Suicide

Great film, I've loved it for years. But there's a few things that bother me.

The Chiefs are portrayed in a cartoonishly villainous manner, seemingly oblivious to the idea that the Soviets or Cuban military wouldn't launch one missile if attacked, unaffected by the fact that millions of lives (including their own and that of their families) which hung on every decision they made.

Were they truly THAT arrogant? More scarier was the disclosure many years later from Castro to McNamara that there were many more operational missile sites than the USA estimated, with site commanders given authorization to launch if attacked. Any attack by USA on Missile sites no doubt would have triggered a nuclear assault.

An interesting analogy of the situation not only on film but in reality, was the live grenade that was being delicately handed from one man to the next. The wanton carelessness of just one man in the entire situation, and "there goes the ball game"