View source for Operation Northwoods

{{short description|1962 proposed U.S. false flag operation against American citizens}}

{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = [[Operation Northwoods]]
| location = Various US cities; [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base]], [[Cuba]]
| date = {{start date|1962|03|13}}
| partof = [[Cuban Project]], [[Cold War]]
| image = NorthwoodsMemorandum.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| image_upright = 
| alt = Operation Northwoods memorandum
| caption = Operation Northwoods memorandum (March 13, 1962)<ref name= northwoods1>{{cite web |url= http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20010430/index.html |title=Justification for U.S. Military Intervention in Cuba (TS) |publisher=[[United States Department of Defense|US Department of Defense]] |date=March 13, 1962| format= PDF | via= [[National Security Archive]], [[George Washington University]]}}</ref>
| map = USA location map.svg
| map_size = 250px
| map_alt = Map of the US
| map_caption = Proposed attacks on US cities; [[Miami]], and [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base]]
| coordinates = 
| time = 
| timezone = [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]]
| target =  US civilians and military facilities
| type = Proposed [[false flag]] operations, [[terrorism]], [[assassination]]s, [[aircraft hijacking]]s, and bombings
| weapons = Explosives, firearms, aircraft
| fatalities = 0 (proposal only)
| injuries = 0
| victims = US military personnel and civilians (proposed)
| perpetrators = [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]] (proposal), [[United States Department of Defense]]
| assailants = Proposed use of [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] operatives
| numparts = Multiple coordinated proposals
| dfens = None (plan was never implemented)
| motive = Justify US military intervention in Cuba
| inquiry = [[Assassination Records Review Board]] (1997)
| coroner = 
| accused = 
| convicted = 
| verdict = 
| convictions = 
| charges = 
| litigation = 
| website =
| module = 
| susperps = 
}}
{{Campaignbox Cuban Project}}
{{Covert United States involvement in regime change}}
[[File:GEN Lyman L. Lemnitzer, portrait as SACEUR (cropped 2).jpg|thumb|General [[Lyman Lemnitzer]], who was in charge as the [[chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]]]]

'''Operation Northwoods''' was a proposed [[false flag]] operation which originated within the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] of the [[Federal government of the United States|US government]] in 1962. The proposals called for [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) operatives to both stage and commit acts of [[Terrorism in the United States|terrorism against US]] military and civilian targets, blame them on the [[Politics of Cuba|Cuban government]], and use them to justify a war against Cuba. The possibilities detailed in the document included the remote control of civilian aircraft which would be secretly repainted as [[US Air Force]] planes,<ref name=":1" /> a fabricated 'shoot down' of a US Air Force fighter aircraft off the coast of Cuba, the possible assassination of Cuban immigrants, sinking boats of Cuban refugees on the high seas,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url= https://archive.org/details/1962U.S.JointChiefsOfStaffOperationNorthwoodsUnclassifiedDocument/page/n11 |title=1962 U.S. Joint Chiefs Of Staff Operation Northwoods Unclassified Document Bolsheviks NWO |date=1962 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> exploding a US ship, and orchestrating terrorism in US cities.<ref name= ":1">{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/U.S./story?id=92662&page=1 |title=U.S. Military Wanted to Provoke War With Cuba |date=7 January 2006 |website= abcnews.go.com| publisher= [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]| accessdate= }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=13 March 1962 |title=Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense. Subject: Justification for U.S. Military Intervention in Cuba (TS) |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/news/20010430/northwoods.pdf |page= 11 | via= National Security Archive, George Washington University}}</ref> The proposals were rejected by US President [[John F. Kennedy]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/U.S./story?id=92662&page=1#.TxsGQG_Ox2B |title=U.S. Military Wanted to Provoke War With Cuba | website= abcnews.go.com| publisher= ABC News |date=May 1, 2001 |last=Ruppe |first=David |access-date= January 21, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| first= Jim | last=Wolf| url=http://groups.google.com/group/aus.tv.x-files/browse_thread/thread/389c6945e535d5c8/ | title= Pentagon Planned 1960s Cuban 'Terror Campaign| agency= [[Reuters]]| date= 18 November 1997| via= [[Google Groups]] | accessdate= }}</ref><ref name= feinsilber1> {{cite news| first= Mike | last= Feinsilber | url= http://groups.google.com/group/alt.conspiracy.jfk/msg/ae09ebd1e17a7c67/ | title= At a tense time, plots abounded to humiliate Castro| agency=[[Associated Press]] | date= 18 November 1997| via= Google Groups| accessdate= }} Also available [http://groups.google.com/group/alt.gathering.rainbow/msg/cec8ff17d8b26ef2/ here].</ref>

