408. Executive Committee record of action, October 251
1. Mr. McCone presented the intelligence briefing which contained no major new information.
2. The Secretary of Defense reported on the current military situation. The Lebanese ship which was to be boarded turned back and therefore no ship so far had been boarded.
3. The Secretary of State reported on the political situation, calling attention to one suggestion, namely, the denuclearization of Latin America, which he thought would be supported by a large number of UN members. He referred to preliminary discussions which are to take place during the next two or three days between U Thant and Zorin on the one side and Stevenson and U Thant on the other. He felt that any talks could not go on very long because the missiles in Cuba were becoming operational and the IL–28s would soon be dangerous.
4. The Secretary of Defense recommended, and the President approved:
a. A low-level air reconnaissance tomorrow.
b. Planning for a low-level reconnaissance tomorrow night which would be achieved by dropping flares to obtain photographs as well as to produce a psychological effect.
c. Permitting the East German passenger ship Volker Freundschaft to enter Cuban waters.
5. Three draft analyses of the next major move were discussed in a preliminary way—a military path, a political path, and an intensified economic path.
6. The President, referring to the second message which he has just sent to U Thant, said any incident should be avoided until after we heard, probably tomorrow afternoon, whether Khrushchev had accepted or rejected U Thant’s latest proposal. A decision as to whether to stop the tanker Graznyy, if it continues on its course toward Cuba, can be made at that time.
- Military situation; political situation; military recommendations, message to U Thant. Top Secret. 1 p. Kennedy Library, NSF, Meetings and Memoranda Series, Executive Committee, Vol. I, Meetings 1–5.↩