The Conservative Cave
Current Events => General Discussion => Topic started by: BlueStateSaint on September 02, 2014, 07:14:23 PM
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I don't know if this was ever posted here, but I figured that if it was, it deserved to be posted again. On this day, I was a sophomore at my university, probably going back to classes after the weekend(it was a Monday).
Stanislav Petrov: The man who may have saved the world
By Pavel Aksenov
BBC Russian
Stanislav Petrov: ''I knew perfectly well that nobody would be able to correct my mistake if I had made one''
Thirty years ago, on 26 September 1983, the world was saved from potential nuclear disaster.
In the early hours of the morning, the Soviet Union's early-warning systems detected an incoming missile strike from the United States. Computer readouts suggested several missiles had been launched. The protocol for the Soviet military would have been to retaliate with a nuclear attack of its own.
But duty officer Stanislav Petrov - whose job it was to register apparent enemy missile launches - decided not to report them to his superiors, and instead dismissed them as a false alarm.
This was a breach of his instructions, a dereliction of duty. The safe thing to do would have been to pass the responsibility on, to refer up.
But his decision may have saved the world.
Nice to know, eh? :whistling:
The rest is here: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-24280831