Operation Mongoose

Operation Mongoose
Target: Fidel Castro

A couple of months later, a special investigation of the Bay of Pigs chaired by retired
General Maxwell Taylor made its report. "There can be no long-term living with
Castro," Taylor wrote, just in case President Kennedy was thinking of giving up. The
president's brother -- the new point-man on the Cuba problem -- needed no such
prompting. "We will take action against Castro," Bobby wrote. "It might be
tomorrow, it might be in five days or ten days, or not for months. But it will come."
Nothing to Lose
Like most covert operations, the plan to oust the Cuban dictator was a slippery
thing. Who was paid to do what to whom is still not clear. But one thing is certain:
Robert Kennedy was in charge. Convinced he had been betrayed by his military and
intelligence advisors in the decision to launch the Bay of Pigs invasion, John
Kennedy placed Cuba in the hands of the one man he knew he could trust. But what
could be done? At a White House meeting in November, 1961, RFK scribbled the
following in his notes:
My idea is to stir things up on the island with espionage, sabotage, general disorder,
run and operated by Cubans themselves with every group but Batistaites and
Communists. Do not know if we will be successful in overthrowing Castro but we
have nothing to lose in my estimate.
Top Priority
Pressure was on from both Democrats and Republicans to do something to
undermine Castro. GOP leaders were constantly attacking the administration for
"losing" Cuba by not providing air support for the Bay of Pigs invasion. Brushing
aside a CIA National Intelligence Estimate which said that Castro enjoyed too much
support in Cuba to be overthrown, Robert Kennedy organized a secret project, code
named "Mongoose." On January 19, 1962, in a pep talk to the team, Kennedy called
deposing Castro "the top priority of the U.S. government -- all else is secondary -- no
time, money, effort, or manpower is to be spared."
The Game of Espionage
Small, covert, special operations -- not another large-scale military invasion -- would
be the method this time. Kennedy's term of art was "counterinsurgency," also
described as "social reform under pressure." He was so enamored of the fearless
commandos and real-life James Bonds who did such work that he once invited
Special Forces troops to Hickory Hill to instruct his children how to swing from trees.
Ops Mastermind
The man RFK chose to run the operation was legendary CIA operative Edward
Lansdale, whose exploits fighting Communists in the Philippines in the 1950s made
him a model for a character in Graham Greene's novel, The Quiet American. Playing
on Kennedy's desperation and distaste for bureaucratic inertia, Landsdale hatched a
series of operations which were to climax in a "Touchdown Play" by October 1962.
Though highly skeptical in private, CIA Director Richard Helms spent around $100
million on manpower and equipment for a spy base in Miami. This did little,
however, to address the fact that the Americans had very few "assets" left in Cuba,
so tight was Castro's grip.
Plausibile Deniability
The CIA had been plotting to assassinate Castro since the summer of 1960, even
before John Kennedy was elected. A congressional investigation of the CIA later
uncovered eight separate plots of varying ridiculousness between 1960 and 1965.
But did either John or Robert Kennedy actually order him killed? History will probably
never know. The Kennedys knew the meaning of the term "plausible deniability" all
too well, and had been taught the old Boston Irish political rule, "never write it
down."
"Get Rid of Castro"
"Get rid of Castro and the Castro regime, quote-unquote." This is how Sam Halpern,
executive officer of the CIA team charged with carrying out Operation Mongoose,
described his orders from Director Helms. "And when I asked Dick, what does "Get
rid of" mean, he said, 'Sam, use your imagination.' That was it... Now what does that
mean, throw him in the ashcan? Kill him, or what? And nobody could tell me. Just
get rid of. Remove him from power basically." Helms himself was responding to
relentless pressure from the White House. "You haven't lived until you've had Bobby
Kennedy rampant on your back," he later remarked.
The CIA and the Mob
The pressure was so great that it led to one of the most controversial and grotesque
chapters in presidential history: the hiring of the Mafia to help assassinate Castro.
Though the details are murky and RFK's involvement has never been proven, it went
something like this. CIA operatives, aware that the Mob was eager to renew the
profitable gambling business it enjoyed under the Batista regime, hired Mafia
hitman Johnny Rosselli to kill Castro. If this wasn't sordid enough, FBI director J.
Edgar Hoover learned of the plot from FBI surveillance of Mob boss Sam Giancana,
who just happened to share a mistress with John Kennedy. These machinations have
provided much of the fuel behind various conspiracy theories of John Kennedy's
assassination in Dallas in 1963.
Who Knew?
It is unclear whether the Kennedys knew what was going on. There is evidence that
John Kennedy opposed the assassination as policy. Bobby's biographer Evan Thomas
concludes, "the Kennedys may have discussed the idea of assassination as a
weapon of last resort. But they did not know the particulars of the Harvey-Rosselli
operation -- or want to."
Bogged Down
Even with all the money and elaborate measures being thrown at the problem,
removing Castro proved easier said than done. Thomas writes that "after seven
months, Kennedy's secret war... was hopelessly bogged down, riven by personality
clashes, incapable of producing the 'boom and bang' that Kennedy wanted to see on
the island."
Pros and Cons
RFK continued to hector his team, questioning their efforts and proposing
unworkable solutions of his own. While they humored him, most senior officials were
resigned to failure. Some, like Secretary of State Dean Rusk, were afraid that too
much "noise" in Cuba would complicate more important Cold War problems like the
struggle over Berlin. National security advisor McGeorge Bundy thought the only
options were another invasion -- which the president had ruled out -- and "learning
to live with Castro." Only CIA director John McCone was on RFK's side, worried the
Soviets would turn Cuba into a missile base.
On the Brink
Within weeks, McCone's fears were validated. Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev,
fearful of an American first strike, had ordered nuclear warheads to be slipped into
Cuba as a deterrent. He also demanded that the American spy planes stop flying
over his shipping -- which they agreed to do in early September. But in early
October, at McCone's insistence, American U-2 flights resumed. And on October 16,
RFK was called in to see some very disturbing pictures. The world stood on the brink
of nuclear war.
A Shameful Legacy
Though it happened under the radar, history has revealed that Operation Mongoose
was, in its own way, every bit as disastrous as the Bay of Pigs. "It was an expensive
and embarrassing failure," summed up Thomas. "Castro after all is still alive in
Cuba, and the people who tried to get him are long since gone. And the way they
went after him, by hiring the Mafia, was something that has long-term effects on
U.S. foreign policy. People still see the CIA as this sinister, nefarious force. It was a
fundamentally foolish thing to do and Bobby bears real responsibility for it."

Operation Mongoose

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Operation Mongoose

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Operation Mongoose

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

What was Operation Mongoose and what was its goal?

Who was in charge of Operation Mongoose and why did President Kennedy choose this person?

Operation Mongoose

Target: Fidel Castro

You might also like