![]() The white is West Germany-the East is the area controlled by the Soviet Union, and as you can see from the chart, West Berlin is 110 miles within the area which the Soviets now dominate-which is immediately controlled by the so-called East German regime. This map makes very clear the problem that we face. Let me remind you that the fortunes of war and diplomacy left the free people of West Berlin, in 1945, 110 miles behind the Iron Curtain. We face a challenge in our own hemisphere, and indeed wherever else the freedom of human beings is at stake. We face a challenge in Berlin, but there is also a challenge in Southeast Asia, where the borders are less guarded, the enemy harder to find, and the dangers of communism less apparent to those who have so little. Our effort must be equally wide and strong, and not be obsessed by any single manufactured crisis. But that isolated outpost is not an isolated problem. The immediate threat to free men is in West Berlin. But if we and our allies act out of strength and unity of purpose-with calm determination and steady nerves-using restraint in our words as well as our weapons-I am hopeful that both peace and freedom will be sustained. They will require, from all of us, courage and perseverance in the years to come. These actions will require sacrifice on the part of many of our citizens. I want to talk frankly with you tonight about the first steps that we shall take. We are clear about what must be done-and we intend to do it. In Berlin, as you recall, he intends to bring to an end, through a stroke of the pen, first our legal rights to be in West Berlin -and secondly our ability to make good on our commitment to the two million free people of that city. His grim warnings about the future of the world, his aide memoire on Berlin, his subsequent speeches and threats which he and his agents have launched, and the increase in the Soviet military budget that he has announced, have all prompted a series of decisions by the Administration and a series of consultations with the members of the NATO organization. Seven weeks ago tonight I returned from Europe to report on my meeting with Premier Khrushchev and the others.
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