Cuban Missile Crisis -An Insight

[joe81]

The Cuban Missile Crisis (known as the October Crisis in Cuba or Caribbean Crisis (Russ: Kарибский кризис) in the USSR) was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War. In August 1962, after some unsuccessful operations by the US to overthrow the Cuban regime (Bay of Pigs, Operation Mongoose), 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. This action followed the 1958 deployment of Thor IRBMs in the UK (Project Emily) and Jupiter IRBMs to Italy and Turkey in 1961 – more than 100 US-built missiles having the capability to strike Moscow with nuclear warheads. On October 14, 1962, a United States Air Force U-2 plane on a photoreconnaissance mission captured photographic proof of Soviet missile bases under construction in Cuba.

The following videos offer great insight into the Cuban missile crisis which had the world just hours away from a full blown nuclear war:
Part 1:
Defcon 2 - Cuban Missile Crisis Part 1 of 6 - YouTube

Part2:
Defcon 2 - The Cuban Missile Crisis Part 2 of 6 - YouTube

Part3:
Defcon 2 - Cuban Missile Crisis Part 3 of 6 - YouTube

Part4:
Defcon 2 - Cuban Missile Crisis Part 4 of 6 - YouTube

Part5:
Defcon 2 - Cuban Missile Crisis Part 5 of 6 - YouTube

Part6:
Defcon 2 - Cuban missile Crisis Part 6 of 6 - YouTube

 

[The Messiah]

USSR betrayed the cubans.

 

[joe81]

USSR betrayed the cubans.

Really? I thought in war every country is trying to serve its objectives. USSR acheived it by forcing the Americans to pull out nukes from Turkey and also the Cubans got the assurance that US will not invade them. So this missile crises benifitted both USSR and the Cubans.while providing US with a face saving exit.

But it brought the world to a full blown nuclear war

 

[W.G.Ewald]

USSR betrayed the cubans.

USSR also supported Fidel economically for years. What did Cubans need missiles for? If a nuclear war had ensued, Cuba would be a wasteland today.

 

[joe81]

The irony is that US preaches about N weapons to India who has never even said that they would ever use it on a country as a weapon of choice. But US has always deplyed it at different countries at the slight hint of a war

 

[Yusuf]

The irony is that US preaches about N weapons to India who has never even said that they would ever use it on a country as a weapon of choice. But US has always deplyed it at different countries at the slight hint of a war

The preachers always say, do what we ask you to do and not what we do or ask us to do what we preach.

Interests dictate every thing. Today we have developed nukes but the. We ask Iran not to do so and voted against it in the IAEA. That's how the world goes.

 

[The Messiah]

Really? I thought in war every country is trying to serve its objectives. USSR acheived it by forcing the Americans to pull out nukes from Turkey and also the Cubans got the assurance that US will not invade them. So this missile crises benifitted both USSR and the Cubans.while providing US with a face saving exit.

But it brought the world to a full blown nuclear war

From the cuban perspective they were used by the ussr to get even with usa.

USSR also supported Fidel economically for years. What did Cubans need missiles for? If a nuclear war had ensued, Cuba would be a wasteland today.

After bay of pigs the cubans were always on the lookout for direct yankee involvement on the ground. They wanted the missiles as an insurance. It basically meant if you (usa) invade us then we will use the missiles.

Fidel only turned towards the ussr economically after usa imposed trade sanctions on cuba. They wanted to trade with usa itself but usa wanted none of it.

 

[civfanatic]

After the Missile Crisis, the U.S. promised never to invade Cuba. So in that sense the Cubans got a much-needed security blanket. The USSR did not have the capability to defend Cuba from a conventional invasion so both Cuba and the USSR got the best deal, even though Fidel was initially angry that the Soviets withdrew the nukes.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

The Messiah wrote

Fidel only turned towards the ussr economically after usa imposed trade sanctions on cuba. They wanted to trade with usa itself but usa wanted none of it.

Cuba had the rest of the world to trade with after the embargo was imposed. The left portrays Cuba as a victim. Cuba is a victim of socialism, nothing more.

 

[civfanatic]

The Messiah wrote

Cuba had the rest of the world to trade with after the embargo was imposed. The left portrays Cuba as a victim. Cuba is a victim of socialism, nothing more.

