The Director of the National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC) Arthur C. Lundahl squinted through a magnifying glass over a lighted table covered with photographs. The photographs were of landscapes taken from U-2 American spylanes some 14 miles above the ground of the island of Cuba. Pilot Richard S. Heyser had taken the photographs with the sophisticated equipment aboard U-2 Spylane 3101. The high-intensity cameras were able to pick up newspaper headlines from fourteen miles above the ground.

Lundahl looked more closely at the photograph before him. There, on the ground near San Cristobal, Cuba, were six large canvas-covered objects lay near four long slash-marks in the ground. To the casual eye they would just appear as insignificant marks on the ground with six canvases that could be anything, but to the trained eye they were something more. Lundahl studied the photograph and the dimensions of the six objects and after careful comparison with other photographs and dimensions of wartime weapons he concluded that the objects were none other than the dreaded Soviet SS-4 MRICBM's - medium-range intercontinental ballistic missiles. Thes

A U-2 spy plane was shot down over Cuba, killing the pilot. There had been an agreement not to shoot unarmed aircraft in Cuban airspace, but a personal order had been sent by someone in Cuba to shoot it down. The crisis deepened and became more serious. Kennedy demanded that the missiles be removed from Cuba.

On October 21, President Kennedy decided on the blockade of the country of Cuba. No ships would be allowed in or out of the waters around Cuba and any ships carrying weapons would be ordered back to the Soviet Union. However, a "blockade" is defined as terms of war and a blockade of any country can be acted upon with force from that country or its allies. So, if we blockaded Cuba, the Soviet Union would have had an excuse to attack us with nuclear weapons. So President Kennedy simply called the blockade by another name - he instituted quarantine on the country. The next day, he addressed the nation on the events of the weak and the actions being taken.

After analyzing the photographs taken by the U-2 the day before, experts concluded that there were dangerous missiles very close to the coast of Florida and that there were still ships coming in that carried more nuclear warheads, missiles, and parts for planes that could bomb using nuclear weapons.

Negotiations went on through the next two days but both sides were at a standoff. Even though the blockade was in place there were still missile sites in Cuba being constructed, though no new ones were reported. The U.S. could not invade Cuba for the Soviet Union might attack. The Soviet Union could not fire upon America, because the American missiles in Turkey would soon put an end to the USSR. Also, the Soviets would not pull out of Cuba, showing public humiliation and weakness. Castro wanted to bomb the Americans immediately but the Soviets would not let him endanger the lives of their countrymen.

This very clear statement by the Soviet ambassador was contradicted only a week later when the first MRBM's arrived in Cuba. However, the U.S. did not know of these missiles at the time so nothing was done. However, the Senate passed Resolution 230 that allowed the use of force to try and stop the aggressive actions in Cuba. As soon as this bill was passed, Soviet foreign minister Andrei Gromyko told the UN that any U.S. attack on Cuba or Cuban-bound ships would be an act of war. Since neither side wanted this outcome, as it meant a possible world war and the certain death of at least millions of people, President Kennedy refrained from aggressive action towards Cuba.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Soviet Union, President Kennedy, October U-2, America USSR, Security Council, Soviet Union's, Khrushchev Russian, Missile Crisis, Cristobal Cuba, John's Attorney, soviet union, president kennedy, ballistic missiles, missiles cuba, world war, cold war, missile crisis, missiles turkey, cuban missile, cuban missile crisis, soviet union attack, remove missiles, intercontinental ballistic missiles, countries bordering ussr, cuba soviet union,
Approximate Word count = 2840
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)