Recently declassified military documents have revealed that the Pentagon once developed a shocking plan to stage attacks on American soil to justify a war against Cuba. Known as Operation Northwoods, the Cold War-era strategy involved fabricating violent incidents and blaming them on Fidel Castro’s regime to rally public support for an invasion of the communist island.
Operation Northwoods: A Plan for War
According to files dated March 1962, the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff proposed a series of false-flag operations that included bombing American cities, attacking Cuban refugees, and even faking a commercial airline disaster. The goal was to create a pretext for military intervention and force Castro from power.
The plan detailed several disturbing scenarios, including:
- Terror attacks in Miami and Washington, D.C. The Pentagon proposed detonating bombs in strategic locations and attributing the explosions to Cuban operatives.
- Fake assassination attempts on Cuban refugees. The proposal included injuring exiles living in the U.S. to frame Castro’s government for the violence.
- Sinking a boat of fleeing Cubans. The military planned to either simulate or carry out a real attack on Cuban refugees at sea.
- Staging a Cuban attack on the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay. This would involve blowing up ammunition depots, damaging fighter planes, and even firing mortar shells into the compound.
- Destroying a U.S. naval vessel. The military suggested blowing up an American ship and holding mock funerals for the supposed victims to provoke national outrage.
- Faking the downing of a commercial airliner. The Joint Chiefs recommended using a remote-controlled aircraft, painting it to resemble a civilian jet, and then making it appear as if Cuban forces had shot it down.
The documents show that the plan was approved by Army Gen. Lyman Lemnitzer, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs at the time. However, President John F. Kennedy ultimately rejected the proposal and removed Lemnitzer from his position three months later.
Kennedy’s Resistance and the Cold War Context
At the time, the U.S. government was struggling to deal with Castro’s alliance with the Soviet Union, which had led to heightened tensions during the Cold War. The botched Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 had already been an embarrassment for the Kennedy administration, and military officials were eager for another opportunity to overthrow Castro.
Presidential historian Leon Wagener explained that Kennedy was deeply suspicious of the Pentagon following the failed invasion. “Kennedy knew that the military was eager for a war with Cuba, but he was determined to prevent it,” Wagener said.
Operation Northwoods was not the only attempt by the military to manipulate events. Another plan, known as Operation Dirty Trick, sought to blame Cuba in the event of a failed Mercury-Atlas 6 space mission, which sent astronaut John Glenn into orbit.
In recent years, critics have pointed to these documents as evidence of the extreme lengths the U.S. military was willing to go to provoke a war with Cuba and, potentially, the Soviet Union.
Luis Gochoco is a seasoned managing editor and writer with over a decade of experience covering politics, technology, gaming, and entertainment news. With a keen eye for breaking stories and in-depth analysis, he has established himself as a trusted voice in digital journalism. Luis is one of the key forces behind the success of GameNGuide, contributing to 12 million views through engaging and high-traffic content. He also played a pivotal role in generating 8 million views on International Business Times, shaping the platform’s technology and gaming coverage.
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