15th October 1962, Missiles Confirmed in Cuba- Crisis Deepens
Tensions between the United
States and Russia had escalated during August 1962, following unsuccessful
operations by the US to overthrow the Cuban regime at the Bay of Pigs. In
response the Cuban and Soviet governments secretly began to build bases in Cuba
for a number of medium-range
and intermediate-range
ballistic nuclear missiles (MRBMs and IRBMs) with the ability to
strike most of the continental
United States.
On October 15, the CIA's National
Photographic Interpretation Center reviewed photographs taken by U-2 reconnaissance
planes and identified medium range ballistic missiles at an SS-4 construction
site at San Cristóbal, Pinar del Río Province, in western Cuba.
What ensued was a flurry of
diplomatic positions and on the 22nd October 1962 at 7:00 pm EDT, President
Kennedy delivered a nation-wide televised address on all of the major networks
announcing the discovery of the missiles.
“It shall be the policy of this
nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in
the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States,
requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.”
Kennedy described the administration's
plan:
“To halt this offensive buildup,
a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba
is being initiated. All ships of any kind bound for Cuba, from whatever nation
or port, will, if found to contain cargoes of offensive weapons, be turned
back.”
Research courtesy of Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_missile_crisis
Image courtesy of The U.S.
National Archives under The Commons agreement on Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/5884818047/
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