No, Cuba is not a victim of socialism. Anyone with even a basic knowledge of Cuban and Caribbean history will realise that socialism has benefited Cuba more than any other country in the world, thanks to its unique circumstances. If you want proof for this statement, look no further than capitalist Haiti and Jamaica and compare them to Cuba.

 

[The Messiah]

The Messiah wrote

Cuba had the rest of the world to trade with after the embargo was imposed. The left portrays Cuba as a victim. Cuba is a victim of socialism, nothing more.

Rest of the world ? The countries in the usa block wouldn't trade with cuba if usa themselves weren't trading.

There was only one other option. Why is the trade embargo still on even today ?

As for the rest read civfanatic's post.

 

[civfanatic]

Some interesting comparative statistics:

Cuba:
Per capita income: $10,000
Life expectancy: 77.7 years
Literacy rate: 99.8%
Overall HDI: 0.760
Infant mortality rate: 4.9 deaths/1000 births
Physicians per capita: 6.4 physicians/1000 population
Unemployment rate: 1.6%


Haiti:
Per capita income: $1,200
Life expectancy: 62.17 years
Literacy rate: 52.19%
Overall HDI: 0.404
Infant mortality rate: 54 deaths/1000 births
Physicians per capita: 0.25 physicians/1000 population
Unemployment rate: 40.6%


Cuba and Haiti both have a similar population and are located just 80km apart. Why are they so different? Some victim of socialism, what?


Statistics come from the CIA World Factbook.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Some interesting comparative statistics:

Cuba:
Per capita income: $10,000
Life expectancy: 77.7 years
Literacy rate: 99.8%
Overall HDI: 0.760
Infant mortality rate: 4.9 deaths/1000 births
Physicians per capita: 6.4 physicians/1000 population
Unemployment rate: 1.6%


Haiti:
Per capita income: $1,200
Life expectancy: 62.17 years
Literacy rate: 52.19%
Overall HDI: 0.404
Infant mortality rate: 54 deaths/1000 births
Physicians per capita: 0.25 physicians/1000 population
Unemployment rate: 40.6%


Cuba and Haiti both have a similar population and are located just 80km apart. Why are they so different? Some victim of socialism, what?


Statistics come from the CIA World Factbook.

A non sequitur, perhaps even a red herring.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Here is an interesting view:

Who Benefits From the US Trade Embargo of Cuba?

And while Castro's regime and that of his successor, his brother Raul, have always talked a good anti-embargo game, they're Johnny on the spot and ready to escalate tensions with the US any time it looks like the matter is up for serious reconsideration. From their standpoint, El Bloqueo may be the single best guarantee of their continued hold on power. It gives them a ready-made foreign enemy — an enemy to blame for the failure of Castro's socialist revolution and an enemy to wave at its subjects as a military threat against which those subjects must stand united.

 

[The Messiah]

Here is an interesting view:

Who Benefits From the US Trade Embargo of Cuba?

You still haven't answered why usa is still imposing a trade embargo ?

why give castro the perfect excuse ? ie if one were to believe the above quoted paragraph.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

You still haven't answered why usa is still imposing a trade embargo ?

why give castro the perfect excuse ? ie if one were to believe the above quoted paragraph.

I don't have an answer. I was just a kid at the time it was imposed; in fact I had a Movimiento 26 de Julio armband and thought Fidel was a hero.

If I had to provide a reason why the embargo will probably stay in place, I would point to Chinese assistance to Cuba in drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

 

[Phenom]

USSR also supported Fidel economically for years. What did Cubans need missiles for? If a nuclear war had ensued, Cuba would be a wasteland today.

What need did Turkey have for Jupiter missiles stationed there by US?

 

[Yusuf]

What need did Turkey have for Jupiter missiles stationed there by US?

Turkey didn't need it, the US did. Turkey being part of NATO offered itself as a base. Target USSR.

It was all politicking and brinkmanship. Getting into technicalities is going to give answers.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

What need did Turkey have for Jupiter missiles stationed there by US?

Johnny Turk has a long history with Russia.

Tchaikovsky - Marche Slave - YouTube