READING 2 The Cuban Missile Crisis

President Kennedy signs the order to block Soviet ships from delivering weapons to Cuba.

The CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

Read the following article. Pay special attention to the words in bold. 6.4

It was October and people around the world were terrified. It seemed almost certain that World War III was about to begin, and the planet was in danger of complete destruction. The whole planet? Was this a science fiction story? Unfortunately, no. The danger of worldwide destruction was possible; some thought even probable. “October 27 is a day I’ll never forget. The planet could have been destroyed,” said a former CIA1 agent. He was referring to October 27, 1962. “It could have been the end of the world, but here we are.” Forty years later, many of the surviving leaders in this terrifying crisis met to reflect back on the time when their actions could have resulted in the end of the world.

From the 1940s, the United States and the Soviet Union2 had not been friendly. Therefore, when the United States discovered that the Soviet Union was beginning to send nuclear missiles to Cuba, which is only about 90 miles from Florida, the American President, John F. Kennedy, saw this as a direct threat to national security.

These weapons could have been used to destroy major cities and military bases in the United States. Spy photos showed that missiles in Cuba could have reached almost every part of the United States in a very short time.

On October 22, President Kennedy announced on TV that any attack from Cuba would be considered an attack from the Soviet Union, and he would respond with a full attack on the Soviets. He sent out the U.S. Navy to block Soviet ships from delivering weapons to Cuba. An attack on a U.S. ship could have grown into a full nuclear war. This crisis could have changed the world as we know it.

Fortunately, diplomacy3 won over war. The Soviets agreed to send their missiles back and promised to stop building military bases in Cuba. In exchange, the United States promised to remove its missiles from Turkey. What could have been a tragic event is now only a chapter in history.

1 CIA: Central Intelligence Agency. A U.S. agency that gathers information about other countries 2 the Soviet Union: a country that included Russia, Ukraine, and 13 other republics. In 1991, the government collapsed and the Soviet

Union broke up into 15 different countries, the largest of which is

Russia. 3 diplomacy: skillful negotiation between countries to try to work out problems without fighting