Was Castro Responsible For The Cuban Missile Crisis?

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a product of American paranoia to a great extent, for it was the underlying factor that triggered the USSR and Cuba’s actions. The USSR’s actions were actually their means of defending themselves, in reply to what America had done (placing missiles in Turkey). America was obsessed with preventing Communism, for it would threaten America’s ideology of Capitalism and take a toll in America’s economy, stability and peace. Thus, they took very extreme measures. Furthermore, the reason Cuba sought protection from the USSR was because it wanted to protect itself from an attack from America; Cuba’s actions were a reaction to America’s behavior. The USSR took advantage of the situation in Cuba to gain a foothold in an area that was crucial to USA’s safety. This act led to the escalations of tensions, and became a high-stakes dispute

The reasons why McNamara and Kennedy and other U.S. politicians were so fearful of a nuclear was because according to U.S. analysts at the time, the 24 MRBM’s (Medium range-ballistic missiles) and sixteen IRBM’s (intermediate-range ballistic missiles) that were found in Cuba had significantly increased the number of U.S. targets that the Soviet’s could lethally attack by forty percent.[8] Furthermore, having missiles within Cuba allowed the Soviets to bypass the U.S. warning radars, especially the Ballistics Missile Early Warning system, which was stationed in the North Pole.[9] By bypassing the U.S. warning radars, it certainly amplified the risk of a surprise strike upon certain American air bases and important command posts.[10] To address this risk, the U.S. army went from “Defence Condition Five” (peacetime alert) to “Defcon 3” (war alert) which further illustrated the high levels of precautions the U.S. government were taking in order to protect itself from an offensive attack from the Soviet.[11] It was quite clear from these precautions that the impending nuclear threat in Cuba threatened the lives of American civilians, troops, and government officials. In the event that the situation escalated out of control, the two world superpowers could have engaged in a third World War that, with nuclear technology had the potential to kill hundreds of millions of civilians and soldiers.[12] Fortunately, the Cuban Mission Crisis never escalated this

The event of the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war. Fifteen years into the cold war, the two superpowers continued the fierce competition to increase their military strength. In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the nuclear arms race. Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe, whereas the US missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union. In late April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba which would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real deterrent to a potential U.S. attack against the Soviet Union. The fate of millions

The Cuban Missile Crisis forever marked 1962 as the year the world almost witnessed a nuclear war. The Soviet Union, Cuba, and the United States were all teetering on the edge of a cliff that was crumbling from the weight of fear, tension, and secrecy. It also marked the official end of Americans innocent belief that they were safe in the glow of Lady Liberty’s torch. Yet amidst the dark shadow of nuclear threat one American president rose to this challenge and proved that peace through strength is the best strategy.

The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was an intense standoff between John F. Kennedy, President of the United States and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev. For thirteen extremely unnerving days the President and the people of the United States were hoping peace would come upon the U.S. and the Soviet Union. For the reason that these two countries were on the verge of a nuclear war. The confrontation began when President John F. Kennedy was informed by an American U-2 spy plane that nuclear sites were being built by the Soviet Union on the island of Cuba. He then met with his advisors in secret meetings in order to discuss the problem and what strategies were going to be used in order to take care of the missiles in Cuba. “On October 22, he

The crisis began when the United States discovered the existence of offensive Soviet Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), nuclear capable, barely 90 miles from the southern coast of Florida, in Cuba. U-2 spy plane reconnaissance missions over Cuba captured the

The conditions for the Bay of Pigs invasion were set by a political power shift in Cuba. In 1959 a Cuban revolution led to the overthrow of President Fulgencia Batista, who was replaced by leftist Fidel Castro ("The Bay of Pigs”). Castro quickly reorganized and rebuilt the Cuban government. Much to the dismay of the United States, this new government severed the ties between Cuba and the United States, expropriated any “U.S. economic assets in Cuba,” and began building a strong relationship with the Soviet Union ("The Bay of Pigs”). Due to Cuba’s close geographic location, the United States saw revolutionized Cuba as a threat to national security.