[[Fidel Castro]] had taken power in Cuba in 1959 and began allowing communists into the new Cuban government, nationalizing US businesses and improving relations with the [[Soviet Union]] during the [[Cold War]], arousing the concern of the US military. The operation proposed creating public support for a war against Cuba by blaming the Cuban government for terrorist acts that would be perpetrated by the US government.<ref name= "northwoods1" /> Operation Northwoods proposals recommended [[aircraft hijacking|hijacking]]s and bombings followed by the introduction of false evidence that would implicate the Cuban government. It stated:
{{quote|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]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 March 1962 |title=Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense. Subject: Justification for U.S. Military Intervention in Cuba (TS) |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/news/20010430/northwoods.pdf |page= 8 | via= National Security Archive, George Washington University}}</ref>}}

Several other proposals were included within Operation Northwoods, including real or simulated actions against various US military and civilian targets. The operation recommended developing a "Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Florida cities and even in Washington",<ref name=:2/> which involved the bombing of civilian targets, which was to be blamed on the Cuban government to paint a false image of Fidel Castro and misinform the American public.

The plan was drafted by the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]], signed by Chairman [[Lyman Lemnitzer]] and sent to the [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]]. Although part of the US government's anti-communist [[Cuban Project]], Operation Northwoods was never officially accepted; it was authorized by the Joint Chiefs of Staff but then rejected by President Kennedy. None of the false flag operations became active under the auspices of the Operation Northwoods proposals.

== Origins and public release ==
The main Operation Northwoods proposal was presented in a document titled "Justification for [[U.S. military intervention|U.S.&nbsp;Military Intervention]] in Cuba ([[Classified information|TS]])," a top secret collection of draft [[memoranda]] written by the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] (DoD) and the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]] (JCS).<ref name=northwoods1/> The document was presented by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Secretary of Defense [[Robert McNamara]] on 13 March 1962 as a preliminary submission for planning purposes. The Joint Chiefs 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 18 November 1997, by the [[Assassination Records Review Board|John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board]],<ref>[https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/review-board/index.html "The Records of the Assassination Records Review Board,"] ''[[National Archives and Records Administration]]''.</ref> a U.S. federal agency overseeing the release of government records related to [[John F. Kennedy's assassination]].<ref>[https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/1998/nr98-16.html "Media Advisory: National Archives Releases Additional Materials Reviewed by the Assassination Records Review Board,"] ''Assassination Records Review Board'' (a division of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration), 17 November 1997. A U.S.&nbsp;government press-release announcing the declassification of some 1,500 pages of U.S. government documents from 1962 to 1964 relating to U.S.&nbsp;policy towards Cuba, among which declassified documents included the Operation Northwoods document.</ref><ref name=weiner>Tim Weiner, [https://web.archive.org/web/20030224033044/http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/kencast.htm "Documents Show Pentagon's Anti-Castro Plots During Kennedy Years,"] ''[[New York Times]]'', 19 November 1997; appeared on the same date and by the same author in the ''New York Times'' itself as [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60F1FFE3D5F0C7A8DDDA80994DF494D81 "Declassified Papers Show Anti-Castro Ideas Proposed to Kennedy,"] late edition—final, section A, pg. 25, column 1.</ref> A total of 1,521 pages of once-secret military records covering 1962 to 1964 were [[wikt:concomitantly|concomitantly]] [[Declassification|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 6 November 1998 in a joint venture with [[CNN]] as part of its 1998 ''Cold War'' television documentary series<ref>[http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/documents/index.html "National Security Archive: Cold War: Documents,"] ''National Security Archive'', 27 September 1998 – 24 January 1999.</ref><ref>U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, [http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/documents/episode-10/02-01.htm "Appendix to Enclosure A: Memorandum for Chief of Operations, Cuba Project" and "Annex to Appendix to Enclosure A: Pretexts to Justify U.S. Military Intervention in Cuba,"] ''U.S. Department of Defense'', c.&nbsp;March 1962. First published online by the [[National Security Archive]] on 6 November 1998, as part of CNN's ''Cold War'' documentary series. "Annex to Appendix to Enclosure A" is the section of the Operation Northwoods document which contains the proposals to stage terrorist attacks.</ref>—specifically, as a documentation supplement to "Episode 10: Cuba," which aired on 29 November 1998.<ref>[http://www.turnerlearning.com/cnn/coldwar/cw_epsds.html "Cold War Teacher Materials: Episodes,"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070126135125/http://www.turnerlearning.com/cnn/coldwar/cw_epsds.html |date=2007-01-26 }} and [http://www.turnerlearning.com/cnn/coldwar/cuba/cuba_ttl.html "Educator Guide to CNN's Cold War Episode 10: Cuba,"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070126231650/http://www.turnerlearning.com/cnn/coldwar/cuba/cuba_ttl.html |date=2007-01-26 }} ''Turner Learning'' (Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.).</ref> "Annex to Appendix to Enclosure A" is the section of the document which contains the proposals to stage [[false flag]] [[terrorism|terrorist attacks]]. 

