[CamperBob2]

NATO is a defensive alliance made up of many independent sovereign nations, all of whom freely asked for and were granted membership. Don't want conflict with NATO? Easy, don't attack any of their members. Seems simple enough.

Cuba was a Soviet client state, and installing missiles there was clearly an offensive act.

[hef19898]

Well, not that Germany had much to say when the US stationed patriot missiles. That's a tangent so. Don't forget the fact that, before the USSR sent missiles to Cuba the US had mid-range missiles in Turkey. And those were, by the way, closer to the USSR than the missiles in Cuba were to the US.

Reality isn't easily divided into good guys and bad guys...