"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." — John F. Kennedy, Address on the Cuban Missile Crisis, October 22, 1962
Kennedy's framing of any Cuban launch as a Soviet attack was designed to:
- A
Authorize Cuban exiles to invade the island
- Bcheck_circle
Establish clear deterrence by holding the USSR responsible regardless of who actually fired the missiles
- C
Suspend the Monroe Doctrine
- D
Withdraw all U.S. missiles from Turkey immediately
Explanation
By promising retaliation against the USSR rather than Cuba, Kennedy ensured Khrushchev could not use plausible deniability or Cuban autonomy to escape responsibility, strengthening deterrence during the standoff.