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/£N 114: •
' t"` • , THE JOINT WASHI NGTON CHIEFS OF STAFF
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13 March 1962. •
. •
MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE . •
Subject: Justification for US Military Intervention
in Cuba (TS) .
' 1. The Joint Chiefs of Staff have considered the attached
Memorandum•for.the Chief of Operations, Cuba Project, which
responds to 1'request of that office for brief but precise
• description of pretexts which would provide justification
' for US military intervention in Cuba.
• 2. The Joint Chiefs of .Staff recommend that the
i proposed memorandum be forwarded as a preliminary submission
suitable for planning purposes. It is assumed that there
will be similar submissions from other agencies and that
these inputs will be used as a basis for developing a
time- phased plan. Individual projects can then be
considered on a case -by -case basis.
3. Further, it is assumed that a single agency will be
given the primary responsibility for developing military
and para - military aspects of the basic plan. It is
recommended that this responsibility for both overt and
'covert military operations be assigned the Joint Chiefs of
' Staff.
For the Joint Chiefs of Staff:
SYSTEMATICALLY IE P.
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C_LASSIFlCATIOf� CONTINI
- — — L. L. LEMNITZER
Chairman
Joint Chiefs of St=
•
1 Enclosure .
Memo for Chief of Operations, Cuba Project EXCLUDED FROM GD$
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2 Content
3 James Bamford
summary
4 Related Operation
Mongoose proposals
5 Reaction
6 See also
7 Further reading
8 References
9 External links
[edit]
Origins and public release
The main proposal was presented in a document entitled "Justification for
US Military Intervention in Cuba (TS)," a collection of draft memoranda
written by the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Joint Chiefs of Staff
(JCS) representative to the Caribbean Survey Group.[1] (The parenthetical
"TS" in the title of the document is an initialism for "Top Secret. ") The
document was presented by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Secretary of
Defense Robert McNamara on March 13 as a preliminary submission for
planning purposes. The Joint Chiefs of Staff recommended that both the
covert and overt aspects of any such operation be assigned to them.
The previously secret document was originally made public on November
18, 1997, by the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board,[2]
a U.S. federal agency overseeing the release of government records
related to John F. Kennedy's assassination.[3][4][5][6][7] A total 1521 pages
of once - secret military records covering 1962 to 1964 were concomitantly
declassified by said Review Board.
"Appendix to Enclosure A" and "Annex to Appendix to Enclosure A" of the
Northwoods document were first published online by the National Security
Archive on November 6, 1998 in a joint venture with CNN as part of CNN's
1998 Cold War television documentary series[8][9]— specifically, as a
documentation supplement to "Episode 10: Cuba," which aired on
Operation Northwoods
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Operation Northwoods memorandum (March 13, 1962).[1]
Operation Northwoods, or Northwoods, was a false -flag plan, proposed
within the United States government in 1962. The plan called for CIA or
other operatives to commit apparent acts of terrorism in U.S. cities to
create public support for a war against Castro -led Cuba. One plan was to
"develop a Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, in other
Florida cities and even in Washington ".
This operation is especially notable in that it included plans for hijackings
and bombings followed by the use of phony evidence that would blame the
terrorist acts on a foreign government, namely Cuba.
The plan stated:
The desired resultant from the execution of this plan would be 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.
ins
Operation Northwoods was drafted by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and signed
by then - Chairman Lyman Lemnitzer, and sent to the Secretary of Defense.
Several other proposals were listed, including the real or simulated actions
against various U.S military and civilian targets. Operation Northwoods
was part of the U.S. government's Cuban Project (Operation Mongoose)
anti - Castro initiative. It was never officially accepted or executed.
Contents [hide]
1 Origins and public
release
November 29, 1998.[io][111 "Annex to Appendix to Enclosure A" is the
section of the document which contains the proposals to stage terrorist
attacks.
The Northwoods document was published online in a more complete form
(i.e., including cover memoranda) by the National Security Archive on April
30, 2001.[12]
[edit]
Content
In response to a request for pretexts for military intervention by the Chief of
Operations of the Cuba Project, Brig. Gen. Edward Lansdale, the
document lists methods (with, in some cases, outlined plans) the authors
believed would garner public and international support for U.S. military
intervention in Cuba. These are staged attacks purporting to be of Cuban
origin.
Since it would seem desirable to use legitimate provocation as the basis
for US military intervention in Cuba a cover and deception plan, to
include requisite preliminary actions such as has been developed in
response to Task 33 c, could be executed as an initial effort to
provoke Cuban reactions. Harassment plus deceptive actions to
convince the Cubans of imminent invasion would be emphasized.
Our military posture throughout execution of the plan will allow a
rapid change from exercise to intervention if Cuban response
justifies.
A series of well coordinated incidents will be planned to take place in and
around Guantanamo to give genuine appearance of being done by
hostile Cuban forces. a. Incidents to establish a credible attack (not
in chronological order):
Start rumors (many). Use clandestine radio.
Land friendly Cubans in uniform "over-the-fence" to stage attack
on base.
Capture Cuban (friendly) saboteurs inside the base.
Start riots near the base main gate (friendly Cubans).[13]
Blow up ammunition inside the base; start fires.
Bum aircraft on air base (sabotage).
Lob mortar shells from outside of base into base. Some damage to
installations.
Capture assault teams approaching from the sea or vicinity of
Guantanamo City.
Capture militia group which storms the base.
Sabotage ship in harbor; large fires — napthalene.
Sink ship near harbor entrance. Conduct funerals for mock - victims
(may be in lieu of (10)).
b. United States would respond by executing offensive operations to
secure water and power supplies, destroying artillery and mortar
emplacements which threaten the base.c. Commence large scale United
States military operations.