US Joint Chiefs Planned Terrorist Attacks on the US

In the wake of the Bay of Pigs in 1962, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff drew up and approved plans to commit a terrorist attack on US civilians with the goal of blaming Cuba and launching another invasion.

The plan, code named Operation Northwoods, was succinctly titled “Justification for US military Intervention in Cuba.” Northwoods first came to light in Psy War on Cuba: The Declassified History of US Anti-Castro Propaganda, by Jon Elliston (Ocean Press, 1999), which was published in Australia. The first US book on Northwoods was James Bamford’s Body of Secrets, published in 2001 by Doubleday. The story was picked up by ABC news but no other major media outlets covered it.

Northwoods called for, “a build-up of incidents to be combined with other seemingly unrelated events to camouflage the ultimate objective.” The idea was to “place the United States in the apparent position of suffering defensible grievances from a rash and irresponsible government of Cuba and to develop an international image of a Cuban threat to peace in the Western Hemisphere.”

The Joint Chiefs planned to combine treason with murder by attacking American cities, citizens, and military bases. “A ‘Remember the Maine’ incident could be arranged in several forms: 3a) We could blow up a US ship in Guantanamo Bay and blame Cuba. …4) We could develop a Communist Cuba terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Florida cities and even in Washington.”

Other attacks were planned at the American military base at Guantanamo Bay. Mortars would be fired from outside the base (“some damage to installations”) and fake Cuban saboteurs captured. A ship was to be sunk near the entrance to the harbor, followed by staged funerals for “mock-victims.” “We could blow up a drone (unmanned) vessel anywhere in the Cuban waters. Casualty lists (from the “nonexistent crew”) in US newspapers would cause a helpful wave of national indignation.” This is reminiscent of Hitler’s excuse for invading Poland, which consisted of killing Polish border guards, dressing them in German uniforms, and blaming Poland for their deaths.

The JCS even created a contingency plan in case astronaut John Glenn’s rocket blew up. The plot was, “... to provide irrevocable proof that the fault lies with the Communists et all Cuba [sic].”
The generals also intended attacks on Cubans seeking refuge in the US. “We could sink a boatload of Cubans enroute to Florida (real or simulated). We could foster attempts on lives of Cuban refugees in the United States even to the extent of wounding in instances to be widely publicized. Exploding a few plastic bombs in carefully chosen spots.”

The Pentagon also planned to attack an ally and blame it on Cuba. “A ‘Cuban-based, Castro-supported’ filibuster could be simulated against a neighboring Caribbean nation.” The plan called for the “Use of MIG-type aircraft by US pilots could provide additional provocation. Harassment of civil air, attacks on surface shipping and destruction of US military drone aircraft by MIG type planes would be useful as complementary actions.”

Another scheme was an elaborate plan involving an American plane, chartered by the military in the name of a fictional group, and filled with people, “with carefully prepared aliases,” posing as college students or tourists. The plane would then be “shot down” by a fake Cuban “MIG.” The plane would drop off the radar and be replaced with a drone, which would then be destroyed and the Cubans blamed for murdering Americans.

Northwoods may have originated in the Eisenhower administration, which also came up with the Bay of Pigs plan. In the last weeks of his administration, Eisenhower told the chairman of the JCS, Gen. Lyman Lemnitzer, that he would invade Cuba if Castro gave him a good enough excuse. If Castro wouldn’t give the US a reason, maybe, Eisenhower suggested, the US could, “manufacture something.”

Even though Kennedy, after the Bay of Pigs, dropped all plans to invade Cuba, the Joint Chiefs prepared the Northwoods plans anyway. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara rejected the ideas. The JCS however, continued to plan “pretext” operations into 1963. One plan called for a fake attack on a Caribbean nation such as Jamaica or Trinidad-Tobago, which would then be urged to request US help in repelling the “Cuban” attack. Then, since the islands were members of the Commonwealth, Britain might also be dragged into a war against Cuba. There was also a plan to bribe a member of Castro’s government to attack the US base at Guantanamo.

Documents relating to Northwoods were classified until Bamford filed a Freedom of Information Act request. Operation Northwoods raises many questions, not only about the government’s classification policies but the dramatic expansion of Presidential powers over the last 35 years. When governments are allowed to function in secret, they will continue to plan and commit murder. Citizens, acting as the fourth branch of government, are the only ones who can stop them.
For more information, see http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/Northwoods.html
http://www.afrocubaweb.com/news/northwoods/northwoods.pdf