The Colonel's Corner Safe for Democracy Part 27 (28)

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Transcript

0:02 Good afternoon. And hey, look at that. The purple tail just popped back in. Yeah, I don't see it on mine, but okay. Good. Good afternoon, SR. Welcome, everybody, over on Rumble. I see Shelly the Kiwi, Elwood C, Stoney Seek Girl from Tennessee.

0:34 Awesome. I saw someone, Elwood C. from Northwest Arizona. Welcome, everybody. All right. So let's get started because today is going to be an early day. All right. Where are we left off? And I just want to say that, again, timing is everything.

1:02 I don't know if it's just my feed because I post about all of this stuff, but there's a lot of people posting about the JFK assassination. And everybody, when you see posts like that, need to put in their chat Operation Gladio. It's something, and basically just say it.

1:30 Cuban exiles are U.S.'s Operation Gladio. If I could interrupt a second, it doesn't look like the video has started on Rumble yet. Okay, let's get that taken care of. Thank you. All right, so let's get started.

1:59 I said hello to all of you guys over here on the Rumble chat. You didn't hear me. I didn't have my mic on while the video was going. Elwood C, Stoney Seek Girl. Let's see. B Cleft, Shelly the Kiwi, Simp, and I don't know. And Alpato? I don't know. You guys know I butcher all the words, the names anyway.

2:31 Okay, so basically what I was saying is there's a lot of activity on social media about the JFK assassination for lots of reasons because of the recent declassification and stuff like that. So I'm just asking you guys, when you see that, please put in the comments, Cuban exiles equal U.S. Operation Gladio so that we can get more eyes on this.

2:57 I don't know if you guys have had the opportunity to watch the video I did recently about the JFK piece, but I'm all for tying those loose ends that we found together in that community so they have that information as well. All right, let's keep going. We're on page 307, the secret war against Castro.

3:27 Intelligence supports improved from what it had been a year earlier, but continued to have difficulties. Ray Klein, CIA's deputy director for intelligence, after Amory, knew of every aspect of Mongoose, save the assassination plots. Right. John McCone told him and updated him too. The director.

3:55 of the CIA, McCone, occasionally took Klein along to meetings. McCone solicited his advice and permitted Klein to discuss matters with his analyst. Although the director of intelligence did not write papers for the project, knowledge enabled Klein to pose questions for analysts in such a way that their products was helpful to Mongoose planners. But the problem with the exile groups were mystifying.

4:25 And they overlap boundaries between political operatives and those who were supposed to evaluate Castro's chances. You're not going to get any honest input out of people who are trying to overthrow that government. Come on. Diplomatic support also lagged. In June, Lansdale and Bobby Kennedy maneuvered the State Department into agreeing to make action proposals.

4:54 There were restrictions that RFK had set telling McCone that Mongoose had lots of data but little to show for it. At the time, Mongoose remained mired in phase one. Lansdale worried that the agencies were protecting their interests and that he was a mere quote-unquote figurative chief of operations. And he had no authority to knock heads together.

5:21 He persuaded Bill Harvey and the CIA to prepare a revised alternative course B and then went to discuss it with Bobby Kennedy. The latest plan aimed at strengthening the atmosphere of resistance in Cuba. Teams of three to five fighters would infiltrate several different places in Cuba.

5:46 A strike force of about 50 commandos would conduct sabotage missions and a wide variety of psychological warfare propaganda and other means would be used to sharpen fears. Lansdell cut back Bill Harvey's prospectus, which had called for several times more fighters and commando teams. The attorney general approved the plan. The special group.

6:17 did not. They were swayed by McCone, who held out the scepter of the Hungarian revolt and warned that the U.S. would risk another slaughter. In the context of the rapid buildup of Soviet forces already beginning, McCone's argument had merit. Lansdale disagreed. Revolt against Castro had to come from the Cuban people, he believed, and the more visible CIA roles, the less likely that would be.

6:46 Once the exiles were mounting sabotage missions on their own, it became even more difficult to restrain the Cubans that were working on the task force. President Kennedy reviewed the final version of this plan called B-plus and approved it on August 20th. The materials given him explicitly stated that the CIA program had no possibility of overthrowing Castro.

