Cuban Missile Crisis

[Skilless]

I was watching a program this morning on the History Channel about the Cuban Missile Crisis and they were talking about how if Kennedy had listened to his military advisors there would have been a full scale attack on Cuba.  What they didn't know was that the Soviets had mobile missile launchers set up on the beach and in the event of an attack they would have taken out the entire eastern seaboard of the United States.  On a tape you can plainly hear McNamara saying he thought a blockade was a bad idea and he was in favor of invasion.  I was wondering what our Russian friend's take on this event was?

[weaselsan]

I was stationed in Key West, Fl. from June 1962 to June 1963 and remember the Crisis clearly. I was attached to CVSG 50 as part of HS 1 a Sikorsky Helocopter squadron. I was immediately transfered to the USS Noa DD-841 a Gearing Class Destroyer. We did picket duty in the Florida straights for the entire time of the crisis. After Kruschev agreed to remove the missles from Cuba in return for an agreement not to invade Cuba ( We had no plans to anyway) and removing missles based in Turkey, over the ensueing years, I learned that the main reason the missles where removed was that Che Guevara had told Castro that having control of the missles would give Cuba " Parity with the Yankees". This was not what Kruschev had in mind. The missles where placed there for the main purpose of using them as a bargaining chip for the missles we had in western Europe. We will remove the missles from Cuba if you remove yours from Eastern Europe, a smart political move. But Che ruined his plans by getting Control of a few missles. This coupled with President Kennedys declaration on National television that any strike launched from Cuba against the United States would be considered an attack by the USSR and a full retaliatory strike would be launched against the USSR. I can only imagine the horror Kruschev must have felt with the knowledge that a hot tempered Cuban revolutionary could very easily bring a rain of thermonuclear warheads down on the Soviet Union. Dooms Day because of a Cuban Moron. It was no accident that Che was ushered off to Bolivia deep in the back country where he could be wacked by the KGB. After his death Che was honored in most of the banana republics with large billboards depicting him as the champion of all oppressed people. Which was fine with Castro and the Soviets, billboards can't start nuclear wars.

[eagl]

Funny thing, apparently Kennedy had already ordered the missiles removed from Turkey but the process was dragging on so slowly, it didn't look like we were serious.  Kennedy was pissed about the slow removal and actually wanted them out faster, but once the Soviets demanded their removal, he couldn't speed up the process because it would appear as though the US was bowing to Soviet demands.

Of course, that's only one small part of the story according to my sources

[weaselsan]

Originally posted by eagl
Funny thing, apparently Kennedy had already ordered the missiles removed from Turkey but the process was dragging on so slowly, it didn't look like we were serious.  Kennedy was pissed about the slow removal and actually wanted them out faster, but once the Soviets demanded their removal, he couldn't speed up the process because it would appear as though the US was bowing to Soviet demands.

Of course, that's only one small part of the story according to my sources

You are right about Kennedy removing the missles from Turkey, but they where added as a sweetner to the deal to allow Kruschev to save face. He was in trouble in the Soviet Union because of his miscalculation. He didn't miscalculate Kennedy, he miscalculated the power he had over Cuba. Would you like to have had Che Guevara with the power of life and death over Millions of people in the Soviet Union? The problem with the History of the Cuba missle crisis is historians putting the Crisis as a test of wills between Kruschev and Kennedy, and Kruschev blinked. While there may be some truth in that, the real fear from both sides was the knowledge that an unstable group of bearded revolutionaries were now sitting poised to start a war neither the U.S or the Soviets wanted.

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by eagl
Funny thing, apparently Kennedy had already ordered the missiles removed from Turkey but the process was dragging on so slowly, it didn't look like we were serious.  Kennedy was pissed about the slow removal and actually wanted them out faster, but once the Soviets demanded their removal, he couldn't speed up the process because it would appear as though the US was bowing to Soviet demands.

Of course, that's only one small part of the story according to my sources

By the time they were ordered to be removed, those liquid propelled rockets were already yesterdays technology, no problem in removing them. Boeing was already building the Minute Man 1 system.

[Skilless]

The new revelation to me was the Russians claiming that they had portable ballistics set up on the beach in Cuba that could take out the entire eastern United States in the case of an invasion which McNamara is on tape as saying he was in favor of.

[*NDM*JohnnyX]

My dad watched the line in the Fulda Gap during this time. I came very close to not existing.

[soda72]

Originally posted by weaselsan
... the real fear from both sides was the knowledge that an unstable group of bearded revolutionaries were now sitting poised to start a war neither the U.S or the Soviets wanted.

After that, one must wonder why they would sell nuclear technology to Iran...

[mora]

Originally posted by Skilless
The new revelation to me was the Russians claiming that they had portable ballistics set up on the beach in Cuba that could take out the entire eastern United States in the case of an invasion which McNamara is on tape as saying he was in favor of.

AFAIK SS-4 wasn't portable, so it must have been another type of a missile?

[Suave]

In "Fog of War" McNamara said that when he met with Castro decades later he asked Castro if he would've ever recommended to Kruschev to launch those missles from cuba. He said that Castro replied "not only would I have recommended, I did request that the missles be launched.

[weaselsan]

Originally posted by soda72
After that, one must wonder why they would sell nuclear technology to Iran...

Any missle fired from Cuba would have triggered a massive retaliatory strike from the U.S. They could care less about the Iranians.

[weaselsan]

Originally posted by Suave
In "Fog of War" McNamara said that when he met with Castro decades later he asked Castro if he would've ever recommended to Kruschev to launch those missles from cuba. He said that Castro replied "not only would I have recommended, I did request that the missles be launched.

I don't doubt that  McNamara said that, but it sure wouldn't make any sense. That would imply that Castro was ready to commit National suicide. Castro like all dictators only had one over riding concern, Gain power and stay in power permanately. Also Kruschev was only using Cuba for a bargaining chip. Cuba became a thorn in the Soviets side for years after the crisis. They were even paying far above market prices for sugar in an attempt to prop up the Cuban economy. Of course we all know that Fidel would never bluster about something like that...right.

[Skilless]

Originally posted by mora
AFAIK SS-4 wasn't portable, so it must have been another type of a missile?

They said what they were, but I was still a little groggy this morning when I saw it.  I do recall them saying they would reach New York City and Miami and Tampa would be toast in a matter of minutes.

[soda72]

Originally posted by weaselsan
.... triggered a massive retaliatory strike...

Maybe certain countries wouldn't sell such technology if they knew that would be a consequence.

[weaselsan]

Originally posted by soda72
Maybe certain countries wouldn't sell such technology if they knew that would be a consequence.

That would be an excellent deterrant...well, except for the massive shriek and whine from every passivist on the face of the globe, and there's a lot of them. They prefer that instead of deterring rouge states from aquiring the weapons we wait until they do. Then we wait until a real piece of work such as the new Iranian President Abdulla whats his face actually uses one, say against Isreal which has their own. Then the problem of a nuclear armed Iran will be solved....No more Iran.