◆ SpookStack

62. (Continued) wey . Gira The argument in favor of the blockade was principally that it initiated a positive action which could be intensified at our will or could be relaxed depending upon evelving cir¢umstances. Soviet reactions are expected to be severe and very.probably involve a blockade of Berlin and a widespread propaganda effort, however it was considered that we could have some control aver the extent of Soviet reaction and in the event of a confrontation, would be negotiating from a position of positive action which would be intengified at our own direction. ; The obvious disadvantayes are the protracted nature of the operation, the difficulties of sustaining our position in world opinion because of our own complex of foreign bases and our deployment of offensive missiles and nuclear weapons and finally, the action does not reverse the present trend of building an offensive capability within Cuba nor does it dispose of the existing missiles, planes, and nuclear weapons if the latter now exist there. ‘ ' ? Positive military action initiated now appeared desirable because of the impact of current and future world opinion, the spectacle of a powerful nation attacking by surprise attack a weak and insignificant neighbor, engagement by the United States in a ‘surprise attack" thus giving license to others to do the same, the indefendable position we would be in with our allies, and finally, the price to us of extreme actions of which the Soviets appear capable of executing. The above course of action is by no means unanimous. The opinions range from doing nothing on the oné hand, to immediate military action on the other There exist differences.of opinion as to the handling of Khrushchev, Castro, NATO, the OAS and Latin American states; and finally, a question of the "declaration of war'' awaits legal opinion; also differences exist concerning the intensity of the blockade with some advocating a mae comprehensive blockade which would include POL at the very start. bot I would like guidance from USIB members for my use-in further discussions which are to take place commencing at 11:00 a,.m., October 19th, and will probably continue throughout the week end. , ' i yoy ‘John A. McCone