Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume XI, Cuban Missile Crisis and Aftermath

276. Summary Record of the 40th Meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council⁰

Washington, February 5, 1963, 4 p.m.

Director McCone circulated copies of the attached memorandum on the status of Soviet military forces in Cuba.¹

The President asked that the U.S. Intelligence Board statement of the Cuban situation be sanitized and made public tomorrow² and similar statements at frequent intervals thereafter. He said it should include the latest intelligence information. In releasing it, Mr. McCone should make clear that the Board wanted to receive all information from anyone who had it. The Board would thus be in the position of welcoming information from all sources with a view to obtaining the best picture of the Soviet military posture in Cuba. The President also asked Mr. McCone to ask Congressman Bruce for the information which he has. In the President’s view, if we acted promptly in putting out all our information within the next two or three days, we would be able to stem the tide of Congressional criticism, turn it to our advantage, and reduce the problem to manageable proportions. Secretary McNamara felt that the President should make a press statement at his press conference Thursday³ or possibly a television show should be arranged. He said the briefing on our intelligence from Cuba would be very impressive and, by the use of aerial reconnaissance pictures, we could reveal how extensive our present surveillance efforts have been and now are.

General Taylor noted that Congressional hearings on the Defense Department budget had turned into a Congressional investigation on Cuba. Most of the time Secretary McNamara has spent on the Hill was taken by Cuban questions rather than military budget problems.

The President said the way to clarify the numbers problem was to refer to the level of Soviet military forces in Cuba in July, in November, and today, rather than to compare the level from July to today. He suggested that correspondents from the Hill and the State Department be invited to join those covering the Defense Department for briefings about the situation in Cuba. He said that the 4500 Russian troops which have been withdrawn from Cuba since about November 1st is conclusive proof that there is not a Soviet military buildup in Cuba. He suggested that General Carroll’s briefing on Cuba might be made public. In addition, a backgrounder could be held following Director McCone’s statement to the Congressional Committee.

With regard to questions put to military officers concerning the implications of the Soviet military presence in Cuba, the President stressed the importance of speaking with one voice. He said we should neither exaggerate nor minimize the Soviet presence in Cuba but it was important that military and civilian officials take the same line. He acknowledged that we do not know why the Russians are keeping their troops in Cuba. They may think we are planning an invasion and therefore want their troops there. On the other hand, they may be keeping their troops in Cuba in order to control Castro.

Secretary Rusk pointed out that domestic partisan pressure for an invasion of Cuba can be dealt with by pointing out that the previous Administration did not invade Cuba when it would have been easy to do, i.e. before the Soviet buildup. Now, the cost of invasion would be greatly increased.

The Attorney General expressed his concern that in all statements about Soviet military presence in Cuba we should not forget to include a caveat that we may not be seeing everything going to Cuba. He did not think we should take the risk of being accused later of not having seen something in Cuba now which turned up there in the future. He also was uneasy about the prospect of our helping the Russians by giving the public everything we know about Soviet military presence in Cuba. In response to the President’s question, he suggested that release of sanitized intelligence information be done via Congressional Committees rather than directly to the public.

The President pointed out that his efforts along with those of the Departments of State and Defense had been unsuccessful in convincing many people that we knew exactly what was going on in Cuba. He said he believed a new effort should be made, namely, to use the USIB in the hope that doubting citizens would accept the testimony of our top intelligence officials. He repeated his belief that we should go as far as we possibly can in making public intelligence information in an effort to get the situation under control this week. Thereafter, we might talk to responsible Congressional Committee chairmen, proposing a procedure somewhat similar to that suggested by the Attorney General.

Cuban Reconnaissance

The President called attention to reports that a Soviet incoming ship would arrive on February 8th loaded with what was suspected to be military equipment. He noted the request of KOMAR⁴ for low-level reconnaissance flights in order to be certain that we knew the exact nature of the cargo of this Soviet ship.⁵ The President said he felt there are two limitations on our use now of low-level reconnaissance missions; (a) negotiations to obtain the release of U.S. prisoners in Cuba, which he understood might be successfully concluded sometime in early March, and (b) possible withdrawal of Soviet military personnel. Low-level flights might influence a Soviet decision involving the removal of their troops from Cuba. The Russians might misread low-level reconnaissance flights as an indication of our preparing ourselves for military action in Cuba and decide that their forces must remain to counter anticipated U.S. actions. He requested that a letter to Khrushchev be drafted raising again the question of when the Russians plan to pull back their troops.

