HONOLULU -- As the United States hurtles toward the brink of war with Iraq and North Korea, the confrontation bears a striking resemblance to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Therein lie lessons that might well be read in Washington, Baghdad and Pyongyang.
Then, as now, the issue is nuclear weapons. The Soviet Union was deploying nuclear-tipped missiles to Cuba, 145 km from U.S. territory. U.S. President John F. Kennedy demanded that they be withdrawn. Today, Iraq is seeking and North Korea has acquired nuclear arms; both also have chemical and biological weapons. U.S. President George W. Bush has declared all of that intolerable.
Then, as now, the U.S. mobilized for war. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of Cuba and preparations for airstrikes and ground invasion of Cuba. Bush has ordered land, sea, and air forces to deploy around the Persian Gulf, and has called 150,000 reserves to active duty. Kennedy was not bluffing then, and Bush is not bluffing now.