5. Concern over Berlin was an argument against invading Cuba
After Kennedy was made aware of the situation in Cuba he immediately made it clear that the United States would not tolerate the presence of offensive nuclear weapons in Cuba. The question was how to accomplish their removal. The Joint Chiefs of Staff were unanimously of the opinion that the best available option was an aerial bombardment, followed by a naval bombardment, followed by invasion by the US Army and Marines, the defeat of the Cubans and their Russian allies, and the removal of Fidel Castro. While the removal of Castro was a long expressed goal of the Kennedy administration, he was not so sure about using the military option, even when the Chiefs expressed their opinion that the Russians would do nothing to intervene in Cuba, lacking the naval capability to do so.
Kennedy wasn’t as concerned about Soviet intervention in Cuba, but he was certain that the Soviets would take the opportunity to act in one of the other hot spots of the Cold War, Berlin. A Soviet attack on Berlin in 1962 would have overwhelmed US forces unless, and possibly even if NATO forces came to their aid. The involvement of NATO would have been the trigger for a world war, and possibly an all-out nuclear exchange between the Soviets and the United States. Still, the Joint Chiefs argued for invasion, and pressed the young president to move quickly, before the Soviet missiles in Cuba were operational. Kennedy desperately sought other options under the pressure from his generals and admirals. Realizing their eagerness for military action he ordered that under no circumstances were any American planes or ships to engage any Soviet or Cuban targets.