37. JFK - Cuban Missile Crisis
Good evening, my fellow citizens:
This Government, as promised, has maintained the closest surveillance of the Soviet
military buildup on the island of Cuba. Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established
the fact that a series of offensive missile sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island.
The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability
against the Western Hemisphere.
Upon receiving the first preliminary hard information of this nature last Tuesday morning at 9
A.M., I directed that our surveillance be stepped up. And having now confirmed and completed
our eva luation of the evidence and our decision on a course of action, this Government feels
obliged to report this new crisis to you in fullest detail.
The characteristics of these new missile sites indicate two distinct types of installations.
Several of them include medium range ballistic missiles, capable of carrying a nuclear
warhead for a distance of more than 1,000 nautical miles. Each of these missiles, in short, is
capable of striking Washington, D. C., the Panama Canal, Cape Canaveral, Mexico City, or any
other city in the southeastern part of the United States, in Central America, or in the Caribbean area.
Additional sites not yet completed appear to be designed for intermediate range ballistic
missiles capable of traveling more than twice as far and thus capable of striking most of
the major cities in the Western Hemisphere, ranging as far north as Hudson
Bay, Canada, and as far south as Lima, Peru. In addition, jet bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, are
now being uncrated and assembled in Cuba, while the necessary air bases are being prepared.
This urgent transformation of Cuba into an important strategic base by the presence of
these large, longrange, and clearly offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction constitutes
an explicit threat to the peace and security of all the Americas, in flagrant and
deliberate defiance of the Rio Pact of 1947, the traditions of this Nation and hemisphere, the
joint resolution of the 87th Congress, the Charter of the United Nations, and my own public
warnings to the Soviets on September 4 and 13. This action also contradicts the repeated
assurances of Soviet spokesmen, both publicly and privately delivered, that the arms buildup
in Cuba would retain its original defensive character, and that the Soviet Union
had no need or desire to station strategic missiles. on the territory of any other nation.
The size of this undertaking makes clear that it has been planned for some months. Yet, only
last month, after I had made clear the distinction between any introduction of groundtoground
missiles and the existence of defensive antiaircraft missiles, the Soviet Government publicly stated on
September 11 that, and I quote, "the armaments and military equipment
sent to Cuba are designed exclusively for defensive purposes," that there is, and I quote the
Soviet Government, "there is no need for the Soviet Government to shift its weapons for a
retaliatory blow to any other country, for instance Cuba," and that, and I quote their
government, "the Soviet Union has so powerful rockets to carry these nuclear warheads that
there is no need to search for sites for them beyond the boundaries of the Soviet Union."
That statement was false.
Only last Thursday, as evidence of this rapid offensive buildup was already in my hand, Soviet
Foreign Minister Gromyko told me in my office that he was instructed to make it clear once
again, as he said his government had already done, that Soviet assistance to Cuba, and I
quote, "pursued solely the purpose of contributing to the defense capabilities of Cuba," that,
and I quote him, "training by Soviet specialists of Cuban
nationals in handling defensive armaments was by no means offensive, and if it were otherwise," Mr.
Gromyko went on, "the Soviet Government would never become involved in rendering such assistance."
That statement also was false.
Neither the United States of America nor the world community of nations can tolerate
deliberate deception and offensive threats on the part of any nation, large or small. We no
longer live in a world where only the actual firing of weapons represents a sufficient
challenge to a nation"s security to constitute maximum peril. Nuclear weapons are so destructive and
ballistic missiles are so swift, that any substantially increased possibility of their use or any
sudden change in their deployment may well be regarded as a definite threat to peace.
For many years, both the Soviet Union and the United States, recognizing this fact, have
deployed strategic nuclear weapons with great care, never upsetting the precarious status quo which
insured that these weapons would not be used in the absence of some vital challenge.
Our own strategic missiles have never been transferred to the territory of any other nation
under a cloak of secrecy and deception. and our history unlike
that of the Soviets since the end of World War II demonstrates
that we have no desire to dominate or conquer any other
nation or impose our system upon its people.
Nevertheless, American citizens have become adjusted to living daily on the bull"seye
of Soviet missiles located inside the U.S.S.R. or in submarines.
In that sense, missiles in Cuba add to an already clear and present danger although it
should be noted the nations of Latin America have never previously been
subjected to a potential nuclear threat. But this secret, swift, extraordinary buildup of Communist
missiles in an area well known to have a special and historical relationship to the United States and the
nations of the Western Hemisphere, in violation
of Soviet assurances, and in defiance of American and hemispheric policy this
sudden, clandestine decision to station strategic weapons for the first time outside of Soviet soil
is a deliberately provocative and unjustified change in the status quo which
cannot be accepted by this country, if our courage and our
commitments are ever to be trusted again by either friend or foe.
The 1930"s taught us a clear lesson: aggressive
conduct, if allowed to go unchecked and unchallenged, ultimately leads to war. This nation
is opposed to war. We are also true to our
word. Our unswerving objective, therefore, must be to prevent the use of these missiles
against this or any other country, and to secure their withdrawal or elimination
from the Western Hemisphere.
Our policy has been one of patience and restraint, as befits a peaceful and powerful nation
which leads a worldwide alliance. We have been determined not to be diverted from our
central concerns by mere irritants and fanatics.
But now further action is required, and it
is under way. and these actions may only be the beginning. We will not prematurely or
unnecessarily risk the costs of worldwide nuclear war in which even the fruits of victory would
be ashes in our mouth. but neither will we shrink from that risk at any time it must be faced.
