17-07-2016, 09:58 PM
BTW, let me add something about the Missile Crisis.
That crisis was not provoked by Kennedy. It was caused by Nikita K.
Kennedy had made it clear that he would allow Russian defensive weapons in Cuba. But not offensive ones, since because of the proximity, an attack on the USA was quite possible by air or sea.
If one analyzes the arsenal of atomic weapons that the Russians moved into Cuba, no rational person could say that it was defensive.
Combined, there were over 100 long range and medium range rockets, each of which carried an explosive about seven times as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb. In addition, there were 20 nuclear bombers, and seven atomic submarines. In addition to that there were mobile atomic bombs, the kind that are small enough to be portable.
This not only was not defensive, it constituted a veritable first strike capability. You could literally hit almost every major city in America, causing tens of millions of deaths. Kennedy literally had no choice except to do what he did. Especially after the Soviet ambassador lied to his face about them being there.
Kennedy thought that the Russians were going to use this as a bargaining chip to get the USA out of Berlin, and then take the city and fold it into East Germany. This is right after JFK made his famous speech there. That was something he saw as unraveling the balance of power in Europe and also NATO.
But in reading the transcripts, its clear that it was Kennedy who was the most level headed guy in the room. By about the 12th day, its essentially him and his brother who are still holding out for a negotiated settlement.
In my view, you have to give JFK a lot of credit for what he did here. Nikita K really forced the issue stupidly. And Kennedy gave him the time and the leverage to back away from it. After Kennedy was killed, the opponents of Nikita, led by Brezhnev, got rid of him, and it was partly over this stupid move.
If that would have been Nixon, or LBJ in JFK's chair the results would have been different I think. Just as I think that, if it had not been Kennedy during the Bay of Pigs, Cuba would be an American colony today.
That crisis was not provoked by Kennedy. It was caused by Nikita K.
Kennedy had made it clear that he would allow Russian defensive weapons in Cuba. But not offensive ones, since because of the proximity, an attack on the USA was quite possible by air or sea.
If one analyzes the arsenal of atomic weapons that the Russians moved into Cuba, no rational person could say that it was defensive.
Combined, there were over 100 long range and medium range rockets, each of which carried an explosive about seven times as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb. In addition, there were 20 nuclear bombers, and seven atomic submarines. In addition to that there were mobile atomic bombs, the kind that are small enough to be portable.
This not only was not defensive, it constituted a veritable first strike capability. You could literally hit almost every major city in America, causing tens of millions of deaths. Kennedy literally had no choice except to do what he did. Especially after the Soviet ambassador lied to his face about them being there.
Kennedy thought that the Russians were going to use this as a bargaining chip to get the USA out of Berlin, and then take the city and fold it into East Germany. This is right after JFK made his famous speech there. That was something he saw as unraveling the balance of power in Europe and also NATO.
But in reading the transcripts, its clear that it was Kennedy who was the most level headed guy in the room. By about the 12th day, its essentially him and his brother who are still holding out for a negotiated settlement.
In my view, you have to give JFK a lot of credit for what he did here. Nikita K really forced the issue stupidly. And Kennedy gave him the time and the leverage to back away from it. After Kennedy was killed, the opponents of Nikita, led by Brezhnev, got rid of him, and it was partly over this stupid move.
If that would have been Nixon, or LBJ in JFK's chair the results would have been different I think. Just as I think that, if it had not been Kennedy during the Bay of Pigs, Cuba would be an American colony today.