Nicky Sun Kulik 9/16/2013 Kennedy Cuban Missile Crisis I believe that the Kennedy administration should take

Option 2, or blockading Cuba. This option involves blockading Cuba to prevent Soviet ships from carrying missile-related materials to Cuba. This would combine the effects of a diplomatic response and a militaristic response, but would not be as dangerous or slow. Invasion would cause a war between the Soviets and the U.S., which could potentially become nuclear. This war would most likely start with the invasion of Cuba and something along the lines of Soviet occupation of Berlin. Kennedy made it clear in a statement to the Joint Chiefs of Staff that if the U.S. invaded Cuba, the Soviet Union would be able to take advantage of the U.S. presence in Cuba. While the U.S. forces were occupied in Cuba, the Soviet Union would be able to take advantage of this and invade West Berlin. The Soviets were not too concerned about the well-being of Cuba, but the U.S. did find West Berlin important. Kennedy stated that the Americans would be regarded as trigger-happy and that the West Germans would be angry at the U.S. for losing West Berlin. The option of attacking Cuba would result in the loss of West Berlin and a nuclear war, which is not desirable. The Kennedy administration must do something. Waiting for the Soviets to deploy missiles on Cuba that could strike Washington would serve disadvantageous for the U.S. The reputation of the Kennedy administration would deteriorate due to the fact that they were watching their doom unfold in front of their eye. Additionally, the U.S. would be vulnerable, and the Soviets would see this as a signal to send more missiles to Cuba for future situations. A

blockade would not allow the Soviets to send more missiles to Cuba and would enforce American security. An invasion on Cuba would make the U.S. seem like a hypocrite for initiating a "Pearl Harbor" style surprise attack on the Cubans. A Pearl Harbor style attack was generally seen as a tactic the Soviets would use on a country allied with the U.S. If the U.S. were to attack Cuba in an invasion, the world would see the U.S. as hypocrites, and the reputation of the Kennedy administration would be tarnished. This option also supports many of Americas core democratic values. The core democratic value of life states that each person has the right to their on life and the government should not be able to determine ones fate. Attempting to attack Cuba or even Russia itself would be endangering national security and could cause nuclear war. This would give the same outcome as what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki: death and destruction. The U.S. government should strive to keep national security at high priority and should consider safer and better options, such as the described blockade. One possible opposing viewpoint is a purely diplomatic approach. A diplomatic approach would not require any militaristic action from the U.S., and could possibly work. This would involve more negotiation with the Soviet Union and would result in near-zero deaths. Additionally, a peaceful outcome would be made and no shame would come to the U.S. This method of diplomacy may work to remove the missiles from Cuba, but it would take a long time; much longer than the blockade would need to resolve the problem. In conclusion, I believe that you, President Kennedy, should choose to blockade Cuba to prevent any Russian ships carrying missiles from getting through. This would avoid the dangers

and consequences that would follow from an attack on Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis must end, and it must end in proper and quick way, by using a blockade.