Declassified CIA documents reveal that the United States drastically overestimated the number of Soviet missiles in the beginning of the arms race in the 1950s and 1960s.
During the so-called Missile Gap period, American politicians and the public believed that the Soviet Union had hundreds of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), outmatching the US in bombing capabilities. But over 189 documents were recently released which “showed the Soviets didn’t really have an advantage,” Chief of the CIA’s Historical Collections Division Bruce S. Barkan said.
John F. Kennedy showed himself stronger on defense by hyping this “gap” when debating Richard Nixon for the presidency, and continued to inflate the threat during his term. But one of the documents from Sept. 21, 1961 debunked this theory, providing evidence that the Soviets only had four ICBMs.
During the Eisenhower administration, there was a concern about a “bomber gap,” that the Soviets had more bomber aircraft than the US. The CIA discredited this and by 1957, the bomber gap concept turned into the missile gap.
The government has a record of inflating security threats and parallels can be drawn with today’s supposed threats. Iran is consistently hyped as a major threat, specifically a nuclear threat, despite leaked intelligence that there is no nuclear weapons program. Before the 2003 US invasion, the threat from Iraq too was inflated, to tragic effect. Similarly, terrorism is recognized by many experts as a much weaker threat than Washington makes it out to be.
Overestimating the Soviet threat during the Cold War not only led to an enormous and unnecessary build-up of arms, it served as the justification for various deadly wars abroad and the loss of civil liberties at home. Today’s threat inflation has similar consequences in both foreign and domestic policy.
Terrorists are the poorest of the laboring class, whereas, those who rule our Empire are the richest of the rich nobility. So, the perfect and only solution is to use excessive wealth to eliminate excessive poverty.
Most profound for me a pacifist to say it, but terrorists, they are the ones our government needs to run it.
there is not enough money in the u.s.to enrich the billions of impoverished in the world . WHERE IS THIS EXCESS WEALTH?
Wasn't Dick Cheney and Rumsfeld part of the the group that was claiming this in the seventies/early eighties??
Of course. The same people who are liars now were liars then.
Q: How can you tell a neo-con is lying?
A: His lips are moving.
Gratuitous threats are what keeps the "military industrial complex" afloat with public money: WMD's have been seriously discredited, al-Qaeda presence worldwide lconsisting of legions of operatives has been seriously overblown; Osama bin Laden's plotting death and destruction from his redoubt in the Safed Koh mountains of Afghanistan while receiving dyalysis for kidney failure and under virtual "house arrest" by Mullah Omar is 'bovine skatology',BS and or laughable.
Recently? This was known years ago. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/523/1
America always lie to scam there citizens and commite crimes.They are by far with Israel the worlds biggest criminals and liers.
On another news "Mullen Purposely Exaggerated Pakistan Ties to Haqqani
Admiral Mike Mullen's allegations of Pakistani-Haqqani collusion may have been knowingly inaccurate"
And yet on different news "9/11 was an inside job"
So, what else is new in the Empire of Illusion, Deception and Propaganda?" Would they have ever been able to get away with all this madness had they told the truth? Seriously!
Ah, nothing like a nice stroll down memory lane. I was in the USAF during the 1980s, and every year or so a booklet with the title SOVIET MILITARY POWER in big red letters would arrive in my unit. Of course, back then we had virtually no alternative information outlets, so we tended to believe what the booklets said.
No doubt Stanley Kubrick intentionally adapted the whole "bomber/missile gap" rhetoric into his film Dr. Strangelove when he had George C. Scott's character rant about a "shelter gap" or some such (it's been awhile since I've seen it).
As long as we deny others access to our Essence and keep our precious bodily fluids free of all impurities, no harm can befall us.
Its almost hard to belive the people that think they have all the power that the citizens no and can prove they lied us into war and almost everything they say is a lie still have not shown them how the real power lies with in numbers streangth and rightiousness the worlds people.After GOD or the higher power that does exist.Out of the almost 7 billion people less than 1 persent are in power mostly given to them.Instead of wanting to be rememberd for good they will be rememberd as sick war criminals that should have never been given power.
Hey, USA !!! We're up yo' ass !!!
http://www.psr.org/chapters/oregon/assets/images/…
http://www.dia.mil/images/history/military-art/sm…
AIMED AND READY !!!
LOVE,
VLADIMIR PUTIN