Joint Chiefs unanimous vote for nuclear first strike

[Matt Grantham]

 According to Daniel Sheehan on the following video around 26 minute mark, Sheehan claims that after the US encircled Cuba with a naval embargo and then warned the Soviet's that any ship that tried to break the blockade would be an act of war, a Soviet ship, on the night of Oct 16,  did attempt to break the blockade. According to Sheehan, it is at this point that the Joint Chief's voted unanimously for a nuclear first strike on the Soviets, and JFK said to Kenny O'Donnell  "I will not be the man who does this" A turning point perhaps

 It is not clear from what I can see as to the extent of the nuclear first strike as suggested to JFK and it may indeed have been limited to the Soviet missile sites in Cuba But there was no reason to use nuclear weapons on those sites unless you were a madman

 Maybe some of you are aware of this, or perhaps there is a debate about whether it went down this starkly

 And Chomsky says he was just another cold warrior

[Richard Rubio]

This is a very good topic, I read it a few days ago. I just haven't formulated a view yet but the exact kinds of topics this forum needs.

[Barry Pollard]

Sheenan is easy on the ears, I'm slightly concerned about his interest in the JFK conspiracy though(haven't watched those yet), since no one who believes in conspiracy ever critisizes Kennedy and with Vietnam surely one has to. JFK's role in 'Nam isn't pretty, it's nasty, murderous, terrifying, napalming and then Cuba geezuz, Mongoose still going on through and after the crisis, nothing stopped them.

My own recommendation is Sheldon Stern, Google him(one or two talks online), the Kennedy tapes is his passion and this he says is where JFK shines.

This is what I get though.
If JFK did not learn from the CM crisis then he was indeed mad but anyone half sensible would learn too, nothing special there. Staring death in the face, not just yours but life as you know it, if that don't move you then you were dead already.
What Stern admires is how he handled it and the staff around him, not once losing his temper or resorting to profanity.

LaMay the #1 crackpot in the room sees only one thing, Jack sees it another way, Curtis then says, well you're in a pickle, Jack says, you're in it with me...

Throughout all of that time, no one considered that the missles were there to protect Cuba from US agression, the best deterent available, did not even enter their minds and had to be soomething bigger, finally Stevenson when present, is asked for his opinion since there was no one else left to ask, when he suggests the unthinkable he's ridiculed for it.
This more ridiculous moment from Rusk gives you an idea of their mentality. "...a week to ten days..."
(Only interesting part of the interview thanks to a question criticizing JFK).
Direct or @46:36
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYt7LOgwnl0&feature=youtu.be&t=46m36s

Wasn't this crisis a moment for true peace, for these two men and their countries to come together and begin to understand each other, to open up and begin to share?

Castro need to die first, then there's the gooks and wherever we see freedom we crush it, then we can talk peace, our peace of this, of that.
Could not even thank Kruschev privately let alone in public for saving them from the hell that they created.