The Cuban Missile Crisis
Never had the world been closer to nuclear destruction as it had been in nineteen sixty-two. During the month of October there were, in Cuba only ninety miles off the southern tip of Florida, Soviet offensive weapons. The following fourteen days were nerve racking and intense. President John F. Kennedy and his EX-COMM advisors delicately handled this situation, their plan was successful. This near disaster was the Cuban Missile Crisis. The United States and the USSR had been competing in an arms race. The United States were far more advanced than the USSR was, but President Kennedy (aware of the United State's advantage) said that the Soviet was ahead of the United States. In nineteen sixty-one Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was pressuring Berlin and built a wall surrounding West Berlin. In response President Kennedy revealed that there was no missile gap and that the United States wasn't behind. The USSR had missiles that could only attack Europe. The United States on the other hand had missiles that could reach the USSR. Feeling threatened Khrushchev negotiated with Cuba in order to place nuclear warheads on the island that was only ninety miles off Florida's coast. Fidel Castro, Cuban
President Kennedy formed a hand picked committee called EX-COMM The USSR brought the missiles to Cuba on what seemed to be tourist boats. The United States noticed the increasing shipping activity in Cuba. On August tenth the director of the CIA, John McCone told the President of his belief that the Soviets would place medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs). On August the twenty-ninth a U-2 reconnaissance flight over Cuba found SA-2 SAM (surface-to-air-missile) sites. The U-2 planes were Lock Heed U-2A surveillance planes. They were made to fly in thin atmosphere above fifty five thousand feet. It had a single engine with sailplane-like wings. Eleven days later the first Soviet MRBMs arrived in Cuba. Kennedy ordered another U-2 flight over Cuba on October 9. The October ninth flight was cancelled because of weather, but on the fourteenth Richard Heyser flew a U-2 from Texas over Cuba. These photos revealed six, larger than expected, nuclear missiles. These missiles were each 60 to 65 feet long. The SS-4 "Sandal" missiles were intermediate range missiles, they can destroy targets up to one thousand one hundred miles away, and were inaccurate. After seeing these missiles President Kennedy remarked "They look like footballs on a football field" (Internet1). The range of these missiles threatened major keep Castro nervous (Internet 1). At that time the United States was also working on a plan to invade Cuba, in an operation named Operation Mongoose (1). The CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) had been running operations throughout Cuba trying to damage the Castro government. Castro, aware of all of these activities, was convinced of an invasion (Internet 1). Castro decided to allow the USSR to put these missiles in Cuba in order to protect the island. By accepting Khrushchev's offer, Castro doubled the USSR's arsenal. Now the USSR had the power to destroy the United States. Robert McNamara has said, " the world was one step away from nuclear war" (Internet1). If the President had learned of Khrushchev's letter just a little later than he had, an invasion would have happened. In retaliation nuclear missiles would have probably been fired. Just an hour's difference could have changed history, and the existence of Cuba or the United
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Approximate Word count = 1532
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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