In October 1962, the United States and the Soviet Union came to the brink of nuclear war over the placement of Soviet missiles in Cuba. It was a direct and dangerous confrontation that placed the two superpowers closest to a nuclear conflict. During the crisis, a fragile peace hung by only a thread for 13 days as the United States and the Soviet Union performed the diplomatic dance that nearly led to nuclear holocaust. We will attempt to answer what the United States as well as the Soviet’s national interests and threats were that led to this action. I will address what course of action the United States and Soviet Union took as these events unfolded and finally describe the outcome of such actions as they transpired and how the

resulting in state diplomats being prompted to speak with the Latin American countries on prevention of spreading Cuba’s communist revolution (Weaver 2014, 142). The Cuban uprising caused great distress for the U.S. in preventing communist revolutions which had originally initiated the Red Scare because the United States had been monitoring Soviet relations with Cuba for many years prior. International tensions eventually peaked between 1961 and 1962 amongst the United States, Soviet Union and Cuba. With the U.S. being at such high alert, the Kennedy administration eventually developed a foundation for multilateral action if conflict ever rose between the U.S. and Cuba (Weaver 2014, 143). Increased alertness had also peaked as the United States entered the Brink of nuclear war that would have been devastating for everyone around the world. As time advanced tensions between the U.S. and USSR escalated bringing heavier weight onto the upcoming Kennedy Administration.

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However, the strategy did not go as planned, and Castro’s army defeated and captured the invaders. It was later exposed that Kennedy had abandoned the aid of Air Force coverage just prior to attacking; if Kennedy had given more support to the mission and investigated the situation in Cuba further, the disaster at the Bay of Pigs may have been averted. “As much as the United States tried to undermine Castro and his move to embrace communism in Cuba, the United States’ efforts only solidified Castro’s influence and increase his search for Soviet assistance.” Similarly, “the incident presented the Soviet Union’s Nikita Khrushchev with the comprehension of Russia’s nuclear credibility.” Retrospectively, it is apparent that the United States should have realized retaliation was in order from Cuba and the Soviet Union.

The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 reflects possibly the most precarious moment in nuclear history. For the first time, the world’s two nuclear super powers, the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, were poised to destroy each other in a war of unprecedented proportion. On the brink of what may have escalated into a nuclear war, the leaders of two nations showed courageous restraint and diplomacy to avoid an exchange of brute force and unimaginable desolation. The situation was preempted by the Bay of Pigs, an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro, Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba. Castro had gained authority through a rebellion against Fulgencio Batista, the previous Cuban dictator (Bay of Pigs). America was displeased with Castro, mainly because he was a Communist leader so close to American shores, so a plan to depose him was made, without official United States military support.

Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet Union leader, is often considered the initiator of the Missile Crisis. He developed the idea of taking medium-range nuclear weapons to Cuba as a means of counteracting the United States’ lead in deploying as well as developing strategic weapons. Khrushchev presented the idea to the Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, as a scheme to protect Cuba from U.S. supported invasion like the failed attempt in 1961 at the Bay of Pigs (Garthoff, 2011). He was not sure if Castro would accept the missiles. Nonetheless, Khrushchev received Castro’s approval and the Soviet Union embarked on building Cuban missile installations secretly. However, President John Kennedy had seen the reconnaissance photographs of the missile construction in Cuba. It prompted President Kennedy to announce that any attack from Cuba using the nuclear weapons would be considered an attack by Russia and would be reacted to accordingly (George, 2013). He further forced quarantine on Cuba by the U.S. naval forces to prevent the Soviet shipments from gaining entry.

Shortly after President Obama was elected in 2009, Bernadine Healy, who is the editor and columnist for U.S. News & World Report published an article titled “legalize marijuana? Obama was right to say no,” signaling her disapproval of reforming the marijuana laws. In recent years, states have experimented with recreational and medical cannabis use. Healy highlighted that legalizing cannabis would go against what President Obama campaigned on in terms of nurturing our nation’s children. Earlimart, Healy discussed how marijuana has potential health effects, and is harmful for teens who use the drug. Although Healy pointed out several hurdles when it comes to cannabis legalization, she failed to mention several important elements which impact