The Northwoods document was published online in a more complete form, including cover [[memorandum|memoranda]], by the National Security Archive on 30 April 2001.<ref>[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20010430/index.html "Pentagon Proposed Pretexts for Cuba Invasion in 1962,"] ''National Security Archive'', 30 April 2001.</ref>

== Provocations ==
Responding to a request for pretexts for military intervention by the Chief of Operations of the Cuba Project, Brig. Gen. [[Edward Lansdale]], the document listed methods, such as false flag provocations, that the authors believed would garner support for U.S. military intervention in Cuba. According to the documents, the plan called for several steps to be taken in an attempt to provoke Cuba into an action against the United States, then blame it for "hostilities" carried out by the U.S. against [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|its military base at Guantanamo]]; these would be followed by executing offensive operations there against tactical Cuban civilian targets and military emplacements, leading to "large scale United States military operations":
{{ordered list|Since it would seem desirable to use legitimate provocation as the basis for U.S. military intervention in Cuba, a cover and deception plan, to include requisite preliminary actions such as had 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://media.nara.gov/media/images/36/15/36-1469a.jpg |title=Annex to Appendix to Enclosure A: Pretexts to Justify U.S. Military Intervention in Cuba |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080813000407/http://media.nara.gov/media/images/36/15/36-1469a.jpg |archive-date=2008-08-13 |website=media.nara.gov |access-date=3 September 2009}}</ref>|The United States would respond by executing offensive operations to secure water and power supplies, destroying artillery and mortar emplacements which threaten the base.|Commence large scale United States military operations.
}}

== Related Operation Mongoose proposals ==
{{Main|Operation Mongoose}}{{Fidel Castro series}}[[File:Major-general-lansdale.jpg|thumb|General [[Edward Lansdale]], commander of the anti-Cuban [[Operation Mongoose]] project]]

In addition to Operation Northwoods, under the Operation Mongoose program the U.S. Department of Defense had a number of similar proposals for actions to be taken against the Cuban regime of [[Fidel Castro]].

Twelve of these proposals come from a 2 February 1962 memorandum entitled "Possible Actions to Provoke, Harass or Disrupt Cuba," written by Brig. Gen. William H. Craig and submitted to Brig. Gen. Edward Lansdale, the commander of the Operation Mongoose project.<ref name=feinsilber1/><ref name=weiner/>

The memorandum outlines Operation Bingo, a false flag plan to "create an incident which has the appearance of an attack on [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|U.S. facilities (GMO) in Cuba]], thus providing an excuse for use of U.S. military might to overthrow the current government of Cuba."

It also includes Operation Dirty Trick, another false flag plot to blame Castro if the 1962 [[Project Mercury|Mercury]] crewed space flight carrying [[John Glenn]] crashed, saying: "The objective is to provide irrevocable proof that, should the MERCURY manned orbit flight fail, the fault lies with the Communists et al. Cuba." It continues, "This to be accomplished by manufacturing various pieces of evidence which would prove electronic interference on the part of the Cubans."

Even after General Lemnitzer lost his job as the [[chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]], the Joint Chiefs still planned false-flag pretext operations at least into 1963. A different U.S. Department of Defense policy paper created in 1963 discussed a plan to make it appear that Cuba had attacked a member of the [[Organization of American States]] (OAS) so that the United States could retaliate. The U.S. Department of Defense document says of one of the scenarios, "A contrived 'Cuban' attack on an OAS member could be set up, and the attacked state could be urged to take measures of self-defense and request assistance from the U.S. and OAS."<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PFYLAAAAYAAJ&q=%22A+contrived+'Cuban'+attack%22 |title=The Castro Obsession: U.S. Covert Operations Against Cuba, 1959-1965 |last=Bohning |first=Don |date=2005 |publisher=Potomac Books |isbn=978-1-57488-675-7 |pages=105 |language=en |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

