America's Top Generals Once Proposed Attacking Americans and Blaming Cuba
President Kennedy rejected the 1962 plan, which stayed secret for almost 40 years.
Who Killed JFK? · The Lead UpIn 1962, America's top military commanders proposed killing Americans and blaming Cuba to justify an invasion.
The plan came from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the generals and admirals who advise the president on military matters. In a written memorandum, they said, "The Joint Chiefs of Staff have considered the attached memorandum for the pretext which would provide justification for US military intervention in Cuba."
The method was what intelligence professionals call a pretext operation, or a false flag operation. The United States would stage a violent attack on its own people or property, make it look as if Cuban leader Fidel Castro had ordered it, and use the resulting outrage to force the country into war.
The details were specific. The chiefs proposed faking the hijacking of an American passenger plane, with the understanding that Americans aboard would die. The document itself said, "casualty lists in the US Newspapers would cause a helpful wave of national indignation."
A hijacked plane was only the start. The plan listed 11 other "well coordinated incidents that would look credible," including sinking ships and burning aircraft. The memorandum said the desired result was to put the United States in the position of suffering "defensible grievances" from Cuba, and to develop "an international image of a Cuban threat to peace in the Western Hemisphere."
President John F. Kennedy knew about the plan and rejected it in brusque, almost rude terms. The document stayed secret for almost 40 years. It was quietly declassified in 1997 under the law requiring release of assassination records, but the public did not learn its details until 2001, when investigative reporter James Bamford described it in his book Body of Secrets as "what may be the most corrupt plan ever created by the US Government."
The lesson is blunt. Public support for war can be manufactured, and even senior officials have proposed manufacturing it with American lives.
Questions people ask
Who are the Joint Chiefs of Staff?
The Joint Chiefs of Staff are the most senior uniformed leaders from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and other services. They advise the president and the defense secretary on military strategy, but they do not command troops directly and cannot order a war on their own.
Can I read the Operation Northwoods document myself?
Yes. The full Northwoods memorandum was declassified under the JFK Records Act and is held by the National Archives. It has also been published in several books and online archives, so anyone can read the list of proposed incidents and the exact language about casualty lists.
What is the difference between a false flag and a pretext?
A false flag means carrying out an action while making it appear that someone else did it. A pretext means creating an excuse for an action you already want to take. In Northwoods, a faked Cuban attack would have been both: blamed on Castro and used as the excuse to invade.