# Did Russia ever admit to having nukes in Cuba? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 11, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-russia-ever-admit-to-having-nukes-in-cuba/316628 "2005-08-11T19:57:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RyJae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RyJae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RyJae)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-russia-ever-admit-to-having-nukes-in-cuba/316628/1 "2005-08-11T19:57:31Z")
Thats about it actually did they? I have seen the picture’s and read some on it but I haven’t seen anywhere where they admitted at the time or in the future that they did have nukes in Cuba. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-russia-ever-admit-to-having-nukes-in-cuba/316628/2 "2005-08-11T20:32:20Z")
I think in the past couple of years some info came out. Apparently, so one report went, the commanders in Cuba had permission to use low-yield nukes on invading Imperialistic American forces. This was in a delegation about 10 years ago that included, I believe, Robert McNamara. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-russia-ever-admit-to-having-nukes-in-cuba/316628/3 "2005-08-11T20:50:02Z")
> [@LostGoals](#): > > Thats about it actually did they? I have seen the picture’s and read some on it but I haven’t seen anywhere where they admitted at the time or in the future that they did have nukes in Cuba. In Errol Morris’ outstanding documentary [The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara](http://imdb.com/title/tt0317910/), McNamara tells Morris (per [his website](http://www.errolmorris.com/film/fow_glossary.html) on the film that: > [@Errol Morris](#): > > The closest the United States and Soviet Union ever came to nuclear war. On October 16th, 1962, the U.S. determined that the Soviet Union had secretly smuggled nuclear missiles into Cuba. On the recommendation of Robert McNamara, the U.S. initiated a naval blockade of Cuba and made preparations for air strikes and an invasion of Cuba. On October 28th, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev publicly announced that he would remove Soviet missiles from Cuba, ending the standoff. Robert McNamara learned from Fidel Castro in 1989 that nuclear warheads for the missiles were already in Cuba at the time of the crisis, and had the U.S. invaded, the nuclear missiles would have been used against both the U.S. invading force and mainland United States. I can’t find an exact quote from McNamara online but he does say essentially this in the film, and makes this point > [@Robert S. McNamara](#): > > I want to say, and this is very important: at the end we lucked out. It was luck that prevented nuclear war. We came that close to nuclear war at the end. Rational individuals: Kennedy was rational; Khrushchev was rational; Castro was rational. Rational individuals came that close to total destruction of their societies. And that danger exists today. Morris uses this as the foundation for one of his 11 object lessons: “Rationality will not save us.” It should be pointed out that these lessons are ones Morris derived from McNamara’s statements; McNamara has stated a disagreement with a number of them. Regardless, it’s a fascinating film and a unique look into what was really going on in the White House during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-russia-ever-admit-to-having-nukes-in-cuba/316628/4 "2005-08-11T23:09:36Z")
> [@Earl Snake-Hips Tucker](#): > > This was in a delegation about 10 years ago that included, I believe, Robert McNamara. That will have been the [conference of participants](http://www.watsoninstitute.org/Cuba/photoessay/conference5.html) held in 1992; there has also been a [followup conference](http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cold-war/stories.htm), on the 40th anniversary in 2002. It’s not immediately relevant to what the Russians have said in years since, but Castro talked on camera about what he knew at the time in the (excellent) episode on the Crisis in the 1998 BBC TV series _Cold War_.