The United States was wary of something fishy going on in Cuba. Starting in July, the Soviets had begun shipping an abundance of military items and personnel to Cuba. Overall, 85 ships were known of. The supplies included tanks, self-propelled guns and the infamous SAMs (surface-to-air missiles). It was also estimated that Cuba had, in their possession, about 60 early model MIG aircraft and anywhere from 25 to 30 modern MIG aircraft. The modern MIGs were cap

Almost four decades later, the Cuban Missile Crisis is still a sore subject for the three countries involved. The United States learned in 1992, that in addition to the ballistic missiles were 9 tactical missiles. These missiles were stationed in Cuba to use against the United States Military if they attempted to invade Cuba. The scariest thing about the tactical missiles was that Soviet field commanders were given the authority to fire them without even contacting the Kremlin.

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/cmcintro.html. George Washington

Later, Kennedy received a letter from Khrushchev. Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba. The one condition stated was that Castro and Khrushchev wanted a guarantee from the United States that they would not invade Cuba. This seemed fair to Kennedy, but before he could respond, another letter from Khrushchev came. This one again stated that the Soviet missiles would be removed from Cuba if they got a guarantee that Cuba wouldn't be invaded. But, it also said that the Soviet Union wanted the United States missiles stationed in Turkey out.

Chairman Kohler then met with President Nikita S. Khrushchev. Khrushchev explained that he was very opposed to the attempted blockade of the United States. He considered it an "unfriendly act." Khrushchev told Kohler that he couldn't understand just why the United States, such a large and powerful country, was so afraid of Cuba, a small country with no influence and no power. He also asked Kohler why it was that the United States couldn't just accept the way the USSR was, and be on friendly terms with them. He said that the USSR still traded with Turkey and Greece and all the other countries allied with the U.S., why couldn't the U.S. get along with Cuba, and maybe even begin trading with them again. Khrushchev complained, "Why are you not trading with us? You want to strangle us. But you've lost any real understanding of history."

General LeMay of the United States Air Force and Admiral Anderson of the United States Navy were questioned about the possibility of attacking the SAM sites from the air. Both LeMay and Anderson agreed that U.S. planes would not be damaged at all by the missiles, if they flew under 3,000 feet, the minimum range of the missiles. The only problem they could see was the possibility of anti-aircraft artillery defense surrounding the SAM sites. If the United States did attempt to attack the missiles based on Cuba, they could only attack the missiles that had already been spotted and confirmed. They didn't know how many missiles this would leave for retaliation from Khrushchev.

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Approximate Word count = 2006
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)