What Would JFK do?
Has Biden Missed his Kennedy Moment?
You’ve probably heard people comparing the current crisis in Ukraine to the Cuban Missile Crisis. While both scenarios are quite different, they do have one thing in common and that is how close they have brought us to global thermonuclear war.
I was born just three years after the first crisis and grew up under the “umbrella of mutually-assured destruction” and though I cannot say I have ever felt completely “assured” of anything during my 56 years on the planet, I can say without hesitation that I have never been more afraid of nuclear war than I am right now.
People must have felt the same during those tense October days 60 years ago. A US spy-plane discovered that the Soviet Union was building nuclear missile facilities in Cuba, just 80 miles off the Florida coast. This was the Soviet response to the United States’ previous deployment of nuclear missiles in Italy and Turkey, and its failed “Bay of Pigs” invasion of Cuba just the year before.
President John F. Kennedy had been in office just under a year when he met with his Security Council to discuss options. Soviet warships had been spotted on their way to Cuba, carrying more nuclear missiles. Kennedy’s advisors wanted to carry out an air strike on the Cuban mainland to take out the Soviet missiles, followed by a full-scale invasion of the island nation. Henry Kissinger had even pushed for limited nuclear war with the Soviet Union, insisting that massive retaliation was a myth.
But Kennedy opted instead to “quarantine” the Soviet ships while he negotiated with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.
That specific word was chosen with care, as a naval “blockade” was an act of war and yet the US Navy was effectively blocking Soviet ships from delivering their deadly cargo. Would the Soviets accept this small change in semantics or would war break out? Kennedy warned the US defensive forces against using force unless all attempts at communication with the Soviet ships had failed.
To say this was a tense time is an understatement. Americans stocked their bomb shelters with canned food and their kids practiced “duck and cover” under their desks at school. Air raid drills had already been the norm for almost a decade, but that cold Autumn in 1962, the sirens sent a shiver up people’s backs that had little to do with the cold.
Demonstrators lined the streets of major cities, calling for a peaceful resolution to the tense standoff.
Nobody knew then just how close we really came to Armageddon.
Everyone alive that year, and all of us born since, owe our lives to President Kennedy, who painstakingly worked out an agreement with Premier Khrushchev despite grumblings from those urging for an aggressive military response. The Soviets agreed to withdraw their missiles from Cuba and the United States reciprocated by removing its missiles from Turkey and guaranteeing that there would be no more invasions of Cuba.
I’m sure the collective sigh of relief when the Soviets turned their ships around could be heard throughout the world. For the time being, at least, the nuclear threat had abated.
Fast forward to now, and we have a crisis in Ukraine which has brought us once again to the brink of nuclear war. Only this time, instead of calling for a peaceful resolution, people are clamoring for war with Russia even though the outcome of such a war would mean the end of most life on this planet.
Instead of the sober tones of Walter Cronkite, we now have the alarmist voices of warmongers, brought to you by the Military-Industrial Complex, which President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us all about even before JFK.
The mainstream media, now subsidiaries of the same massive corporations which profit from wars, have been screaming hysterically for the US/NATO to engage with Russia militarily. While the Pentagon’s generals have vociferously argued against any official confrontation, arms have been sent to Ukraine from allies and volunteers from around the world are pouring in, urged on by propagandistic “news” coverage which calls Russia not just an invader and aggressor, but paints Russians themselves as brutal thugs while ignoring the events which led up to this war. A war which could have been prevented if the US and its allies had paid attention to Russia’s concerns years ago.
President Joe Biden, far from attempting to work out a diplomatic solution with Russian president Vladimir Putin, has referred to his counterpart as a “butcher” and has openly called for Putin’s removal from office, a statement that he refuses to apologize for. Has he attempted to talk with the Russian president privately? We don’t know. The White House has made some diplomatic offers to Russia, but so far, there have been no solid concessions and no steps in the direction of reducing the US and NATO’s military presence in countries bordering Russia. In fact, Russia’s concerns about its national security and the safety of those living in eastern Ukraine have been dismissed out of hand, as if they do not matter, for the better part of the decade.
