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KGB Software Almost Triggered War In 1983 (arstechnica.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Who here remembers WarGames? As it turns out, the film was a lot closer to reality than we knew. Newly-released documents show that the Soviet Union's KGB developed software to predict sneak attacks from the U.S. and other nations in the early 1980s. During a NATO wargame in November, 1983, that software met all conditions necessary to forecast the beginning of a nuclear war. "Many of these procedures and tactics were things the Soviets had never seen, and the whole exercise came after a series of feints by U.S. and NATO forces to size up Soviet defenses and the downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 on September 1, 1983. So as Soviet leaders monitored the exercise and considered the current climate, they put one and one together. Able Archer, according to Soviet leadership at least, must have been a cover for a genuine surprise attack planned by the U.S., then led by a president possibly insane enough to do it." Fortunately, when the military exercise ended, so did Soviet fears that an attack was imminent.

7 of 210 comments (clear)

  1. Re:There were TV documentories on this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Because Reagan. It keeps ricocheting around the left-wing echo chamber. Sparky hears it and makes a "story" that fits the world view he was trained with.

  2. led by a president possibly insane enough to do it by BECoole · · Score: 1, Insightful

    LOL! You gotta love these libs! So stupid, it's funny.

  3. Re:So it was the US that triggered it by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They must think that the risk is worth it to check NK defences, but it doesn't help diplomatic efforts.

    Honestly, sometimes I think it's fairly common that countries periodically have to do things which say "we know you're there, we're not afraid of you, and we can fuck you up".

    So, think of China building artificial islands in the South China Sea and then claiming that is territorial waters. Sailing past and waving the flag is part and parcel of reminding them that, no, this is international waters and has been for some time. Would you have them cede the waters to China and just let them annex it?

    Sometimes, you need to remind the other guy that you're still there, and reality isn't defined in terms of what they claim. And you usually do that by telling me "oh, by the way, we'll be doing this right here for the next little while".

    For some countries, diplomacy requires a little show of force to demonstrate you're not as intimidated as they think you should be of their supreme leader's tiny penis and huge ego.

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    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  4. Re:Gorbachev's off the cuff comment I heard live by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    summary of the Soviet Union's fall

    The main reason for all the Reagan hatred. The US knew SDI wouldn't work, but the soviets didn't and spent themselves into history trying to keep up. They were kinda in awe of US technology. I was there. Very interesting times indeed.

  5. Don't blame the software... by cant_get_a_good_nick · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...Blame the model.

    I read this article, the model was flawed, based on a "we'll attack when we pass some threshhold". Everything else was just to feed the model. They added a lot of things, so the model could only be calculated on a computer. But its a modeling error, the tool was a computer.

  6. Re:Obligatory shoutout to Stanislav Petrov by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Not to forget the East-German Spy at NATO HQ who was able to convince the Soviets that Able Archer actually was just an excercise http://www.exberliner.com/feat...

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    Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
  7. Re:Coren22's "APKolypse" by Harlequin80 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What the fuck is wrong with you? Have you considered seeking professional help? Just so you know your attacks on Coren now mean I hold him in much higher regard.