Thirteen Days in Oct..

Home Explore Topics Log in | Sign Up | About

Squidoo™ News Top 100 Groups Democrat Republican Election Make your page Search: Find a lens on...

Go

Thirteen Days in October: The Cuban Missile Crisis by John_Fenzel #2 in News & Politics (by 93 people) Your rating: Subscribe Email Print Bookmark R.N. Seidman & Partners, "Value Added Mgmt Services For Underperforming & Troubled Co's" www.rnseidman.com Crisis Management Find Crisis Management programs online or at a campus near you! WashingtonPost.com/Education Ads by Google

http://www.squidoo.com/cubanmissilecrisis

The Most Dangerous Two Weeks in History... In the summer of 1962, the Soviet Union dispatched a fleet of commercial cargo ships filled with nuclear missiles, launchers and anti-aircraft guns--all under false manifests--across the Atlantic Ocean to Fidel Castro's Cuba. Forty thousand Soviet soldiers and technicians began clandestinely erecting an extensive array of armed missile sites, and aiming their nuclear-tipped medium range ballistic missiles at the United States. Nikita Khruschev and his key military advisors thought that the missiles would remain unnoticed until November, and then he planned to suddenly reveal them to the United States as a fait accompli. They were nearly successful. But in mid-October, with the Soviet tankers still enroute, American U-2 spy planes and CIA photo analysts detected several Medium Range Ballistic Missiles (MRBMs) on Cuban soil, their sites still under construction. In the weeks that followed, both nations stood at the brink of nuclear holocaust. Never before in history has the world come closer to a general nuclear war. On this 45th Anniversary of those events, understanding the Cuban Missile Crisis today is arguably more important than it has ever been.

Squidoo's Lens of the Year for 2007! Squidoo named Thirteen Days in October: The Cuban Missile Crisis Lens of the Year for 2007! Many thanks to all who voted for this lens! Several years ago, I had the opportunity to sit down over dinner with Ted Sorenson, one of President Kennedy's closest advisors. We discussed the Cuban Missile Crisis at length and it was obvious to me as we spoke, that this singular event had a profound and enduring effect on him--to this day. This seminal event in our nation's history continues to be studied at all of our nation's war colleges. Those discussions, public and private, prompted me to craft this lens. I'm honored to have Thirteen Days in October: The Cuban Missile Crisis named Lens of the Year. And I'm humbled--there are so many supremely talented lensmasters with superb lenses on Squidoo. And so, for me, it's a great privilege to be a part of the Squidoo community!

John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy (Outside the Oval Office)


Pre-Crisis Timeline 1960-1962 (The roots of the crisis began two years prior).

July 9, 1960: Khruschev declares that "speaking figuratively, in case of necessity, Soviet artillerymen can support the Cuban people with rocket fire." July 12, 1960: Khruschev declares the Monroe Doctrine "dead." October 19, 1960: The U.S. ends all exports to Cuba except nonsubsidized foodstuffs, medicines, and medical supplies. April 17-19, 1961: CIA-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion fails. June 3-4, 1961: President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev meet in Vienna.


February 3, 1962: President Kennedy embargoes all trade with Cuba except for medical necessities. May 24, 1962: The Soviet Defense Ministry formally decides to send nuclear missiles to Cuba. Throughout the summer of 1962: U.S. Surveillance of heavy volume of Russian shipping bound for Cuba. Emerging picture of the military build-up worries John A. McCone, DCI. He increases U-2 overflights, concerned that the Soviets might introduce offensive weapons into Cuba. The first photographic proof of surface-to-air missile deployments in Cuba was obtained on August 29, 1962. Also confirms seven KOMAR guided-missile patrol boats in the naval port of Mariel, twenty-seven miles west-southwest of Havana. Reveals a cruise-missile launch site that could be launched against invading forces. August 31, 1962: Republican Senator Kenneth Keating warns of possible Soviet "Rocket installations in Cuba" and urges President Kennedy to act. This sentiment echoes in Congress through the first three weeks of October. September 4: President Kennedy issues a press statement that denies evidence of offensive military weapons in Cuba but warns, "Were it otherwise, the gravest issues would arise." September 13: At a press conference, President Kennedy declares that if Cuba were to "become an offensive military base of significant capacity for the Soviet Union, then this country would do whatever must be done to protect its own security and that of its allies." September 20: The Senate resolves by a vote of 86 to 1 to sanction the use of force, if necessary, "to prevent the creation or use of an externally supported offensive military capability endangering the security of the U.S." Six days later the House of Representatives passes this resolution by a vote of 384 to 7.

Soviet Ships Carrying Offensive Armaments to Cuba September 28, 1962


Photograph of Soviet ship Kasimov with IL-28 bomber fuselages in crates.

The Threat Why the Crisis?

The SS-4 Sandal MRBM could launch a three-megaton warhead to an estimated range of 1,020 nautical miles that could reach targets as far away as Washington, D.C., Dallas, or the Panama Canal.

CIA reference photograph of Soviet medium-range ballistic missile in Red Square, Moscow.
