What Was The Turning Point Of The Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was one of the turning points of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. At that time the two superpowers came close to a nuclear war, where human civilization came very close to being destroyed and Armageddon was a hair's breadth away. The three leaders – JFK, Khrushchev, and Castro - were well aware of their nuclear capability but also took their responsibility to protect their own citizens very seriously, however, the lack of mutual empathy led to the crisis in the first place. This was all due to Kennedy finding out about the shipment and installation of ballistic missiles in Cuba – which if launched would hit the majority of the eastern United States. This meant the US

However the most controversial aspect of the CIA was their attempt to assassinate one of the leaders – Castro – apparently planning to involve the use of rifles, poisoned pills or pens, through the Senate church committee investigation in 1975. There have apparently been over 612 documented plots against Castro, eight of which were to assassinate him. However, the director McCone stated he was unaware of any assassination plans for him but is unknown whether President Kennedy was aware also. The CIA was the lead organisation in ‘Operation Mongoose’ and aimed to do what the Bay of Pigs invasion failed to do which was remove Castro as leader and communism in the process just a year before the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred. Showing that the CIA had been associated with the involvement in Cuba and had knowledge of past attempts. The CIA was also involved in the discovery of the missiles in Cuba. At first, the CIA director – John McCone had only suspected that the soviets were deploying missiles in Cuba but after they had dispatched the U-2 plane over Cuba had they realised the severity when reviewing the photos taken which revealed Russian strategic missile sites were being built on the island. This gave Kennedy the proof he needed that the soviets were installing ground-to-ground missiles with nuclear capability on the island. Therefore suggesting that the CIA had

However, Armageddon would almost certainly have occurred if both JFK and Khrushchev, hadn’t stopped in their tracks and raced away from the brink in a panic at the foreshadowed doomsday. Each leader played their own role in avoiding Armageddon. President Kennedy had managed to prevent it as he had instigated the conversation with Khrushchev about the removal of nuclear weapons from Cuba which was seen as a secure victory for both sides as now neither the US nor the USSR would be involved with nuclear missiles. As this was thought to be one of President Kennedy's greatest accomplishments was afterwards thought to be this diplomatic ending. Khrushchev played his part as he had reluctantly agreed for the soviets to remove the weapons from the island despite believing that these weapons were Cuba’s last hope for survival in the battle against America. Even though, he had originally intended to have them deployed with Castro in order to threaten nuclear war. Castro on the other hand although agreed to the removal of the nuclear weapons but was not ready to back down and was prepared for war. The CIA also helped avoid it as they had discovered the weapons and told the US, and Kennedy was then able to reach an understanding with Khrushchev to avert a probable nuclear conflict. Yet, had the CIA not orchestrated the Bay of