The U.S. Attempts to Contain Cuba

1. Why was Cuba so important to the United States?
The US saw Cuba as a sphere of their own interests; from the Spanish-American war, they had many businesses set up there, as well as a large naval base. The US saw Cuba as nearly an extension of its own borders - while it wa not technically part of America, the US certainly liked to maintain a firm control there.

2. Why do you think the Americans chose to equip Cuban exiles rather than invading themselves?
By invading themselves, it would have looked much more severe. The Soviets would most likely have directly attacked; by using Cuban exiles, the US could always simply claim that they were just arming people who had motivations of their own. Also, the US was likely no inclined to risk American lives in such an attack.

3. Why did the invasion fail?
The exiled Cuban troops were vastly outnumbered by Castro's men. JFK did not plan for Castro to send such a large number of troops; although the exiles' military technology was on par with Castro's, they were simply overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of Castro's army.

4. Compare Source 17 on page 345 (in the Arms Race.pdf reading) with Source 24 on page 348. Describe how the Soviet Union missiles on Cuba changed the Cold War balance of power.
While the U.S. had nuclear launch sites in Western Europe, close by to the USSR, the Soviet Union had previously been unable to place nuclear weapons anywhere near to the U.S. Now, with nuclear weapons in Cuba, the Soviet threat to the U.S. was much greater; they could launch an attack in minutes, where as in the past it would have taken up to 1/2 an hour for the missiles to hit.