JFK - Cuban Missile Crisis.pdfVIP

AmericanR? Transcription?by?Michael?E.?Eidenmuller.? Property?of?AmericanR.? ??Copyright?2006.?All?rights?reserved.? Page?1? John?F.?Kennedy: Cuban?Missile?Crisis?Address? Delivered?22?October?1962? AUTHENTICITY?CERTIFIED:?Text?version?below?transcribed?directly?from?audio? Good?evening,?my?fellow?citizens:? This?Government,?as?promised,?has?maintained?the?closest?surveillance?of?the?Soviet?military? buildup?on?the?island?of?Cuba.?Within?the?past?week,?unmistakable?evidence?has?established? the?fact?that?a?series?of?offensive?missile?sites?is?now?in?preparation?on?that?imprisoned?island.? The?purpose?of?these?bases?can?be?none?other?than?to?provide?a?nuclear?strike?capability? against?the?Western?Hemisphere.? Upon?receiving?the?first?preliminary?hard?information?of?this?nature?last?Tuesday?morning?at?9? A.M.,?I?directed?that?our?surveillance?be?stepped?up.?And?having?now?confirmed?and?completed? our?evaluation?of?the?evidence?and?our?decision?on?a?course?of?action,?this?Government?feels? obliged?to?report?this?new?crisis?to?you?in?fullest?detail.? The?characteristics?of?these?new?missile?sites?indicate?two?distinct?types?of?installations.? Several?of?them?include?medium?range?ballistic?missiles,?capable?of?carrying?a?nuclear? warhead?for?a?distance?of?more?than?1,000?nautical?miles.?Each?of?these?missiles,?in?short,?is? capable?of?striking?Washington,?D.?C.,?the?Panama?Canal,?Cape?Canaveral,?Mexico?City,?or?any? other?city?in?the?southeastern?part?of?the?United?States,?in?Central?America,?or?in?the? Caribbean?area.? Additional?sites?not?yet?completed?appear?to?be?designed?for?intermediate?range?ballistic? missiles?--?capable?of?traveling?more?than?twice?as?far?--?and?thus?capable?of? striking?most?of? the?major?cities?in?the?Western?Hemisphere,?ranging?as?far?north?as?Hudson?Bay,?Canada,?and? as?far?south?as?Lima,?Peru.?In?addition,?jet?bombers,?capable?of?carrying?nuclear?weapons,?are? now?being?uncrated?and?assembled?in?Cuba,?while?the?necessary?air?bases?are?bein