Cuban Missile Crisis Redux?
In a story that broke on Monday, a Russian newspaper reported that a high-placed source in the Russian government said the Kremin may retaliate against the United States if it deployed Ground-based Mid-course Interceptors in Poland or Lithuania. The retaliation? Russia may base its Tupolev Tu-160 White Swan supersonic nuclear bombers in Cuba.
Former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro didn’t confirm or deny the report.
The U.S. has plans for missile defense sites in eastern Europe, and it should come as no surprise that Russia might see such a move as a threat. A “well informed military-diplomatic official” told CBS News it’s possible that Russia could use an airfield in Cuba for refueling strategic bombers.
According to Gonzalo R. Gallegos, U.S. State Department Acting Deputy spokesman, the U.S. has not gotten confirmation from the Russian government about the rumored deployment. General Norton Schwartz, a nominee for U.S. Air Force chief of staff, said the move would cross “a red line for the United States of America.”
The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, which involved the U.S., the former Soviet Union, and Cuba, is more than a footnote in history. Our country learned that missile bases were being built in Cuba. After a tense two weeks, the countries reached an agreement to remove the missiles. At the time, President John F. Kennedy said that it was the policy of the nation to view a nuclear missile launched from Cuba as an attack on the nation.
Source: CBS News
Tags: cuba, fidel castro, Russia