n of the site. It is soon confirmed that the first of many medium/intermediate range ballistic missiles have been spotted. Frantically, President Kennedy secretly meets with his advisory staff to question the approach. On October 22, Kennedy announces a naval blockade aimed at preventing offensive missile weaponry into Cuba on Russian ships. Inspections of ships in Cuba by U. S. personnel were also made. The Russian strategy was to install missiles in Cuba without the Americans knowing it. They would then discover them only to find that it is too late to act upon it. The Soviet Union saw installing missiles in Cuba as a very wise course of action seeing that US missiles were stationed in Italy, Turkey as well as West Germany which were pointed towards mother Russia. Also, even if the US would try to neutralize the missile installations in Cuba, they would not be capable of neutralizing all of them. The main objectives for the Soviet Union were to prevent any type of invasion by the United States and to stabilize the balance of power. Something that both the US and the Soviet Union shared was their fright of world war and even nuclear war. This is arguably the only time in history where the threat of nuclear war is possible. Things began to become very tense for both sides. President Kennedy became aware that the American army is pressuring the US government to use force against Cuba. This situation escalates so much that the president feels he is in danger of being overthrown by his own military. The exchange of messages between Khrushchev and Kennedy begin to become more frequent as tension rose. A final demand was made against the Soviet Union to dismantle the missiles immediately. Both sides wanted to end the argument peacefully and to avoid war. Word came from the Soviets that they were willing to take down the missiles in Cuba if the US promised that they would not invade Cuba. Kennedy agreed to the terms but wanted an inspection...
