Just a little bit of sound bites from my head before I start off…
We must not only thank John F. Kennedy for ensuring our very existence today. We owe our existence today to the people who got him into office. Imagine what it’ll be like if we have a monkey like George Bush governing USA at such a critical moment of the history of mankind. We must thank the Americans who voted for him with wisdom, and his colleagues for adequate lobbying. But such a notion lead me to wonder - since the fate of the world seems to lie in the hands of the one man, why not let the world elect the President of the United States?
I know that such a statement seems naïve, but I think its possibility should not be denied. Let’s look at Thirteen Days.
The Actual:
The Movie:
The Actual:
The Movie:
The parties involved were the USA, USSR, Cuba and their respective allies. How must have the people of Cuba felt? Maybe on the façade depicted by Castro’s government, the Cubans may show anti-America sentiments as a possible invasion was supposedly an invasion of Cuban pride and sovereignty. However I am certain during those moments, they were scared the hell out of their pants. Why don’t we give them a say in American politics? After all, Latin America was an American backyard, where the US can eat, spit and sh**. Ever heard of the power of the people? If the local government wouldn’t grant them security, let’s bring it to their doorstep (literally) and let them cast a vote for the American leadership. They were just LUCKY the Americans voted for the best choice. In fact, with the RAW power of the people, the world would be peaceful then and today.
Now, finally, I shall move on to making tough decisions.
John Kennedy was in a very interesting position. I vividly remember the scenes of him being in the Oval Office with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary Robert McNamara, Ambassador Adlai Stevenson and Attorney-General Robert Kennedy.
It seemed that all odds were against the practice of his judgement and conscience. More so, when taking into account the presence of the most reliable sources of advice he had, all around him. These people are battle-hardened and heavily decorated on their torso. In contrary, Kennedy was merely a civilian authority who took the oath of office barely four years before. Not only was he viewed as weak by Secretary Khrushchev, his own people had the same inclination to do so.
After all, the only responsible and sensible thing for a president to do in such a circumstance was to heed the advice of his generals. After all, it would be responsible and heroic of him to avoid “another Munich”. Robert McNamara’s and Adlai Stevenson’s presence was merely one of an auxiliary nature but fortunately, JFK recognised the value of ALL of his people’s ideas. Henceforth, McNamara’s proposal for a naval blockade on Cuba and diplomacy through the UN as put forward by Stevenson was implemented to result in a partial success, I would say.
This brings me on my idea of truth. What is Truth? To me, it is merely a perception. Say, a pencil is 15cm. Yes, the truth in this statement can be proved using reason. Maybe, we measure by using a ruler. But to what extent can a statement be proved to be the truth. Isn’t it merely by scrutiny, which is by the way, flawed in many ways (because it’s human)? In human talk, the truth is so only when justified by logic and usually, by quantifiable means. Hence, Truth is a perception. NOBODY KNOWS THE TRUTH except the Divine authority.
Poor Kennedy. He has the world’s best military minds at his disposal feeding him with calls for nuclear Armageddon. What made him stop? Was it a deep compassion for mankind? I think so. By logic, Moscow or Cuba should disappear from the world map. But for he is a human who loves another, he saved the nuking.
In other words, Kennedy made his tough decision using his heart! By logic, we all would have disintegrated almost 50 years ago. But because of the heart we didn’t cease to exist.
If only all rulers were like that.