Acting, therefore, in the defense of our own security and of the entire Western
Hemisphere, and under the authority entrusted to me by the Constitution as endorsed by the Resolution of
the Congress, I have directed that the following initial steps be taken immediately:
First: To halt this offensive buildup a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment
under shipment to Cuba is being initiated. All ships of any kind bound for Cuba
from whatever nation or port will, if found to contain cargoes of offensive weapons, be turned back. This
quarantine will be extended, if needed, to other types of cargo and carriers. We are not at
this time, however, denying the necessities of life as the Soviets attempted to do
in their Berlin blockade of 1948.
Second: I have directed the continued and increased close surveillance of Cuba and its
military buildup. The foreign ministers of the OAS [Organization of American
States], in their communiqué" of October 6, rejected secrecy on
such matters in this hemisphere. Should these offensive military preparations continue,
thus increasing the threat to the hemisphere, further
action will be justified. I have directed the Armed Forces to prepare for any eventualities. and
I trust that in the interest of both the Cuban people and the Soviet
technicians at the sites, the hazards to all concerned of continuing this threat will be recognized.
Third: It shall be the policy of this Nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba
against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United
States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.
Fourth: As a necessary military precaution, I have reinforced our base atGuantanamo,
evacuated today the dependents of our personnel there, and ordered additional
military units to be on a standby alert basis.
Fifth: We are calling tonight for an immediate meeting of the Organ[ization] of Consultation
under the Organization of American States, to consider this threat to hemispheric security and
to invoke articles 6 and 8 of the Rio Treaty in support of all necessary action. The United
Nations Charter allows for regional security arrangements, and the nations of this hemisphere
decided long ago against the military presence of outside powers. Our other allies around the
world have also been alerted.
Sixth: Under the Charter of the United Nations, we are asking tonight that an emergency
meeting of the Security Council be convoked without delay to take action against this latest
Soviet threat to world peace. Our resolution will call for the prompt dismantling and
withdrawal of all offensive weapons in Cuba, under the supervision of U.N. observers, before
the quarantine can be lifted.
Seventh and finally: I call upon Chairman Khrushchev to halt and eliminate this clandestine,
reckless, and provocative threat to world peace and to stable relations between our two
nations. I
call upon him further to abandon this course of world domination, and to join in an
historic effort to end the perilous arms race and to transform the history of man. He has an
opportunity now to move the world back from the abyss of destruction by returning to
his government"s own words that it had no need to station missiles outside its own
territory, and withdrawing these weapons from Cuba by refraining from any action which will widen or
deepen the present crisis, and then by participating in a search for peaceful and permanent
solutions.
This Nation is prepared to present its case against the Soviet threat to peace, and our own
proposals for a peaceful world, at any time and in any forum in the OAS, in the United
Nations, or in any other meeting that could be useful without limiting our freedom of action.
We have in the past made strenuous efforts to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. We have
proposed the elimination of all arms and military bases in a fair and effective disarmament
treaty. We are prepared to discuss new proposals for the removal of tensions on both sides,
including the possibilities of a genuinely independent Cuba, free to determine its own destiny.
We have no wish to war with the Soviet Union for we are a peaceful people who desire to
live in peace with all other peoples.
But it is difficult to settle or even discuss these problems in an atmosphere of intimidation.
That is why this latest Soviet threat or any other threat which
is made either independently or in response to our actions this weekmust
and will be met with determination.
Any hostile move anywhere in the world against the safety and freedom of peoples to whom
we are committed, including in particular the brave people of West Berlin, will be met by
whatever action is needed.
Finally, I want to say a few words to the captive people of Cuba, to whom this speech is being
directly carried by special radio facilities. I speak to you as a friend, as one who knows of your
deep attachment to your fatherland, as one who shares your aspirations for liberty and justice
for all. And I have watched and the American people have watched with deep sorrow how
your nationalist revolution was betrayed and how your fatherland fell
under foreign domination. Now your leaders are no longer Cuban leaders inspired by Cuban
ideals. They are puppets and agents of an international conspiracy which has turned Cuba against your friends
and neighbors in the Americas, and turned it into the first Latin American country to become a
target for nuclear war the first Latin American country to have these weapons on its soil.
These new weapons are not in your interest. They contribute nothing to your peace and wellbeing.
They can only undermine it. But this country has no wish to cause you to suffer or to
impose any system upon you. We know that your lives and land are being used as pawns by
those who deny your freedom. Many times in the past, the Cuban people have risen to
throw out tyrants who destroyed their liberty. And I have no doubt
that most Cubans today look forward to the time when they will be truly free free
from foreign domination, free to
choose their own leaders, free to select their own system, free to own their own
land, free to speak and write and worship without fear or degradation. And then shall Cuba be welcomed
back to the society of free nations and to the associations of this hemisphere.
My fellow citizens, let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous effort on which we
have set out. No one can foresee precisely what course it will take or what costs or casualties
will be incurred. Many months of sacrifice and selfdiscipline lie ahead months
in which both our patience and our will be tested, months in which many threats and denunciations will
keep us aware of our dangers. But the greatest danger of all would be to do nothing.
The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are. but
it is the one most consistent with our character and courage as a nation and our commitments around the
world. The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path
we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender or submission.
Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right. not peace at the expense of
freedom, but both peace and freedom, here in this hemisphere, and, we hope, around the
world. God willing, that goal will be achieved.
Thank you and good night.
英语演讲37. JFK - Cuban Missile Crisis
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