Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume X, Cuba, January 1961–September 1962

386. National Security Action Memorandum No. 181⁰

Washington, August 23, 1962.

TO

• Secretary of State
• Secretary of Defense
• Attorney General
• Acting Director, CIA
• General Taylor

The President has directed that the following actions and studies be undertaken in the light of evidence of new bloc activity in Cuba.

1. What action can be taken to get Jupiter missiles out of Turkey? (Action: Department of Defense)

2. What information should be made available in the U.S. and abroad with respect to these new bloc activities in Cuba? (Action: Department of State, in consultation with USIA and CIA)

3. There should be an organized effort to bring home to governments of our NATO allies in particular the meaning of this new evidence of Castroʼs subservience to the Soviets, and the urgency of action on their part to limit their economic cooperation with Cuba. (Action: Department of State)

4. The line of activity projected for Operation Mongoose Plan B plus should be developed with all possible speed. (Action: General Taylor)

5. An analysis should be prepared of the probable military, political and psychological impact of the establishment in Cuba of either surface-to-air missiles or surface-to-surface missiles which could reach the U.S. (Action: White House, in consultation with Department of State, Department of Defense, and CIA)

6. A study should be made of the advantages and disadvantages of making a statement that the U.S. would not tolerate the establishment of military forces (missile or air, or both?) which might launch a nuclear attack from Cuba against the U.S. (Action: Department of State, in consultation with Department of Defense with respect to the study in item 7 below)

7. A study should be made of the various military alternatives which might be adopted in executing a decision to eliminate any installations in Cuba capable of launching nuclear attack on the U.S. What would be the pros and cons, for example, of pinpoint attack, general counter-force attack, and outright invasion? (Action: Department of Defense)

8. A study should be made of the advantages and disadvantages of action to liberate Cuba by blockade or invasion or other action beyond Mongoose B plus, in the context of an aggravated Berlin crisis. (Action: Department of State, in consultation with Department of Defense)

To facilitate coordination of these efforts, I should like to receive an immediate report from action Departments indicating which officer of the Department will be directly responsible for items in which action is assigned to that Department. Insofar as practicable, except for item 1, item 3, and item 5, these assignments should be made from among senior officers already informed of Mongoose.

There will be a further meeting with the President about September 1 to review progress on all these items. In the event of important new information, an earlier meeting will be called.

The President emphasizes again the sensitive character of these instructions.

McGeorge Bundy

0. Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Meetings and Memoranda Series, NSAM 181, Cuba (A). Top Secret; Sensitive. A typewritten note at the top of the source text reads: “Individual items to be reproduced for further assignment only by personal decision of addressees—full reproduction prohbited.”