Korean apts. look like 'exploding twin towers'.

[CFH]

Maybe, maybe not. That's not something which can be easily proven. Even so, it still came pretty close to outright war on a couple of occasions.

To make a sweeping generalization - neither country really wanted to go to war with one another, even without nukes the death tolls would have like made WW2 look like a tea party (alibeit a genocidal one ).

Well the US made plans to get Germany back on it's feet, get those soldiers and Panzers, and plow on through Moscow....never materialized, but it WAS on the table. The only thing I could think of that would have been a deterrant either way was the threat of nuclear attack.

What time period are you talking about? The Russians didn't even have the bomb, let alone large stockpiles, until 1949.

One thing that I found incredibly interesting when I was studying American history was the ways in which domestic attitudes towards the Soviets changed over the course of the war. Prior to 1943/44, they were depicted as heroes and there was a lot of good will felt towards them by most Americans. It ended up changing very dramatically in a very short period of time.