Examples Of Military Proposals

Military Proposals Throughout the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy administration created assassination plans for Fidel Castro and invasion plans to take control of Cuba. While the United States did not succeed in either assassinating Castro or taking over Cuba, these plans and ideas from the Kennedy administration were deceptive and counterproductive.

Covert Operations
Desiring to avoid being seen as a tyrant who attacked smaller countries, President Kennedy avoided openly calling for the removal of Castro. Hence, Kennedy stated to General Lyman Lemnitzer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that the American military would not attack Cuba (Lansdale), ensuring that the administration could maintain peaceful relations. However, Operation Mongoose, a CIA operation that aimed to assassinate Fidel Castro, began in November 1961 when President Kennedy appointed Brigadier General Edward Lansdale as the Chief of
Kennedy, “Public Papers” 831). Yet, throughout the crisis the administration actively planned for an invasion of Cuba by through a military buildup in Florida and the American South (Dobbs, 99-100). These plans went against all public announcements and agreements made with the Soviet Union, deceiving those who believed that the administration desired to peacefully resolve the crisis. The Joint Chiefs of Staff had been plotting for months to launch an invasion of Cuba, not wishing to permit a Communist nation to exist in the Western hemisphere (Dobbs, 17), thereby undermining the position that President Kennedy was acting as a “friend” to the Cuban people. An outright invasion of Cuba would have severely harmed the Cuban people, and shows that the Kennedy administration did not have the interests of the Cuban people in mind as he had