Friday, Dec. 6, 2019 | 2 a.m.
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Experts agree that the 13-day Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and the over 150-day Trump-Kim nuclear crisis of 2017-18 were the two most perilous long-term nuclear incidents in world history. Dozens of computer malfunctions, silo accidents, meteor movements and other “close calls” have occurred in the U.S. Who knows how many dozens of other short-term “close calls” have occurred in other nuclear nations.
What if President John F. Kennedy had called Russia’s Nikita Khrushchev “short and fat”? What if he had threatened the Soviet Union with “fire and fury”? President Donald Trump sent an armada of naval vessels to the east and west coasts of North Korea; what might have happened if JFK had sent similar vessels near Leningrad?
After months of nuclear tensions, a Hawaiian agency sent out a message that read “Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.” What might have transpired if Miami sent out such a message in 1962?
On multiple occasions, both Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un talked of a preventive “first strike.” Both engaged in multiple other instances of incendiary talk and bellicose action.
Both pursued a path of juvenile escalation. This escalation endangered Japan and South Korea.
Trump’s words and deeds relative to North Korea constitute an abuse of power. Apart from inducing a war, it is difficult to imagine a better example of abuse of power. Perhaps Trump’s behavior in this nuclear crisis should be considered as the most important article of impeachment.
