:39:11
Mr. President, our deliberations
have led us to the conclusion
:39:14
that a blockade of offensive weapons
to Cuba is our best option
:39:19
A strong showing of support from
the Organization of American States
:39:22
would give us
an umbrella of legitimacy
:39:24
A blockade
is technically an act of war
:39:26
Therefore we recommend
calling the action a quarantine
:39:29
Let's hope that translates
into Russian the way we want it to
:39:35
There are between 20...
:39:37
and 30 Soviet ships
underway to cuba at this time
:39:40
800 miles out
:39:42
the navy will stop them
:39:43
board
:39:44
and any vessels containing weapons
will be turned back
:39:47
A quarantine prevents
any more missiles from reaching Cuba
:39:50
but it doesn't remove
the missiles already there
:39:52
It gives the Soviets a chance
to pull back without a war
:39:56
If they refuse to remove the missiles
:39:58
we retain the option
to strike and invade
:40:01
A sneak attack is counter to
what the United States stands for
:40:05
It leaves us no room for maneuver
:40:07
And the inevitable Soviet response
would force us into a war
:40:10
Mr. President
there are still those of us
:40:13
who believe
we should proceed with the strikes
:40:16
With the blockade
we lose strategic surprise
:40:19
and we also run the risk of the Soviets
launching the first strike against us
:40:22
if they decide they have to
use the missiles or lose them
:40:27
So quarantine...
:40:29
or air strike
:40:31
There is a third option
:40:34
With either course we undertake
the risk of nuclear war
:40:39
So maybe one of us in this room
should be a coward
:40:45
So I guess I'll be
:40:48
A third course is to strike a deal
:40:51
We trade Guantanamo
and our missiles in Turkey
:40:54
get them to pull their missiles out
:40:56
We employ a back channel
:40:58
We attribute the idea to U. N. Thant