WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the 1950s, NATO war planners pondered how to defend the nascent alliance against the Soviet war machine. On paper, the magnitude of the threat looked overwhelming.
War-gaming showed that British and U.S. forces would be unable to stop a Soviet incursion in the east. The best option: consolidate our forces at the beaches at Normandy, where the Allies had first come ashore in 1944 and strengthen their position as much as possible before the Soviet troops arrived. Then… hold on.
