What were Kennedy's options to the missile crisis?

Question	Answer
Surgical air strike (immediate air strike on the missile sites in Cuba)	It would destroy the missiles before they became operational. But, the US air force couldn't guarantee to destroy all the missiles - some might be launched at US cities, killing millions of people. Bombing the Cuban sites would kill Soviet soldiers, prompting Khrushchev to to respond. Maybe seen as an aggressive act to bomb such a small country.
A full-scale US invasion on Cuba	They would be able to remove the missile bases and Castro from power, but this would inevitably cause a Soviet response - perhaps an invasion of West Berlin and nuclear war.
Diplomatic Pressure (involve United Nations and other international organisations)	It might force the Soviets to stop placing the missiles but it was very unlikely that Khrushchev would back down, so was a very weak option.
He could do nothing	The USA had a much larger nuclear force than USSR and overreacting may lead to a nuclear war against USSR. However, it would be seen as a sign of weakness and may encourage the Soviets to challenge USA again, possibly in Berlin.

Resource summary

	Created by sagar.joban about 11 years ago