert support from the Soviet Union.  The GWoT may have started officially with great impact on September Eleventh Two Thousand and One, but President Reagan was the one who truly started our War on Terror.  I mean he recognized the threat and where it originated from, and he set his Defence Department loose to come up with effective ways of combating that terror.  They did this by creating Delta Force, Seal Team Six, amongst others and liaised with the other NATO countries anti-terror forces (SAS, GSG-9 to name a few) and developing tactics for specific terrorist scenarios and strategies for the larger fight against these groups.  Again Cold War related? Again I say Yes.

I hope that helps,

Take care,

Aloha

No shooting they say?   I personally know of some guys in 1958  who got shot at and gave the ultimate sacrafice  Crew of USAF C-130, Shot Down During Mission Over
Soviet Armenia, September 2, 1958 Buried in Section 34, Arlington National Cemetery. 

Jerry could you have them post the crew of this C-130 on the Cold War Vet listing of hero's?

Don Levesque USAFSS

Promotion of terrorist organizations

Soviet secret services have been described by , KGB General Aleksandr Sakharovsky once said: "In today’s world, when nuclear arms have made military force obsolete, terrorism should become our main weapon."

The following liberation organizations have been allegedly established by the KGB:

 Source:

Source:  http:\\

#Promotion_of_terrorist_organizations

Use W*i*k*i*p*e*d*i*a and search for "Allegations of state terrorism by the Soviet Union". I am having trouble getting this to post.

"Soviet secret services have been described by GRU defectors Viktor Suvorov and Stanislav Lunev as "the primary instructors of terrorists worldwide"  According to Ion Mihai Pacepa,

The following liberation organizations have been allegedly established by the KGB: PLO...

The leader of the PLO, Yasser Arafat, established close collaboration with the Romanian Securitate service and the Soviet KGB in the beginning of the 1970s.

Most of this discussion is about the attack on the US Liberty. To be sure it is a controversial issue, but hardly the only example of shots being fired during the Cold War. All through Cold War history there were examples of warfare in danger of escalation. This happened between the Soviets and US during the Korean War, in the early days of the post-Vietnam era, and in other examples. Someone on one of the veteran's websites even showed a list of deaths during the Cold War attributed to hostile fire. So the so-called Cold War did have its moments. The danger of the Cold War was that these skirmishes could escalate into something much worse.

FRANK D

Many during the Cold War era served in harms way and made the ultimate sacrifice.
 
The misconception we fight is that the during Cold War that there were no shots fired this is absolutely false, to quote Robert McNamara "Cold War, hell it was a hot war".

Veterans  should not be discriminated against because of when they took their oath to defend our nation and should not be relegated to a 2nd class status for VA health care and any other benefit afforded to veterans. Many during the Cold War era served in harms way and made the ultimate sacrifice.

Taking care of and honoring Cold War era veterans it is not a nice thing to do, but it is the right thing to do.

Sean P. Eagan

Great article. After leaving the USAF, I went to college and had buddy that had been a door gunner in Germany. They faced down a hind helicopter and both helicopters were shot down by each other. This was shortly before the wall went down and he broke his back in the crash.

Only the blind will not see.