Kennedys True Initiative in Times of Crisis: The Cuban Missile Crisis :: essays research papers

Introduction Khrushchev must not be certain that, where its indispensable interests are threatened, the US will never strike first. As Kennedy says, In some circumstances we might have to take the initiative. These words, readily published in 1962, became the verification to both Khrushchev and Kennedy that the Soviet core and the United States would be preparing for a nuclear war. One could simply take Kennedys threat at brass section value. The United States in 1962 was a growing empire whose military credentials outmanoeuvred that of the Soviet Union by a decade. Here, outlined, are two factors which prove that prexy Kennedy was technically able to initiate a nuclear war while, also discussed, are two factors that would prove to be a likely source of electronegativity towards such an initiative. Thus, proving that regardless of the military advantage that the United States had over the Soviet Union, President Kennedy did not wish to initiate a nuclear war.Strong-Point/Intro ductory, Key tune 1 Militaristically, the U.S. was in a significantly advantageous situation over Russia. If he wished to, Kennedy would have been capable of striking the Soviet Union with nuclear missiles.In 1962, the U.S. had an estimated 5 100 nuclear weapons while the Soviet Union had only approximately 300.The Soviets Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) were 10 years behind what the Americans were producing.The Americans had stealing undercover agent capabilities far greater than the SovietsoU.S spy satellites were focused on the Soviet.XIn 1962, Daniel Ellsberg, part of the Rand Corporation and later publishing the Pentagon Papers on Vietnam, commented that to show the Russians the U.S. supremacy, it would be simpler to send Khrushchev the precise geographical coordinates of the Soviet ICBM bases at plesetsk, or even copies of the photographs taken by US satellites.oU-2 spy flights were constantly monitoring the progress of the Soviets in order to ensure accurate U S Strategic Military planning.The U.S. had posted military bases surrounding the Soviet Union where until utilising Cuba, the Russians were isolated to posting bases only in the Soviet Union. oIn 1963, there were approximately one million US servicemen stationed in 203 bases in the United States and in 1 040 bases overseas.oDue to the NATO alliance and US foreign assistance programmes, there were another 3.5 million troops bordering the Soviet Union.Body, Key Argument 2 To eliminate the possibility that Kennedy may have wanted to initiate a nuclear war, and was influenced not to, Kennedys personal advisors (his juxtaposed being finance and military) were pressuring him to initiate a nuclear war.