"THIRTEEN DAYS"
CHAPTER 4 - OVERTHROW CASTRO?
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Did the Kennedy Administration really have a plan to overthrow Castro? Although allegations have persisted for decades, what are the true facts? Where is the proof? Why was Khrushchev concerned about Cuba? Was it just a convenient "reason" to install offensive nuclear weapons 90 miles from the American shore? Top-secret documents have been declassified and are available on-line at the National Archives. What do they show? One memo, written "For the President" after the crisis was over, provides some interesting commentary: Our ultimate objective with respect to Cuba remains the overthrow of the Castro/Communist regime and its replacement by one compatible with the objectives of the U.S. Who was in charge of what came to be called "Operation Mongoose?" Memos reveal the President’s brother and trusted advisor, Robert F. Kennedy, attended meetings and expressed opinions about the effects of Operation Mongoose. The man in charge of the details, Brig. Gen. Edward G. Lansdale (USAF - scroll down 25% to view his picture) was an assistant to the Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, and reported to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Maxwell Taylor. Before the Missile Crisis began, the United States military had planned a mock invasion of a Caribbean island. The purpose of the exercise was to overthrow an imaginary tyrant named "Ortsac" (Castro spelled backwards). Word of the "invasion" had been leaked to the press. The Soviets and Castro (here hugging Khrushchev at the United Nations in 1960) also knew about it. |
