During the height of the crisis the Soviet Union rushes to make the missiles operational. The movie states that some of the missiles had become operational. In any case, it was felt by many that, no matter what, those missiles would never be fired. Many years later Robert McNamara made a visit to Cuba and met with Fidel Castro. Referring to the Cuban missile crisis, he asked him if, had any of the missiles would have become operational, and knowing that the firing of those missiles would result in the complete decimation Cuba and its population, would Castro have fired them anyway. Castro replied, saying (to McNamara's astonishment) that not only were some of them operational but that he insisted that they be launched. The Soviets refused to allow this. This, stated McNamara, was the first time that he had heard this. In direct response to the question about using the missiles regardless of the consequences, Castro said, "Yes, and so would you." McNamara was horrified by this statement. In the documentary The Fog of War: La guerra secondo McNamara (2003) he relates this story, saying that he was totally convinced that Castro was speaking the truth. He would indeed have been willing to destroy his own country and he assumed that the U.S. was equally willing to do the same.

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