Was Dr. Strangelove right?

Fans of Stanley Kubrick’s classic black comedy about nuclear war may want to review the film before the year 2000. You’ll recall that the film’s subtitle was “How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb”, which could be a new slogan for Y2K anxiety. Recent Y2K news from Russia may have us all thinking again, however.

A Russian official announced last week that the country needs up to $6 billion to handle Y2K problems, six times the original estimate. Alexander Krupnov, chairman of the Central Telecommunications Commission, has asked the United States and NATO for help to fix computers that control Russia’s nuclear weapons. With Y2K less than a year away, here’s hoping he gets a quick response to his request.

Mr. Krupnov said that Russia wants both sides to “speak the same language” when it comes to computer control of nuclear weapons. “We’re in a critical situation in several areas,” he said. All I can say is that I’m glad the Cold War is over. Imagine if we were still enemies?