The Dangerous Lie Driving America's Foreign Policy

The Dangerous Lie Driving America's Foreign Policy

Why We Keep Getting War Wrong

There is a mistake that keeps repeating in Washington.

It starts with a name: Hitler. And a date: 1938.

And it ends, more often than not, with American soldiers bleeding in a country most people can’t find on a map.

This mistake has a name. You’ve heard it before. The Munich Analogy.

It sounds like wisdom. It sounds tough. But behind it is a dangerous idea that could push us into a war we don't need and can't afford.

Let’s look at how we got here. And what we still have time to change.

The Day We Almost Ended the World

In October 1962, the United States came closer to nuclear war than ever before.

Soviet missiles had landed in Cuba. Many in Washington, including Air Force General Curtis LeMay, wanted to strike immediately.

President John F. Kennedy chose a different path. He called for a naval blockade and started secret negotiations.

LeMay was furious. He compared Kennedy’s decision to Neville Chamberlain’s infamous appeasement of Hitler in Munich.

But Kennedy held his ground.

The result was a quiet agreement. The Soviets pulled their missiles out of Cuba. In return, the U.S. removed its own from Turkey.

No bombs fell. No cities burned.

That outcome wasn’t luck. It was strategy. And it worked.

Today’s Leaders Are Still Haunted by Munich