The danger of this strategy lay in increasing U.S. military pressure to attack the missiles before they all became operational. And since that would likely be followed by invasion, Khrushchev might end up triggering the very event the missiles and other equipment had been intended to forestall. On the other hand, the stronger his hand, the more likely that Kennedy might seek a diplomatic solution. And there were “private” indications from the Kennedys that he was leaning in that direction.
