"I have a mind like a steel... uh... thingy." Patrick Logan's weblog.

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Saturday, May 22, 2004

What could happen here?

Government documents (PDF) released under the Freedom of Information Act disclose that on March 13, 1962, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States proposed the following, and other deceptions, to justify a U.S. invasion of Cuba...

  • staging the assassinations of Cubans living in the United States
  • developing a fake "Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Florida cities and even in Washington"
  • "sink[ing] a boatload of Cuban refugees (real or simulated)"
  • faking a Cuban airforce attack on a civilian jetliner
  • blowing up a U.S. ship in Cuban waters and then blaming the incident on Cuban sabotage
When someone wonders what could happen here, in the 21st century, a citizen is obligated to recall Operation Northwood.

Fortunately we had a president in 1962 who could read, ask questions, comprehend, take a position, and stand up to the generals. What would have happened if we did not have Kenedy in office? What could happen next time if we had a president who were aloof and disengaged?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It'll never happen! We've got bloggers around the world ready to step away from their keyboards for a good 15 to 20 minutes a day in pursuit of truth. :)

Ian Bicking said...

In constrast to those days, though, the military seems pretty sane and controlled when compared to the administration (Abu Ghraib aside). I suspect, for instance, that the only reason we haven't "found" WMDs in Iraq is because the administration can't find someone in the military they can trust to construct the evidence... as militaristic as the administration is, they don't seem to be that well connected to the military. It's weird, especially when you consider how much Bush dominated the military vote, and the connection many of the people have to the defense industry. Though it seems like they have more connection to the weapons than the people.

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Portland, Oregon, United States
I'm usually writing from my favorite location on the planet, the pacific northwest of the u.s. I write for myself only and unless otherwise specified my posts here should not be taken as representing an official position of my employer. Contact me at my gee mail account, username patrickdlogan.