Lessons Learned From the Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis has been hailed as one of the biggest triumphs in our modern day history, and it is certainly the closest this country has ever come to a nuclear war. However, recently America has increased aggressions against Iran and has received warnings from both China and Russia. Russia and China have said they will not tolerate a preemptive and aggressive attack against Iran by the United States. Are we headed for another nuclear war and are there lessons we can learn from the Cuban Missile Crisis?

If we listen to each Presidential candidate, we are led to believe a nuclear attack from Iran is imminent and we have no choice but to preemptively attack them, except for Ron Paul. Ron Paul is one voice of sanity amidst the screams for war. Ron Paul has taken the time to read DoD reports, CIA findings and the IAEA reports regarding the threat of Iran.

In these findings, there is nothing to lead America into believing that Iran has a desire to use a nuclear weapon against any other country. Based on these findings, we must ask ourselves if there is a better way to handle Iran other than imposing sanctions that hurt the Iranian people or pursuing acts of aggression. Can we learn a valuable lesson in diplomacy from the past?

Let’s look back at what happened in the 1960s. The world was on the brink of a nuclear war, the United States Armed Forces were readied for action and the Soviet Commanders, stationed on the island of Cuba, were prepared to defend the island with nuclear weapons, if necessary.

By the early 60s, the United States was well ahead of the Soviet Union in the race for arms. The Soviets were only equipped with missiles that could reach Europe, but nothing powerful enough to reach North America. T...

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...ht as John F Kennedy did. In listening to their words, their actions and their policies, only Ron Paul rings of the same virtues Kennedy possessed.

Ron Paul is often labeled as an isolationist, although nothing could be further from the truth. An isolationist is one who takes a protectionist stance, closing borders and hindering free trade so that their nation is secure and closed with no diplomatic relations. A non-interventionist believes in a policy of free and open trade, non-aggression, not policing the world and opening up diplomatic talks. If it wasn’t for John F Kennedy’s willingness to open the lines of communication with Khrushchev, the United States likely would have fought in the first nuclear war. The Cuban Missile Crisis can teach us valuable lessons in the proper approach to dealing with foreign threats, if we take care to learn from them.