The year is 2012
President John E. Bush has been alerted that a massive build up of al Qaida fighters has been taking place in Cuba not far from Gitmo. To complicate matters further, there appears to be evidence that Iran has and is supplying nuclear missiles to Cuba. Castro denies it.
Question:
Is Bush bound by President Kennedy’s promise not to invade Cuba? Was that promise signed?
The U.S. could possibly be bound by rules of international law saying that countries may not invade other countries.
OK, that was a bit snippy, and I know that the use of military force to anticipate an attack can be justified under exceptional circumstances as a form of self-defense. But generally, unilaterally invading sovereign nations is a taboo. You principally have to distinguish between obligations not to invade other countries because of international law, and an obligation of the President not to order such an invasion because of U.S. constitutional law.
The promise given to the Soviet Union not to invade Cuba hardly creates a domestic obligation in the latter sense. I doubt it would create an obligation under international law, either. This promise was more of a gentlemen’s agreement between Kennedy and Krushchev than a formal act binding on both parties; entering into treatis or agreements that bind on the U.S. takes more than just two heads of state talking to each other. Even if Kennedy’s promise had legally binding effects, they would most likely be restricted to the nation Kennedy gave the promise to, i.e. the USSR respectively the states which succeeded into the USSR’s rights and obligations (most likely Russia). The promise was not given to Iran, and such Iran (or any other third nation) could derive any rights from it.
Castro’s still alive in 2012?
He’s speaking about Raúl Castro, of course.
“Old soldiers never die.”