Armageddon Letters Blog

We don't have a plan B

koji — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 00:09:18 +0000

Nikita Khrushchev

October 23, 1962

Damn, damn, damn, damn! We came so close to sneaking the missiles by the Americans. It looks as if we have to move to plan B. Unfortunately, we don’t have a plan B. Maybe Kennedy is as weak and immature as some of my advisers think he is. Maybe Kennedy is bluffing and will cave in if we keep the pressure on. Maybe he will not challenge our ships when they crash through his so-called “quarantine” line.

To die for our country is to live

koji — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 00:12:40 +0000

Fidel Castro

October 23, 1962

This is excellent! The waiting is over. The Russian cat has leaped out of its Cuban bag. Not only Kennedy, but the whole world, knows about the Soviet missiles here on our island. I need to speak to our people tonight, on radio and TV. I need to call them to arms, to buoy up their spirits, and make sure they understand their mission. The gringos have invaded our island, in one-way or another, a half dozen times since our revolution in 1895. They even claim the right to invade us, under the pretext of establishing “democracy” in Cuba. What a joke.

There is no protection

koji — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 00:07:06 +0000

John F. Kennedy

October 23, 1962

Why do I keep remembering a lesson taught to me by high school football coach? He said: “when the opponent is coming at you in the open field, shield your crotch!” That’s what he said. Or sometimes, he was more colloquial: “keep your nuts covered when you are about to be hit.” Now that the shit has hit the fan and everyone knows that we know about the missiles in Cuba, I can’t get that advice out of my mind. The problem is: in this context, there is no way to follow the old man’s advice.

Porcupines

koji — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 23:29:40 +0000

John F. Kennedy

October 18, 1962

I’ve just finished a meeting with the military brass. Whenever I meet with them, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry or just scream in frustration. I say: so gentlemen, what should we do. They say: go to war, Mr. President. Right now. Go for it. Let’s go for the splendid first strike! What is so splendid? I say. What is so splendid about a nuclear war with the Soviet Union? They say: Mr. President, there won’t be any war with the Soviet Union, because they’ll be afraid to retaliate.

The biggest dunce

koji — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 23:36:35 +0000

Nikita Khrushchev

October 18, 1962

This is really getting nerve wracking. Day by day, hour-by-hour, our weapons systems in Cuba come ever closer to being operational. So far, so good. Or so my people tell me. The people at our embassy in Washington say they have no evidence that Kennedy knows about the missiles yet. On the other hand, the U.S. press is full of reports and speculation that there are Soviet missiles in Cuba. This is getting bizarre. The American press seems to have figured this out, but the vaunted CIA is still clueless about our deployment. Maybe the CIA is as dense as our KGB.

He has to know

koji — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 23:39:59 +0000

Fidel Castro

October 18, 1962

Kennedy knows about the missiles. He has to know. I’ve told the Russians here on the island that Kennedy knows. If the exile worms know, then Kennedy knows. If the U.S. press knows—and they do, it is obvious—then Kennedy knows. When I say this to the Russians, they shrug their shoulders and say, hey, what can we do? We are just following our orders.

Less than 30 minutes

koji — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 19:46:37 +0000

John F. Kennedy

October 16, 1962

It’s the middle of the night and I’ve awakened in a cold sweat. I had this dream that our generals broke into the oval office and told me that they had taken charge, and launched a disarming first strike at the Soviet Union. They told me that in less than 30 minutes, the Soviet Union would no longer exist. I screamed at them: “and thirty minutes after that, we will begin to die of radiation poisoning, you morons!” That’s when I woke up.

It’s now 5:00 AM, and I can’t get back to sleep.

JFK

Plan A will work

koji — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 19:50:43 +0000

Nikita Khrushchev

October 16, 1962

We are close, so close to being able to spring my big surprise on Kennedy—assuming he doesn’t know about the missiles in Cuba. Victory will be sweet. I will go to Havana next month and join Fidel on the podium—the old revolutionary and the young revolutionary, together, united in our resistance to American arrogance and domination.

Control yourself, Nikita Sergei’ich. Control yourself. Anyway, if he finds out, we will go to Plan B. I wish we had a Plan B. But of course, Plan A will work.

It better.

I love my Cubans

koji — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 19:56:40 +0000

Fidel Castro

October 16, 1962

I wish the cloud-cover hadn’t lifted. Now the U-2s will have a field day taking their pictures of the Soviet missile sites. Who knows? Maybe the gringos really don’t know. The U-2s are flown by the CIA and, after all, look at what the CIA accomplished at the Bay of Pigs: the CIA invaded Cuba, got their butts kicked in less than 72 hours, humiliated Kennedy, and allowed us to—well, let’s put it this way—to consolidate our Revolution. Some people say we went too far in arresting 100,000 people when only about 1200 invaded the island.

like a cobra?

koji — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 14:01:17 +0000

Nikita Khrushchev

October 13, 1962

Who is this Keating guy? My briefers keep telling me that this guy Keating, this Senator from New York, is giving speech after speech warning that we have nuclear missile sites going up in Cuba. Well, of course we do! But how the hell does a Senator from New York know this? He must have some connections to American spies or Cuban exile spies.