:02:03
approaching the blockade line.
:02:05
Now, the submarines will be kept
under constant surveillance
:02:08
as we locate them.
:02:10
And the merchant ships?
:02:12
We're tracking them, sir.
:02:15
Very well.
:02:18
But any order to fire,
or to board, for that matter,
:02:22
must originate right here.
:02:29
I've sent another message to Khrushchev
:02:31
urging him to observe
our quarantine line,
:02:34
and assuring him that we have no wish
to fire on any Soviet ships,
:02:39
and I mean that.
:02:42
We can't let events get out of hand
:02:44
and make the situation more difficult
than it already is.
:02:49
Now, Admiral suppose
one of the Soviet ships
:02:53
tries to run the blockade,
how do we stop her,
:02:56
how much force do we use?
:02:59
Do we disable her, do we fire,
do we tow, what?
:03:01
Well, sir,
we'd give an appropriate warning,
:03:04
and then we'd fire at
the rudder and propellers
:03:06
to disable the vessel.
:03:08
And then?
:03:10
And then, sir, we board and search.
:03:12
And what if they resist the boarding?
:03:17
We overcome the resistance.
:03:19
Why is it necessary to board?
:03:20
Why can't we just throw a line
on the ship,
:03:22
tow it to Jacksonville or Charleston,
:03:24
and avoid the confrontation at sea?
:03:26
What happens if we tow it
all the way to Florida
:03:27
and find out is carrying
a cargo of baby food?
:03:31
Mr. President,
I think we have to face the probability
:03:35
that there's going to be some shooting
:03:36
on that blockade line tomorrow morning.
:03:39
Cuba is a country which
has seen United States aircraft
:03:44
set fire to its plantations
:03:46
without ever a declaration of war.
:03:51
Cuba is a country which has seen
:03:53
its plants and factories sabotaged,
:03:56
its workers wounded and killed,
:03:58
without ever a declaration of war.