While the Soviets incessantly stated that they were defensive missiles the United States saw them as "clearly offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction" and demanded their removal. However, with the Soviets declaring that they were solely for defensive purposes, how could the U.S. justify taking action? It was determined that each missile was capable of traveling a distance of more than 1000 nautical miles. There were also additional sites designed for ballistic missiles traveling twice as far, jet bombers being assembled, and the necessary air bases being prepared. This put Washington D.C. or any other city in the

From the point of averting a recurrence of such a conflict between the Soviets and the Americans, a hotline communications system was established between the two capitals. This system was to enable faster and more direct exchange of messages in times of crisis. The next year, 1963, saw the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty being concluded between the two countries. It would not be farfetched to say that coming so close to a nuclear war during the Cuban crisis pushed the USSR and the US to conclude such a deal.

Many reasons have been given for why the Soviets decided to place the missiles on the island in the first place. Graham T. Allison in Essence of Decision ''Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis identifies many of them. The more plausible ones are defending Cuba and missile balance.

According to Elekdag, the prevalent feeling at the White House was that the Soviets would bomb the Jupiter missiles in Turkey if the Americans were to bomb Cuba (The Jupiter missiles were theater nuclear weapons which had been deployed in Europe under the 'dual key' arrangement: the host country would build and maintain the base but the US would have the custody over the nuclear warheads and the ultimate veto over its launching). Yet, Elekdag also points out that Kennedy's advisors believed that in the case of an actual bombing of the island, the Soviets would not only demand the evacuation of the Jupiter missiles but also the removal of the 100 American planes which had nuclear warheads as well as the 20,000 American soldiers based in Turkey and the closure of the American bases in Turkey. Furthermore, if the Americans were to reject the Soviet demands then Turkey would be the "victim of Soviet retaliation." It should be mentioned at this point that the Jupiter missiles were pretty much obsolete but were of symbolic importance to Turkey. The missiles were removed on March 1963.

With this knowledge, President Kennedy decided that he needed to take decisive action. Kennedy declared these actions "an explicit threat to the peace and security of all the Americas, in flagrant and deliberant defiance of the Rio Pact of 1947." He made it a point to not just single out the United States as a target, and to make it seem as if he were doing this for the good of the entire Western Hemisphere. The President went on to say, "neither the United States of America nor the world community of nations can tolerate deliberate deception and offensive threats on the part of any nation, large or small Nuclear weapons are so destructive and ballistic missiles are so swift, that any substantially increased possibility of their use or any sudden change in their deployment may well be regarded as a definite threat to peace." Rightfully so, Kennedy decided that it was in the best interest of the entire world community to put a stop to these actions taken by the Soviet Union.

The Cuban Missile crisis was a very dangerous time for this country as well as the rest of the world. If it weren't for the good judgment of Kennedy it is very possible that this country could have gone to war with the Soviet Union which inevitably would have led to the total destruction of the world. If anything positive came out of this crisis, it is the signing of the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963 by Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. It banned nuclear test explosions both in the air and underwater, but did allow for them underground. It is just a shame that it had to come to such extreme measures so that a treaty of this sort could be signed. Hopefully it will keep the world from experiencing similar situations in the future.

The President's view of the Soviets at this time was not a very favorable one. He believed them to be liars because according to him, the Soviets made numerous false statements regarding their actions. Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko said that the Soviets would never become involved in any training of the Cuban nationals, which was consid

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2821
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)