only course of action
America is in danger
Those missiles are a threat
to our bomber bases
and the safety of
our nuclear deterrent
Without our deterrent
there's nothing to keep the enemy
from choosing general nuclear war
It's out duty
Our responsibility to the American
people to take out those missiles
and return stability
to the strategic situation
The Big Red Dog
is digging in our back yard
and we are justified in shooting him
Sir
we have a rapidly
closing window of opportunity
where we can to prevent those missiles
from becoming operational
The other options
do not guarantee the end result
that we can guarantee
However, as more time goes by
the less reliable the choice
we can offer you becomes
Mr. President
the motto I chose for SAC
is "Peace is our Profession"
God forbid we find ourselves
in a nuclear exchange
But launched
missiles from Cuba
would kill a lot of Americans
The very presence of those missiles
gives the Soviets
first- strike capability
Those missiles
make a nuclear exchange more likely
And that is why
I'm being such a pain in the ass
abut destroying them
and destroying them immediately
Hell, even Mac agrees
And sir
given your own statements about Cuba
I think a blockade
or a bunch of political talk
would be considered
by a lot of our friends and neutrals
as a pretty weak response
And I suspect many of our own citizens
feel the same way
You're in a pretty bad fix
Mr. President
What did you say?
You're in a pretty bad fix
Maybe you hadn't noticed
you're in it with me
General
what are the Soviets gonna do
when we attack?
Nothing
Nothing?
Nothing
Because the only alternative
open to them
is one they can't choose
You know, they're...
they're not just missiles
we're gonna be destroying, General
If we kill Soviet soldiers
they're gonna respond
How would we respond
if they killed ours?
They're gonna do something, General
I can promise you that
Those goddamn Kennedys
are gonna destroy this country
if we don't do something about this
We're headed out to the back yard
to look for that Big Red Dog
Thanks, Bob
I was hoping Lemay pushed you
'Cause I was ready to knock
that son-of-a-bitch across the room
We knew it was coming
And I'll tell you one thing, Kenny
Those brass hats
have one big advantage
That is that
if we do what they want us to do
none of us will be left alive
to tell them they were wrong
Mr. President
we need to go over
what you're going to say
Gromyko should be on his way by now
There's still no sign they know that
we know about the missiles
We're gonna keep it that way
Kenny
Be right there
I'm getting funny questions
from the guys
Yeah? What sort of questions?
About some sort of
"military exercises"?
You want me to do my job
handling the press
I need to know what's going on
Military exercises?
Yeah. Military exercises
Haven't heard anything about it
Ask Bundy
I did. He said to ask you
Mr. Gromyko! This way, please!
Robert
Hugh, how are you?
Excuse me, Joan
So, tell me about this military
exercise going on in Puerto Rico
What?
It's called... ORTSAC, I believe
Castro spelled backwards
ORTSAC?
I don't know what you're talking about
Me either
Why?
Because maybe the President
and Gromyko are gonna talk about it
You're trying to drum something up
Johnny. Forget it
This meeting's been
on the books for months
Far as I know, it's just a friendly
talk on U. S -Soviet relations
Mr. President!
Will you make a statement, sir?
Alright, hold it, fellas
You'll get your pictures
Does it?
I'll be damned
Kind of simple for the Pentagon
Mr. Gromyko
Hold on one minute
Gentlemen
would you mind shaking hands?
So that there should be
no misunderstanding
the position of the United States
which has been made clear
by the Attorney General
to Ambassador Dobrynin here
I shall read a sentence
from my statement
to the press dated September 13th
"Should missiles or offensive weapon