learned that the Soviets were building nuclear missile bases on Cuba because the Soviets wanted to close the missile

gap. Even though the Soviet Union promised they would not attempt to place nuclear weapons in Cuba, they put

them there anyway in hopes that the U.S. would not find out until it was too late to do anything about it. The ploy

almost worked. The nuclear bases were very near completion when a U.S. U-2 spy plane discovered the bases. The

world held its breath as these events unfolded before their eyes; If any decision had have been different, it might

have led to WW III. That is not a very comforting thought, knowing that we were so close to a nuclear holocaust.

Many believe Kennedy made the right decision, I !

stand with that group; Others believe we should have conducted surgical strikes against the bases to show we would

not tolerate a threat that close to our own shores. Kennedy was probably cautious about strikes because of the Bay of

Pigs invasion which had failed so miserably just a year before. The Bay of Pigs invasion was an attempt by the U.S.

have resulted in a nuclear war from which the world might never have survived. I believe strongly that if there were

their terms. If we did not, we would suffer the consequences (Smoke 36). Those consequences could be very harsh

Crisis. New York: Random House, 1991.

text that disagree with Kennedy's decision, and I do not believe that there are very many if any. Since there were

Some common words found in the essay are:
Cuba Americans, Missile Crisis, Bay Pigs, United States', WW III, Air Force, Soviet Union, International Relations, Race Soviets, Roskin Berry, cuban missile, cuban missile crisis, missile crisis, international relations, bases cuba, plane discovered, spy plane, bay pigs, strike capability, ability strike, smoke's opinion, spy plane discovered, michael nicholas berry, roskin michael nicholas, international relations jersey,
Approximate Word count = 1307
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)