:39:09
Mr. President, our deliberations
have led us to the conclusion
:39:13
that a blockade of offensive weapons
to Cuba is our best option
:39:18
A strong showing of support from
the Organization of American States
:39:21
would give us
an umbrella of legitimacy
:39:23
A blockade
is technically an act of war
:39:25
Therefore we recommend
calling the action a quarantine
:39:28
Let's hope that translates
into Russian the way we want it to
:39:33
There are between 20...
:39:36
and 30 Soviet ships
underway to cuba at this time
:39:39
800 miles out
:39:40
the navy will stop them
:39:42
board
:39:43
and any vessels containing weapons
will be turned back
:39:45
A quarantine prevents
any more missiles from reaching Cuba
:39:48
but it doesn't remove
the missiles already there
:39:51
It gives the Soviets a chance
to pull back without a war
:39:54
If they refuse to remove the missiles
:39:56
we retain the option
to strike and invade
:39:59
A sneak attack is counter to
what the United States stands for
:40:03
It leaves us no room for maneuver
:40:06
And the inevitable Soviet response
would force us into a war
:40:09
Mr. President
there are still those of us
:40:11
who believe
we should proceed with the strikes
:40:14
With the blockade
we lose strategic surprise
:40:18
and we also run the risk of the Soviets
launching the first strike against us
:40:20
if they decide they have to
use the missiles or lose them
:40:26
So quarantine...
:40:28
or air strike
:40:30
There is a third option
:40:33
With either course we undertake
the risk of nuclear war
:40:38
So maybe one of us in this room
should be a coward
:40:44
So I guess I'll be
:40:46
A third course is to strike a deal
:40:50
We trade Guantanamo
and our missiles in Turkey
:40:53
get them to pull their missiles out
:40:55
We employ a back channel
:40:57
We attribute the idea to U. N. Thant