:26:00
every damn boat like an enemy.
:26:05
I want you to make absolutely certain
:26:07
that the Navy understands my
policy in full.
:26:12
Yes, sir.
:26:16
Whas that ship doing out there
by itself, Admiral?
:26:18
Is on patrol, Mr. Secretary.
:26:20
I don't understand her position.
:26:22
Is a security matter, sir.
:26:25
Copy Admiral Ward on this immediately.
:26:28
Admiral?
:26:30
Yes, sir.
:26:30
Could you step outside for a moment,
please.
:26:32
Very well, sir.
:26:35
Admiral, we know we have ample power
:26:39
to defeat the Soviets in the Caribbean,
:26:41
but they might react someplace else
in a spasm,
:26:44
with nuclear weapons.
:26:45
The President does not want
to push Khrushchev
:26:47
to those extremes.
:26:49
Mr. Secretary, by any standards,
:26:50
a blockade is an act of war.
:26:53
I know the Soviets understand as much,
:26:54
and I think we should, sir.
:26:56
We can't view this as
a conventional blockade.
:26:59
I have my procedures.
:27:01
Admiral, tomorrow morning,
:27:03
the Soviet tanker Bucharest
is going to be at that line.
:27:05
Now that ship is not to be sunk.
:27:07
It is not to be boarded
if it responds to our request
:27:10
to identify itself and its cargo.
:27:11
We are aware of the Bucharest,
Mr. Secretary,
:27:14
as we are also aware of
six Soviet submarines
:27:17
spread out over the Caribbean.
:27:19
Do you have a Russian-speaking officer
on each destroyer
:27:21
on that blockade line?
:27:23
I don't know.
:27:24
Find out.
:27:26
What are you going to do if
the Soviet captain refuses
:27:28
to discuss his cargo?
:27:30
Mr. Secretary,
this is a manual of naval regulations
:27:34
evolved continuously over
our entire history.
:27:37
It covers every contingency.
:27:38
There's a copy of this book
on every ship in the Navy.
:27:40
Admiral, I don't give a damn
what John Paul Jones would have done.
:27:43
I want to know what you are going to do.
:27:46
I'm going to follow my orders, sir.
:27:49
And now if you'll go back to
your offices, Mr. Secretary,
:27:51
the Navy will run the blockade.
:27:54
The tenth day of the Missiles of October.
:27:57
Excuse me, Mr. President.
:27:59
Yes, Pierre.