Imagine if John F. Kennedy had acted with such bullheaded superiority with Premier Khrushchev. Would we even be alive right now? Better yet, imagine if John F. Kennedy was president right now. What would Kennedy do?
Oh, I know what you’re thinking: “But Putin started this!”
But if that’s what you think, then you only know half of the story. The other half is ignored by the media or dismissed as “propaganda.” To have a complete grasp of the situation, you have to accept the unpopular notion that Russia’s viewpoint is just as valid as yours, and that Russian concerns are as important as Ukrainian, EU and US concerns are. Then, you need to understand that this war did not happen out of the blue as you are being led to believe, nor is it the act of a madman intent on seizing Ukraine for himself.
For eight years, there has been a civil war in Ukraine. The US-backed regime, which openly embraces fascism, has sent its neo-Nazi militias to bombard the Russian-speaking communities in eastern Ukraine, who — like those in Crimea — wanted to join Russia. When Ukraine did not allow that to happen, the people in Lugansk and Donetsk (collectively referred to as the Donbass) voted to establish themselves as independent, sovereign nations. Ukraine did not recognize their independence and has been at war with them all this time.
In western, corporate-controlled media, very little of this conflict has been covered and when it is mentioned, people in eastern Ukraine are referred to as “Russian-backed separatists.” How much backing they got from Russia in the years leading up to the current conflict is a matter of debate. Many Russians would say that it was not nearly enough, and that Putin’s decision to send troops into Ukraine should have come much sooner.
In 8 years, an estimated 14,000 Ukrainians have died as a result of this conflict. The world did not festoon their social media profiles with Ukrainian flags or “pray for Ukraine.” The flags only showed up when Putin finally sent troops across the border. But the conflict began long before, in 2014, during the Maidan protests, when the US orchestrated a coup. This has been standard US regime-change policy for decades, but if you still don’t believe me, you can listen to a leaked recording of Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt planning it as casually as you might plan a dinner party.
Since then, there has been almost constant violence against Russian-speaking Ukrainians. Little children have been blown apart with bombs and mines. Hospitals and schools have been shelled by neo-Nazi militias given free rein by the leadership in Kiev and free weapons and training by the US. Though there has been nonstop coverage of this in Russian media, these atrocities have been ignored in the west. The story of 38 people in Odessa burned alive by Ukrainian nationalists, for example, should have been an outrage to the world. Instead, the western world was silent.
What would Kennedy do?
Well, assuming he came on the scene at the same time as Biden, he would have inherited this mess 7 years post-Maidan. Even at that late date though, a few diplomatic concessions, such as no longer arming and training the neo-Nazis, perhaps, or closing the 100 bio-labs that the US was covertly operating in Ukraine, just for starters. Do people even wonder why the US has bio-labs in Ukraine (where Ukrainian citizens are not allowed) and what on earth they could be developing there? Russia’s Foreign Defense Ministry has stated that the US was experimenting with coronavirus.
What would Kennedy do?
We can only speculate about how JFK would handle the conflict in Ukraine. But one thing we know from his example, is that he did not make reckless calls to remove Khrushchev from power. Nor did he escalate the crisis. He remained firm and did not betray the interests or security of the United States, but he was willing to make concessions in the interests of peace. In 1962, he ensured that the US would withdraw missiles from Turkey. Imagine if the US/NATO withdrew just a little now? Or if it stopped having military drills right next to Russia’s borders?
It’s easy to escalate a conflict. All too easy. De-escalating a conflict is much more difficult because it requires restraint, diplomatic finesse, and at least enough empathy to understand your opponent's interests and position. It also requires keeping one’s ego in check.
Clearly JFK was the right man for the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Is Joe the right man for Ukraine…?
There is still time for him to have his “Kennedy moment.”
Based on his track record, I’m not holding my breath.
