Oct 19 1963
From The Space Library
In convocation address at the University of Maine, President Kennedy outlined U.S. foreign policy. Referring to the Cuban crisis of October 1962, the President sand "A year ago it would have been easy to assume that all-out war was inevitable-that any agreement with the Soviets was impossible-and that an unlimited arms race was unavoidable. Today it is equally easy for some to assume that the cold war is over that all outstanding issues between the Soviets and ourselves can be quickly and satisfactorily settled and that, we now have, in the words of the psalmist, an `abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth' .... "The fact of the matter is, of course, that neither view is correct. We have, it is true, made slight progress on a long journey .... We have concluded with the Soviets a few limited enforceable agreements or arrangements of mutual benefit to both sides and the world . . . . "In times such as these. therefore. there is nothing inconsistent about signing an atmospheric nuclear test ban, on the one hand, and testing underground on the other; about being willing to sell to the Soviets our surplus wheat while refusing to sell strategic items; about robing their interest in a joint lunar landing while making a major effort. to master this new environment; or about exploring the possibilities of disarmament while maintaining our stockpile of armaments. For all of these moves, and all other elements of American and Allied policy toward the Soviet Union, are directed at a single, comprehensive goal-namely, convincing the Soviet leaders that it is dangerous for them to engage in direct or indirect aggression, futile for them to attempt to impose their will and their system on other unwilling peoples, and beneficial to them, as well as all the world, to join in the achievement of a genuine and enforceable peace . . . . "It is in our national self-interest to ban nuclear testing in the atmosphere so that all our citizens can breathe easier. It is in our national self-interest to keep weapons of mass destruction out of outer space-to maintain an emergency communications link with Moscow-and to substitute joint and peaceful exploration for cold war exploitation in the Antarctic and in outer space.... " . . For without our making such an effort, we could not maintain the leadership and respect of the free world . . . ." (Text, AP Wash. Post, 10/20/63, A7)
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