In early 1961 President John F. Kennedy concluded that
Fidel Castro was a Soviet client working to subvert
Latin America. After much debate in his administration Kennedy authorized a
clandestine invasion of Cuba by a brigade of Cuban exiles. The brigade hit the
beach at the Bay of Pigs on April 17, 1961, but the operation collapsed in
spectacular failure within 2 days. Kennedy took public responsibility for the
mistakes made, but remained determined to rid Cuba of Castro.
In November 1961 Kennedy approved Operation Mongoose, a secret plan aimed at
stimulating a rebellion in Cuba that the United States
could support. While the Kennedy administration planned Operation Mongoose,
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev secretly introduced medium-range nuclear
missiles into Cuba. U.S intelligence picked up evidence of a general Soviet arms
build-up during routine surveillance flights and on September 4, 1962, Kennedy
issued a public warning against the introduction of offensive weapons into Cuba.
A U-2 flight on October 14 provided the first proof of Soviet medium-range
ballistic missiles in Cuba. Kennedy called together 18 of his closest advisers
to try to resolve the most dangerous U.S.-Soviet confrontation of the cold war.
Some advisers argued for an air strike to take out the missiles and destroy the
Cuban air force followed by a U.S. invasion of Cuba; others favored warnings to
Cuba and the Soviet Union. The President decided upon a middle course. On
October 22 Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine of Cuba. He sent a letter to
Khrushchev calling upon him to remove the missiles, thus initiating an exchange
of correspondence between the two leaders that continued throughout the
crisis.
On October 24 Soviet vessels approached the quarantine line but turned back; 3
days later, the Cubans shot down a U.S. reconnaissance plane. After these near
flash points, Kennedy responded on October 27 to the first of two letters sent
by Khrushchev on October 26 and 27 proposing various settlements of the crisis.
Kennedy accepted the Soviet offer to withdraw the missiles from Cuba in return
for an end to the quarantine and a U.S. pledge not to invade Cuba. The same day
Attorney General Robert Kennedy told Soviet Ambassador
Dobrynin that if the Soviet Union did not remove the
missiles the United States would do so. Robert Kennedy also offered an assurance
that Khrushchev needed: several months after the missiles
were removed from Cuba, the United States would similarly remove its missiles
from Turkey. On the basis of those understandings, the Soviet Union agreed on
October 28 to remove its missiles from Cuba. The quarantine and the crisis
lingered until the removal of the Soviet missiles was verified at sea on
November 20, and the Soviet Union agreed to remove the medium-range Il-28
bombers it had also introduced into Cuba. Exactly how close the United States
and the Soviet Union came to nuclear war over Cuba remains one of the most
keenly discussed issues of the Cold War.
Comments:
As an analyst my observations on Philippines insurgents who had entered illegally to Sabah is very much similar. Therefore there is a need to have an affirmative action to prevent the future invaders from entering into our soil anymore.
Comments