Cuba Speech Essay

This Government, as promised, has maintained the closest surveillance of the Soviet military buildup on the island of Cuba. Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of loathsome missile sites is now in preparation on that impris unriv entirelyedd island. The purpose of these behinds target be none other than to provide a nu go past strike capability against the Western Hemisphere. Upon receiving the first preliminary hard information of this nature last Tuesday morning at 9 A.M., I enjoin that our surveillance be stepped up.And having now confirmed and blameless our evaluation of the evidence and our decision on a course of action, this Government feels obliged to report this tonic crisis to you in fullest detail. The grammatical caseistics of these new missile sites indicate two distinct types of inst wholeations. Several of them include medium range b allistic missiles, sure-footed of carrying a nuclear consignment for a distance o f more than 1,000 nautical miles. Each of these missiles, in short, is capable of impinging Washington, D. C., the Panama Canal, Cape Canaveral, Mexico City, or both(prenominal) other city in the southeastern part of the United States, in Central America, or in the Caribbean area.Click photo for high resolutionAdditional sites not yet completed appear to be designed for intermediate range ballistic missiles capable of traveling more than twice as far and thus capable of striking most of the major cities in the Western Hemisphere, ranging as far north as Hudson Bay, Canada, and as far south as Lima, Peru. In addition, jet bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, are now being uncrated and assembled in Cuba, while the necessary air bases are being prepared. This urgent transformation of Cuba into an important strategic base by the presence of these spectacular, long-range, and clearly offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction constitutes an explicit little terror to t he peace and earnest of all the Americas, in flagrant and dig defiance of the Rio Pact of 1947, the traditions of this multitude and hemisphere, the joint resolution of the 87th Congress, the Charter of the United Nations, and my receive public warnings to the Soviets on kinsfolk 4 and 13.This action also contradicts the recurrent assurances of Soviet spokesmen, twain publicly and privately delivered, that the arms buildup in Cuba would retain its original defensive character, and that the Soviet Union had no pick out or rely to situation strategic missiles. on the territory of any other course. The size of this d letstairstaking makes clear that it has been planned for some months.Yet, only last month, after I had made clear the distinction amidst any introduction of ground-to-ground missiles and the existence of defensive antiaircraft missiles, the Soviet Government publicly stated on September 11 that, and I quote, the armaments and military equipment sent to Cuba are designed exclusively for defensive purposes, that there is, and I quote the Soviet Government, there is no need for the Soviet Government to shift its weapons for a retaliatory blow to any other country, for instance Cuba, and that, and I quote their authorities, the Soviet Union has so strong rockets to carry these nuclear warheads that there is no need to search for sites for them beyond the boundaries of the Soviet Union. That direction was false.Only last Thursday, as evidence of this rapid offensive buildup was already in my hand, Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko told me in my office that he was instructed to make it clear once again, as he said his government had already done, that Soviet assistance to Cuba, and I quote, pursued solely the purpose of contributing to the defense capabilities of Cuba, that, and I quote him, training by Soviet surplusists of Cuban nationals in handling defensive armaments was by no means offensive, and if it were otherwise, Mr. Gromyko wen t on, the Soviet Government would never become involved in rendering such assistance. That statement also was false.Neither the United States of America nor the world community of nations can tolerate deliberate deception and offensive threats on the part of any nation, large or small. We no longer live in a world where only the actual firing of weapons represents a sufficient challenge to a nations security to constitute maximum peril. Nuclear weapons are so destructive and ballistic missiles are so swift, that any substantially increased casualty of their use or any sudden change in their deployment may well be regarded as a definite threat to peace. For many years, both the Soviet Union and the United States, recognizing this fact, let deployed strategic nuclear weapons with great care, never upsetting the precarious status quo which insured that these weapons would not be use in the absence of some vital challenge. Our own strategic missiles get down never been transferred to the territory of any other nation under a dress of secrecy and deception and our history unlike that of the Soviets since the end of World War II demonstrates that we present no desire to dominate or conquer any other nation or impose our system upon its good deal.Nevertheless, American citizens brook become adjusted to living daily on the bulls-eye of Soviet missiles find inside the U.S.S.R. or in submarines. In that sense, missiles in Cuba add to an already clear and present danger although it should be noted the nations of Latin America have never previously been subjected to a potential nuclear threat. But this secret, swift, extraordinary buildup of Communist missiles in an area well known to have a special and historical relationship to the United States and the nations of the Western Hemisphere, in violation of Soviet assurances, and in defiance of American and hemispheric policy this sudden, clandestine decision to station strategic weapons for the first time outs ide of Soviet soil is a deliberately provocative and unjustified change in the status quo which cannot be reliable by this country, if our courage and our commitments are ever to be trusted again by either friend or foe.The 1930s taught us a clear lesson aggressive conduct, if allowed to go unchecked and unchallenged, ultimately leads to war. This nation is opposed to war. We are also true to our word. Our unswerving objective, therefore, essential be to prevent the use of these missiles against this or any other country, and to secure their withdrawal or elimination from the Western Hemisphere. Our policy has been one of patience and restraint, as befits a peaceful and powerful nation which leads a worldwide alliance. We have been determined not to be diverted from our central concerns by mere irritants and fanatics. But now further action is required, and it is under way and these actions may only be the beginning. We will not prematurely or unnecessarily risk the costs of worl dwide nuclear war in which even the fruits of