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Filled with Soviet apprehensions, the United States
during the Cold War followed an offensive approach
in dealing with military actions against the Communist.
The period 1961-1969 is a representative of this
approach in which the US' foreign policies reflected
US fear of Soviet's armament.
President J. F. Kennedy especially had been responsible
for the proliferation of such sentiments among
US senators and political leaders. Kennedy had
been of the opinion that the Soviets had more
weaponry power than the US and therefore the Americans
must equip itself with equally powerful armament;
he foresaw the Third World as fertile grounds
for Soviet military and political victory. For
this reason he proposed the US followed suit by
providing economic, military and political aid
to these countries among which Latin America,
specifically Cuba had been one. Cuba proved to
be a closer neighbor and since it already had
ties with the Soviet through the Soviet-Cuban
agreement between the leaders Fidel Castro and
Khrushchev, the US targeted it for military armament
and political progress in the form of Alliance
for Progress and Peace Corps.
President Kennedy considered Cuba "the most
dangerous area in the world" (Paterson et
al 1998, p. 333) as its leader Castro proved to
be a nationalist and anti-American revolutionist,
sentiments that might proliferate to neighboring
Latin American nations, and thereby oust the US
from the continent. To resolve this problem, the
US political leaders' attempt had been to impel
a series of democratic reforms to Cuba and expect
its government to acquiesce. Counteraction would
result in the stoppage of trade and economic aid.
A miscalculation of the Cuban sentiments resulted
in Castro recruiting an even stronger revolutionary
movement from the populous, and with Soviet's
assistant been able to combat CIA trained commandos'
attack in 1961.
Unwilling to face defeat, President Kennedy continued
to issue orders for the assassination of Castro
and elimination of his guerillas. A turning point
in this series of events had been the Cuban-Soviet
decision to establish a nuclear weapon base that
would target the US in 1962. US military on the
other hand fearing an attack from Cuba has initiated
Operation Mongoose which escalated Cuban fears
of the US attacks. To counteract any such future
attacks, the Soviet and Cuba armament comprising
of MIGs, small arms, howitzers, armored personnel
carriers, patrol boats and tanks began to stock
in Cuba. The US on the other hand came to know
of this armament launched an armament operation
of its own - naval base formed boundaries of Cuba
and the Caribbean to stop Soviet arms from reaching
Cuba; stationed military base at Turkey to curtail
Soviet proliferation to the African states and
at the same time prepared for launching missiles
against the Soviet should the US face offense.
The US at the time had the intention of attacking
the Soviet which could have resulted in World
War III; however rational discussions among the
military leaders and the conclusion that US military
power may not be able to curtail military invasions
resulted in the agreement to negotiate. On October
27, "a Soviet surface to air missile shot
down a u-2 plane over Cuba" which would have
resulted in a full fledged war had it not been
for the letter from Khrushchev sent to the United
States appealing for the removal of missiles from
Turkey. Soviet proposal for the removal of the
missiles in exchange for a pledge to not attack
Cuba by the US proved to be the climax of the
Crisis and with it ended the Cuban Missile Crisis
episode but it did not by far ended the Cold War.
The Crisis proved that the US foreign policy
makers had, during the Cold War followed an offensive
tactic. Apprehended by Soviet military might,
throughout the period of the 1960s, the US only
saw opportunities at foreign relations as a means
to have an upper hand over the Soviet. President
Kennedy had been the leading character in this
episode and race for nuclear armament which resulted
in an almost nuclear war event. The Cuban Missile
Crisis not only proved that US political leaders
followed offensive tactics but it also showed
that political leaders were not aware of their
own resources neither were they concerned about
the welfare of the US people. The major concern
had been to win the Cold War whether it is through
territorial expansions, economic means or through
military might. The budget for armament increased
manifolds at the cost of the US people and this
trend continued through to the Vietnam War. Yet,
despite this fact the resultant actions that the
political leaders namely Kennedy, Johnson and
the like all followed crises management tactics
that reflect their selfish endeavor to gain political
victory rather than the consideration for the
nations involved.
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