The plan expressed confidence that by this action, "the U.S. could almost certainly obtain the necessary two-thirds support among OAS members for collective action against Cuba."<ref name=bamford>{{cite book |first=James |last=Bamford |chapter=4: "Fists" |title=Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency From the Cold War Through the Dawn of a New Century |location=New York |publisher=Doubleday |edition=first |date=24 April 2001 |isbn=0-385-49907-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Mike |last=Feinsilber |url=http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y98/jan98/30e6.htm |title=Records Show Plan To Provoke Castro |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050824211208/http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y98/jan98/30e6.htm |archive-date=2005-08-24 |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=29 January 1998}}</ref>

Included in the nations the Joint Chiefs suggested as targets for covert attacks were [[Jamaica]] and [[Republic of Trinidad and Tobago|Trinidad-Tobago]]. Since both were members of the [[Commonwealth of Nations|British Commonwealth]], the Joint Chiefs hoped that by secretly attacking them and then falsely blaming Cuba, the United States could incite the people of the United Kingdom into supporting a war against Castro.<ref name=bamford/> As the U.S. Department of Defense report noted:

<blockquote>Any of the contrived situations described above are inherently, extremely risky in our democratic system in which security can be maintained, after the fact, with very great difficulty. If the decision should be made to set up a contrived situation it should be one in which participation by U.S. personnel is limited only to the most highly trusted covert personnel. This suggests the infeasibility of the use of military units for any aspect of the contrived situation."<ref name=bamford/></blockquote>

The U.S. Department of Defense report even suggested covertly paying a person in Castro's government to stage a false flag attack against the United States: "The only area remaining for consideration then would be to bribe one of Castro's subordinate commanders to initiate an attack on Guantanamo."<ref name=bamford/>

== Reaction ==
[[File:President Kennedy American University Commencement Address June 10, 1963.jpg|thumb|In June 1963 [[President Kennedy]] gave his memorable speech at [[American University]], offering an olive branch to the Soviet Union in the form of a unilateral [[Partial Test Ban Treaty|Partial Nuclear Test Ban]] proposal]]

Kennedy rejected the Northwoods proposal. A JCS/Pentagon document, a memo by Lansdale entitled MEETING WITH THE PRESIDENT, 16 MARCH 1962, reads: "General Lemnitzer commented that the military had contingency plans for U.S. intervention. Also it had plans for creating plausible pretexts to use force, with the pretext either attacks on U.S. aircraft or a Cuban action in Latin America for which we could retaliate. The President said bluntly that we were not discussing the use of military force, that General Lemnitzer might find the U.S. so engaged in Berlin or elsewhere that he couldn't use the contemplated 4 divisions in Cuba."<ref>[http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/viewer/showDoc.do?absPageId=49622 Lansdale Memo of 16 Mar 1962. This memo records a high-level meeting in the White House three days after McNamara was presented with Operation Northwoods.]</ref> The proposal was sent for approval to the secretary of defense, [[Robert McNamara]], but was not implemented.

Following presentation of the Northwoods plan, Kennedy removed Lemnitzer as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, although he became [[Supreme Allied Commander]] of [[NATO]] in January 1963. U.S. military leaders began to perceive Kennedy as going soft on Cuba, and the President became increasingly unpopular with the military. A rift had already developed during Kennedy's disagreements with the service chiefs over the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] in October 1962 and flared up again with his June 10, 1963 announcement of a unilateral U.S. [[Partial Test Ban Treaty|Test Ban Treaty]].

Physical documentation on Operation Northwoods became declassified through the [[President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992|John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992]]. This act declassified a total of four million documents, including Operation Northwoods, and was made available through the [[National Archives at College Park|National Archives]] in [[College Park, Maryland]]. However, public knowledge of Operation Northwoods did not come until 2001 with the release of a book by the author James Bamford titled ''[[Body of Secrets]]''.<ref>Davis, Tracy C. “Operation Northwoods: The Pentagon's Scripts for Overthrowing Castro.” TDR, vol. 50, no. 1, 2006, pp. 134–148. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4492663. Accessed 4 Mar. 2021.</ref>

