Dec. 15, 1962 - Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) says he suspects President Kennedy has made a “secret deal” with Premier Khrushchev on Cuba, “and I have not heard the President deny it.” In a wide-ranging interview in Los Angeles, the Senator also said he was “not convinced” the Russians removed 42 missiles from Cuba last month, “and I know some darned good military men who don’t think so, either.” Senator Goldwater said he suspects Cuban caves are being used to hide offensive military weapons. No one, he declared, has given any indication the Russians are going to pull from 7,000 to 10,000 Russian troops out of Cuba, and he hinted he believed the missiles and 42 Russian IL-28 jet bombers that were photographed aboard Russian ships may not have been missiles or bombers at all. “Nobody we know of walked up to those ships,” he said. “I can’t think of an easier camouflage job than a missile or a bomber.” “It’s obvious the President is ducking,” said Goldwater. “I don’t like this constant evasion of a simple question — ‘did you or did you not say to Khrushchev we will not invade Cuba?’ He ducks by saying he’ll give the answer to the U.N. Security Council when all the ‘ifs’ are complied with. What are the ‘ifs’? We hear nothing about the removal of Russian troops.”
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