Director McCone said he wished to reserve on the low-level recommendation until we knew whether the incoming Russian ship would dock at Havana or Mariel. If it came into Havana, the problem of knowing the nature of the cargo was much more difficult than if it docked at Mariel where facilities were such that its cargo would have to be displayed on the dock and thereby visible to high-level cameras.

Secretary McNamara said that the USIB had listed twenty-one targets in Cuba which they wish to cover with low-level reconnaissance missions involving fourteen sorties. He said the risk of the loss of a low-level U.S. plane is very slight, but the risk of a strong Soviet and Cuban reaction is very high. In addition to the two limitations mentioned by the President, Secretary McNamara thought a low-level flight might initiate escalating actions which would place in jeopardy our current high-level reconnaissance flights. He said he saw no military need for the low-level flights but did recognize that there was a domestic political problem which had to be met. In his view, low-level flights are justified only under two circumstances; (a) when we have reason to suspect that offensive weapons are being reintroduced into Cuba, and (b) when we are preparing for an invasion and must have current information in order to do our military planning.

General Taylor acknowledged that there was a military need to know but not necessarily tomorrow. He agreed with Secretary McNamara that there was very little risk of one of our planes being shot down. He also referred to the requirement that our intelligence be kept up to date so that we could keep our invasion plans current. With respect to intelligence on incoming Soviet ships, he said the Chiefs felt less strongly about the need for intelligence and were prepared to recommend low-level flights on a case-by-case basis. He acknowledged that once a Soviet ship was in harbor we obtained a great deal of information from agents in Cuba.

The President decided that we should send a letter to Khrushchev on the Soviet troop withdrawal problem but not undertake low-level reconnaissance flights until we knew where the Soviet ship would dock.

Director McCone said that the intelligence community was very concerned about unexplained military activity taking place on Cape Francis, an island some ten miles offshore Cuba. He suggested that a low-level flight over this area would be highly useful but added that he shared the views expressed by Secretary McNamara and General Taylor as regards the U.S. prisoners in Cuba. He said he suspected that Donovan would be concerned if he were asked what effect such flights would have on his negotiations.

The President said we would decide on the reconnaissance missions on Friday. His current view was that if the Soviet ship went to Mariel we should probably overfly it. If we carried out this mission, we should probably also overfly Cape Francis.

Shipping Order

Mr. Bundy summarized the instruction to U.S. agencies which would prohibit the shipment of U.S.-owned goods on Free World ships engaged in the Cuba trade. The President approved the directive and agreed that its release should be made from the White House.⁶

Deputy Under Secretary Johnson reported that the proposed action had been explained to numerous Congressmen who, in general, felt it was a proper action to take. He also reported that efforts would be made to explain the directive to the International Longshoreman’s Association in the hope that this Union and labor in general would not frustrate the implementation of the directive by refusing to accept it as an adequate measure to take against Cuba.

Bromley Smith⁷

0. Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Meetings and Memoranda Series, Executive Committee, Meetings, Vol. IV, 38-42, 1/25/63-3/29/63. Top Secret. The meeting was in two parts, the first on Cuba, the second on Europe. Only the first part is printed here. The meeting, held at the White House, lasted until 5:30 p.m. (Ibid., President’s Appointment Book)
1. February 5. (Ibid.) See the Supplement.
2. The statement, February 6, was made public by McCone. (National Defense University, Taylor Papers, Cuba, Cuba Intelligence) See the Supplement. On February 6 at 3 p.m., Secretary McNamara gave a special briefing at the Department of State on Soviet military presence in Cuba. The text of the 51-page briefing, including questions and answers, is in Washington National Record Center, RG 330, OSD-McNamara Files:FRC 71 A 3470, Cuba.
3. The President answered five questions on the topic at his press conference on Thursday, February 7. For text, see Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States:John F. Kennedy, 1963, pp. 148-155.
4. The abbreviation is incorrect, it should be COMOR (Committee on Overhead Reconnaissance).
5. In McCone’s record of this meeting he recounted that he expressed one reservation on low-level flights: the effect on the Donovan mission. In response to a question from the President, McCone answered that the Simferopol was under careful surveillance. If the ship offloaded at Havana, low-level reconnaissance would not be productive because of the proximity of receiving warehouses to the dockside. If the ship docked at Matanzas or Mariel, low-level photography would be productive. (Memorandum for the record by McCone, February 6; Central Intelligence Agency Files, Job 80-B01285A, DCI Meetings with the President, 1 January-31 March 1963)
6. See Document 277.
7. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.