On 3 August 2001, the [[National Assembly of People's Power of Cuba]] (the main legislative body of the Republic of Cuba) issued a statement referring to Operation Northwoods and Operation Mongoose wherein it condemned such U.S. government plans.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/documentos/2001/ing/d030801i.html |title=Statement by the National Assembly of People's Power of the Republic of Cuba |publisher=[[National Assembly of People's Power of Cuba]] |date=3 August 2001}}; also available [http://www.asanac.gov.cu/ASANAC/espanol/declaracion%20agosto2001.htm here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928050217/http://www.asanac.gov.cu/ASANAC/espanol/declaracion%20agosto2001.htm |date=2007-09-28 }}.</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|United States|Politics|Cuba}}
* [[False flag]]
* [[Gulf of Tonkin incident]]
* [[Operation Gladio]]
* [[Family Jewels (Central Intelligence Agency)]]
* [[Operation Washtub (United States)|Operation Washtub]]
* [[Proactive, Preemptive Operations Group]]
* [[Operation Himmler]]
* [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]]
* [[Operation Sea-Spray]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== Further reading ==
* Jon Elliston, editor, ''Psywar on Cuba: The Declassified History of U.S. Anti-Castro Propaganda'' (Melbourne, Australia and New York: Ocean Press, 1999), {{ISBN|1-876175-09-5}}.

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://www.smeggys.co.uk/operation_northwoods.php The Full Operation Northwoods document] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081008062558/http://www.smeggys.co.uk/operation_northwoods.php |date=2008-10-08 }} in both [[JPEG]] and fully searchable [[HTML]] format.
* High resolution scans from the [https://www.archives.gov/ National Archives], main pages: [https://web.archive.org/web/20080813000407/http://media.nara.gov/media/images/36/15/36-1469a.jpg 1], [https://web.archive.org/web/20080813000402/http://media.nara.gov/media/images/36/15/36-1470a.jpg 2], [https://web.archive.org/web/20080813000411/http://media.nara.gov/media/images/36/15/36-1471a.jpg 3], [https://web.archive.org/web/20080813000421/http://media.nara.gov/media/images/36/15/36-1472a.jpg 4], [https://web.archive.org/web/20080813000416/http://media.nara.gov/media/images/36/15/36-1473a.jpg 5]
* Scott Shane and Tom Bowman with contribution from Laura Sullivan, [https://web.archive.org/web/20010507171811/http://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-te.md.nsa24apr24.story "New book on NSA sheds light on secrets: U.S. terror plan was Cuba invasion pretext,"] ''Baltimore Sun'', 24 April 2001.
* Ron Kampeas, [http://groups.google.com/group/flora.mai-not/browse_thread/thread/14905a31d5fc0c70/ "Memo: U.S. Mulled Fake Cuba Pretext,"] ''Associated Press'' (''AP''), 25 April 2001.
* Bruce Schneier, [https://web.archive.org/web/20041209044217/http://dir.salon.com/books/review/2001/04/25/nsa/index.html "'Body of Secrets' by James Bamford: The author of a pioneering work on the NSA delivers a new book of revelations about the mysterious agency's coverups, eavesdropping and secret missions,"] ''Salon.com'', 25 April 2001.
* David Ruppe, [https://abcnews.go.com/U.S./story?id=92662 "U.S. Military Wanted to Provoke War With Cuba; Book: U.S. Military Drafted Plans to Terrorize U.S. Cities to Provoke War With Cuba,"] ''ABC News'', 1 May 2001.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050912001704/http://www.painfuldeceptions.com/Cuba.html "The Truth Is Out There—1962 memo from National Security Agency,"] ''Harper's Magazine'', July 2001.
* Chris Floyd, [http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/linkscopy/headcases.html "Head Cases,"] ''Moscow Times'', 21 December 2001, pg. VIII; also appeared in [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930185414/http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=6194 ''St. Petersburg Times'', Issue 733 (100), 25 December 2001].
* National Security Archive, [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20010430/ "Pentagon Proposed Pretext for Cuba Invasion in 1962"], April 30, 2001.

{{Cuba-United States relations}}
{{United States in Latin America}}
{{John F. Kennedy}}
{{Central Intelligence Agency}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:1962 in the United States]]
[[Category:Cold War intelligence operations]]
[[Category:Cuba–United States relations]]
[[Category:Opposition to Fidel Castro]]
[[Category:Government documents of the United States]]
[[Category:American propaganda during the Cold War]]
[[Category:Anti-communist terrorism]]
[[Category:Terrorism in the United States]]
[[Category:False flag operations]]
[[Category:Covert operations]]
[[Category:Cancelled military operations involving the United States|Northwoods]]