The long discussed "Able Archer 83" exercise war scare report from 1990 has been declassified and released to the public with the headline that the event was "REAL". I was not there but for those of you that were, I am quite sure you knew it was REAL!
I did a quick look at President Reagan's published diary pages for the early November time line of the exercise and of course no specific "Able Archer 83" entry. His November 2 entry was about Grenada and the Martin Luther King Jr. day bill signing. He traveled extensively in those 10 days. The only hints that something happened are in the November 4 entry - " . . . We flew back to Wash. - a few meetings & then to Camp David . . ." and then the November 5 & 6 entry - " . . . I think Security had some worries about a plot to rocket the M-1." (1).
The events of the "Able Archer 83" exercise are probably not foreign to some of this blog's audience. As I said above, I was not involved but if you were and want to share your story of how you were involved in "Able Archer 83" now that you can speak of it, I will be glad to post it on The Proud Cold Warrior blog for the world to read. Write a short article of 300-500 words and email it to proudcoldwarrior@gmail.com.
I'd love it if any of my overseas readers would provide the view from the European or Soviet viewpoint. My analytic software shows that I have 255 readers in Russia and hundreds more throughout Europe. I'd have to load the translation module but I will do so if you do not know English.
An article on the release can be read here: The National Security Archives website
They also have a section dedicated to "Able Archer 83" here: Able Archer 83 Sourcebook
I'll have to get a copy of the report and do an extensive post on the contents.
Thank you to The National Security Archive blog for allowing me to link to their site.
(1) Reagan, Ronald, The Reagan Diaries, as edited by Douglas Brinkley,(2009), 193-194, HarperCollins, New York, ISBN 978-0-06-155833-7
I had heard about this from some of the Soviets involved. They were very frightened, but were determined not to push the buttons unless an attack actually occurred. They said, "We know the cost of war better than any country", and were determined not to start the next one. I can say what I heard was definitely meant for consumption in the West, but they did sound sincere.
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