:16:00
a way to remove those missiles
without war, if possible.
:16:04
Is that all?
:16:06
I should think that would be enough.
:16:08
With pinpoint bombing,
we can destroy the bases
:16:10
without inflicting any serious casualties
:16:12
among the civilian Cuban population.
:16:14
But we'll be hitting Russian technicians
:16:15
and Russian soldiers.
:16:17
Won't that give the Soviets
an open invitation
:16:18
to strike back someplace thas
strategically more important?
:16:21
Excuse me...
:16:22
Admiral, I wonder if I might...
:16:23
May I say...
:16:24
Go ahead, Admiral Anderson.
:16:25
Thank you, sir.
:16:26
Now, there is no more strategically vital
location than Cuba.
:16:29
Look, sir,
Cuba lies on the Windward Passage,
:16:32
the Florida Straits, the Yucatan Channel,
:16:34
and all of the main ship lanes from our
east coast to the gulf coast,
:16:38
and the Panama Canal.
:16:39
With nuclear weapons,
she commands half the hemisphere.
:16:43
Would you agree with
that assessment, Mac?
:16:47
I'm inclining to the view that in the end
:16:50
we're going to have to
negotiate with the Soviets
:16:52
either in direct talks or
at the United Nations.
:16:55
But what will we negotiate,
Berlin, Greece,
:16:58
Secretary Rusk's plantation in Georgia?
:16:59
Cuba is an island, and I submit that we
:17:02
have ample sea and air power
to blockade her.
:17:07
Blockade?
:17:08
Blockade her.
:17:09
Now, thas true, theoretically...
:17:11
Is true in fact.
:17:12
We can blockade her with
our ships and our planes,
:17:14
and prevent the further delivery
of war supplies
:17:16
and materials from Russia.
:17:18
But Bob, how will a blockade serve
:17:19
to stop the Russians
from completing the bases
:17:22
they've begun with the materials
they already have?
:17:24
We can cut off their source for weapons,
fuel supply, lubricants,
:17:27
even their food if necessary.
:17:28
I the meantime,
while we're maneuvering at sea,
:17:30
they'll proceed to complete
their missile system.
:17:32
That is assuming that they have
all the hardware they need.
:17:35
Well, when a man points a gun
at your head,
:17:37
is only prudent to assume
that is loaded.
:17:39
Yeah, wait, let me just say this,
:17:40
I can see advantages here.
:17:41
A blockade would certainly
demonstrate our determination
:17:43
to resist Khrushchev
:17:44
while stopping short of a sneak attack.
:17:46
In the short term,
:17:47
at least is a less extreme measure
than an air strike,
:17:49
and it could reduce the danger
of an all out war.
:17:51
Exactly.
:17:52
But that does not of itself
remove the missiles,
:17:54
and the missiles are the issue,
:17:56
and the missiles are our objective.
:17:58
Tommy, you know Khrushchev better
than any of us,