victory would be ashes in our mouth but neither will we shrink from that risk at any time it must be faced.Acting, therefore, in the defense of our own security and of the entire Western Hemisphere, and under the authority entrusted to me by the Constitution as endorsed by the Resolution of the Congress, I have directed that the following initial steps be taken immediately First 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 claim cargoes of offensive weapons, be turned back. This quarantine will be extended, if needed, to other types of cargo and carriers. We are not at this time, however, denying the necessities of life as the Soviets attempted to do in their Berlin blockade of 1948. Second I have directed the continued and increased close surveillance of Cuba and its mi litary buildup.The distant ministers of the OAS Organization of American States, in their communiqu of October 6, rejected secrecy on such matters in this hemisphere. Should these offensive military preparations continue, thus increasing the threat to the hemisphere, further action will be justified. I have directed the Armed Forces to prepare for any eventualities and I trust that in the interest of both the Cuban people and the Soviet technicians at the sites, the hazards to all come to of continuing this threat will be recognized. Third 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. quarter As a necessary military precaution, I have reinforced our base at Guantanamo, evacuated directly the dependents of our personnel there, and ordered additional military units to be on a standb y alert basis.Fifth We are calling tonight for an immediate meeting of the Organization of Consultation under the Organization of American States, to contend this threat to hemispheric security and to invoke articles 6 and 8 of the Rio Treaty in support of all necessary action. The United Nations Charter allows for regional security arrangements, and the nations of this hemisphere decided long ago against the military presence of outside powers. Our other allies around the world have also been alerted. Sixth downstairs the Charter of the United Nations, we are asking tonight that an emergency meeting of the Security Council be convoked without delay to take action against this latest Soviet threat to world peace. Our resolution will call for the prompt dismantling and withdrawal of all offensive weapons in Cuba, under the supervision of U.N. observers, before the quarantine can be lifted.Seventh and finally I call upon Chairman Khrushchev to halt and eliminate this clandestine, r eckless, and provocative threat to world peace and to stable relations between our two nations. I call upon him further to abandon this course of world domination, and to join in an historic effort to end the perilous arms race and to transform the history of man. He has an opportunity now to move the world back from the abyss of destruction by returning to his governments own words that it had no need to station missiles outside its own territory, and withdrawing these weapons from Cuba by refraining from any action which will widen or deepen the present crisis, and past by participating in a search for peaceful and permanent solutions.This nation is prepared to present its case against the Soviet threat to peace, and our own proposals for a peaceful world, at any time and in any forum in the OAS, in the United Nations, or in any other meeting that could be useful without limiting our freedom of action. We have in the past made strenuous efforts to limit the spread of nuclear we apons. We have proposed the elimination of all arms and military bases in a fair and effective disarmament treaty. We are prepared to discuss new proposals for the removal of tensions on both sides, including the possibilities of a genuinely independent Cuba, free to determine its own destiny. We have no respect to war with the Soviet Union for we are a peaceful people who desire to live in peace with all other peoples.But it is difficult to settle or even discuss these problems in an atmosphere of intimidation. That is why this latest Soviet threat or any other threat which is made either independently or in response to our actions this week must and will be met with determination. Any hostile move anywhere in the world against the safety and freedom of peoples to whom we are committed, including in particular the brave people of West Berlin, will be met by whatever action is needed. Finally, I want to say a few words to the captive people of Cuba, to whom this actors line is b eing directly carried by special radio facilities. I speak to you as a friend, as one who knows of your deep attachment to your fatherland, as one who shares your aspirations for liberty and justice for all. And I have watched and the American people have watched with deep sorrow how your nationalist revolution was betrayed and how your fatherland fell under foreign domination.Now your leaders are no longer Cuban leaders inspired by Cuban ideals. They are puppets and agents of an international conspiracy which has turned Cuba against your friends and neighbors in the Americas, and turned it into the first Latin American country to become a target for nuclear war the first Latin American country to have these weapons on its soil. These new weapons are not in your interest. They contribute nothing to your peace and well-being. They can only undermine it. But this country has no wish to cause you to suffer or to impose any system upon you. We know that your lives and land are being u sed as pawns by those who deny your freedom. some(prenominal) times in the past, the Cuban people have risen to throw out tyrants who destroyed their liberty.And I have no doubt that most Cubans today look forward to the time when they will be truly free free from foreign domination, free to choose their own leaders, free to select their own system, free to own their own land, free to speak and write and worship without fear or degradation. And then shall Cuba be welcomed back to the society of free nations and to the associations of this hemisphere. My cranny citizens, let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous effort on which we have set out. No one can figure precisely what course it will take or what costs or casualties will be incurred.Many months of sacrifice and self-discipline lie ahead months in which both our patience and our will will be tested, months in which many threats and denunciations will keep us aware of our dangers. But the greatest danger of a ll would be to do nothing. The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are but it is the one most consistent with our character and courage as a nation and our commitments around the world. The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender or submission. Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom, here in this hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world. God willing, that goal will be achieved.