The cold war had many ups and downs.On the bad side it saw an increase of nuclear weapons in the arms race and armed conflicts in vietnam and korea.However we also saw new advanced technology that can be used in everyday life and in the protection of the countries.We also saw new space programs resulting in satellites and the first trip to the moon.

granted it wasn't a very bloody war at least not between contries (more so inside certain countries) i don't think any war can be justified good or bad. that depends on which side you are standing on when the smoke clears. "History is written by the winners" (i forgot who said something like this)

Bad. Created weapons of mass destruction and controversy.

Good, it gave us the technology we had today and the ability to be debating whether or not it was a good or bad thing over the Internet.

While I'll agree with the fact that WOMD's massive production and development was a bad thing, overall the Cold War led to a period of unprecendented scientific advancement. Much of the speed of science was directly linked to the Cold War. The Space Race and many computer related developments are good examples. The drive to improve weapons of war ended up spilling over into peacetime technologies.

Now that the Cold War is over, the drive to have the best of all things is more global, but I think the competative spirit of it comes largely from the Cold War era.

Also, the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction has thusfar prevented the world from enduring a World War III scenario, so its not all bad. Its just scary to consider what the existant stockpiles of nuclear weapons could do.