@@ Bay of Pigs part 2, CIA-Israeli-MEK @@
Arash
December 31, 2004
Bay of Pigs Redux?
Dr. James Gordon Prather
Nuclear weapons physicist
Gary Samore (http://www.iiss.org/biogs.php?staffID=20) - who served on
President Clinton's National Security Council staff - told an audience last
week at the United Arab Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research:
"I think if negotiations between Iran and the Europeans fail - and Iran
resumes its enrichment program - I think there is a real risk of increased
tension and at least a serious consideration in Washington of using military
force. Obviously, there are many negative consequences of using force, but I
think there is a real danger that the president will feel he has no choice
if there is no diplomatic option."
Gary Samore
International Institute for Strategic Studies
http://www.ecssr.ac.ae/CDA/en/Activities/ActivitiesListEventMoreInfo/0,1717,2461,00.html
Now, obviously, there is no possibility of U.S. overt use of force against
Iran.
We haven't got enough troops to pacify Iraq, much less invade Iran.
And if we bomb Iran, our fleet in the Persian Gulf would quickly be sunk by
Russian-made or Chinese-made supersonic sea-skimming anti-ship missiles.
Well, how about covert action?
Until recently, the "Dirty Commies" were the enemy. They wanted to destroy
us. To change our way of life. To subvert the values of the "Land of the
Free."
Dirty Commies didn't play by the rules. They lied, cheated, bribed,
manipulated, murdered, and did whatever else they had to do to win. Which
meant that if we wanted to win, we'd have to do the same.
So, how about a Bay of Pigs redux?
Except substitute "Islamic Terrorists" for "Dirty Commies," "Iran" for
"Cuba," and the Mujahedin-e-Khalq
(http://library.nps.navy.mil/home/tgp/mek.htm) for the Cuban "exiles."
On March 17, 1960, President Eisenhower approved a CIA plan entitled "A
Program of Covert Action Against the Castro Regime."
The plan envisioned: (1) the creation outside Cuba of a "responsible" and
unified Castro opposition group, (2) the establishment outside Cuba of a
powerful radio and newspaper network to beam propaganda to the Cuban masses,
(3) the creation and development of a covert intelligence and action
organization within Cuba that would respond to the orders and directions of
the Castro opposition group, and (4) the development of a paramilitary force
outside Cuba for future guerrilla action.
First Eisenhower, then Kennedy, after he became president - as well as other
high-ranking U.S. officials - denied any plans to attack Cuba. But as early
as Oct. 31, 1960, Cuban Foreign Minister Raúl Roa was able to provide
details to the UN General Assembly about the recruitment and training of the
Cuban "exiles."
The invasion - which came as no surprise to Castro - began early Sunday
morning, April 16, 1961. The invading force, consisting of 1,500 men, had
been trained in Guatemala by the CIA, was transported to Cuba by the
CIA/Navy, and was supported by the CIA/Air Force, flying from bases in
Florida.
By noon, President Kennedy had gotten a communication from Premier
Khrushchev:
"It is a secret to no one that the armed bands invading this country were
trained, equipped, and armed in the United States of America. The planes
that are bombing Cuban cities belong to the United States of America; the
bombs they are dropping are being supplied by the American government.
"As far as the Soviet Union is concerned, there should be no mistake about
our position: We will render the Cuban people and their government all
necessary help to repel an armed attack on Cuba."
As a result of the U.S. failure at the Bay of Pigs and the diplomatic
embarrassment that ensued, President Kennedy fired longtime CIA Director
Allen W. Dulles, Deputy Director Charles P. Cabell, and the one principally
responsible for the operation, Deputy Director Richard Bissell. Kennedy
assumed full responsibility for the failure, although he secretly blamed the
CIA and ordered a full investigation of the operation.
The CIA inspector general's report concluded that ignorance, incompetence,
and arrogance on the part of the CIA were responsible for the fiasco. It
criticized nearly every aspect of the CIA's handling of the invasion:
misinforming Kennedy administration officials, poor planning, use of faulty
intelligence, and conducting an overt military operation beyond "agency
responsibility as well as agency capability."
Aside from being a major embarrassment for Kennedy and the CIA, the "covert"
Bay of Pigs operation set the stage for a major overt confrontation between
the U.S. and the Soviet Union: the Cuban Missile Crisis, which brought the
world to the brink of nuclear war.
Do you suppose that if some non-neo-crazy sat Dubya down and told him about
the Bay of Pigs fiasco he'd still feel that he "had no choice" but to
launch - or condone - a covert CIA-Israeli-MEK
(http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=1798) military operation against Iran?
* Physicist James Gordon Prather has served as a policy implementing
official for national security-related technical matters in the Federal
Energy Agency, the Energy Research and Development Administration, the
Department of Energy, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the
Department of the Army. Dr. Prather also served as legislative assistant for
national security affairs to U.S. Sen. Henry Bellmon, R-Okla. -- ranking
member of the Senate Budget Committee and member of the Senate Energy
Committee and Appropriations Committee. Dr. Prather had earlier worked as a
nuclear weapons physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in
California and Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico.
http://www.antiwar.com/prather
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/archives.asp?AUTHOR_ID=35