7:15 Then why the hell are we doing it? In early September, the special group approved phase two raids against Cuba. Lansdale's list of tasks had grown to more than 50. But when Harvey recommended the commando strike at a power plant, the group discouraged it. Harvey erupted in a shouting match with the attorney general. The principals had noticed Harvey's inebriation.

7:45 especially at lunchtime. He liked to drink. After this fight with Bobby Kennedy, Harvey became persona non grata. Richard Helms or the task force deputy chief Bruce Sheever would come to the meetings for him. Around that time, Ted Shackley got his chance to meet JFK at Langley for a day to review the September infiltration schedule.

8:14 McComb took Shackley along to see the president. McComb figured that the station chief would provide a view from the trenches. Kennedy asked a few questions, but none of them related to the paramilitary raids. The project peaked in the months separating the Bay of Pigs from the Cuban Missile Crisis. Numerous attempts to infiltrate agents were all failures. Several more assassination schemes were aborted.

8:45 Cargoes of Cuban sugar were contaminated with chemicals in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and other ports. Shipments of machinery and spare parts en route to Cuba were sabotaged. Infiltration became the bread and butter of the effort. Exile Felix Rodriguez claims to have personally landed 10 tons of equipment in Cuba.

9:17 There were commando strikes on Cuban railroads, oil, and sugar refineries and factories. Photographic intelligence expert Dino Bruganini recalls Harvey almost as an enemy, believing that the analysts spied on him. But Harvey lied about results as evidence from the overhead photography.

9:46 Confronted with pictures that showed no damage to buildings that had supposedly been bombed, Harvey said the photos did not show the inside structure, and he demanded that the photo interpreters be sent to Miami to brief. Bergie Brugiani, I guess is how you say his name, recounts that this sort of thing happened again and again.

10:14 Harvey finally said, what in the hell does a bunch of quacks know about covert operations? Bobby Kennedy's enthusiasm won the support of many who were disgruntled by the Bay of Pigs fiasco. Rip Robertson was one of them. Robertson thought little of politicians, but met RFK during the Taylor Committee investigation and returned to tell the exiles that Bobby was all right.

10:40 At one point, Robertson led a mission where the team was to sabotage one of the mines, which was Cuba's largest, setting explosive charges on conveyors and key equipment. The mission came off, but nothing happened. Cuban security found the devices and disarmed them. Ted Shackley decided the Cubans who had set the timers botched the job.

11:06 Another time, Robertson offered money if a raider returned with the ear of an enemy. The man brought back two. Robertson served throughout the secret war against Cuba. What a nice guy. In a way, the exile groups forced Kennedy's hand with one of their freelance strikes, acting on information that Czech and Soviet officers partied on Friday nights at the Havana.

11:37 Balinquina Hotel, exiles decided to make a raid. Six Cubans crammed into a speedboat with .50 caliber machine guns and a cannon and a bunch of rifles. On August 24th, they entered the suburban harbor at Miramar, sailed close enough to the hotel to see the lights in the ballroom and uniforms and shelled the place. The group involved the student,

12:08 revolutionary director at DRE, continued on the CIA's payroll. One of the raiders, Jose Basalto, would continue to lead similar independent forays into the Cuba for decades that followed. That's weird. It's supposedly independent, but he has 50 caliber machine guns and a cannon? How independent is that?

12:40 Meanwhile, Washington's belly thumping culminated in a series of meetings in the Joint Chiefs of Staff Operations Room on August 8th and 9th and at the State Department on August 10th. At the last of these, McComb recollected in 1967 that CIA Inspector General John Ehrman looked into the matter. Someone talked about the need to liquidate top Cuban officials, including Castro.

13:11 McCone insisted he protested instantly that he went to Robert McNamara's office right afterwards and reiterated the protest. McCone's special assistant said that he did protest, but not immediately. Okay, let's see. And that no such suggestion ever received serious consideration by the special group. But, and here the assassination.

13:55 rears its ugly head again, the paper General Lansdale sent to his agency managers after the August 10th meeting assigned Bill Harvey to write a paper on the CIA's role, listing under the rubric of political, the aspect of splitting the regime, including liquidation of leaders. So the CIA was definitely talking about it. Bill Harvey.

14:30 called Lansdale and he wasn't there. So Harvey screamed at a guy by the name of Frank Hand. Lansdale's deputy, I need to look that guy up and see if he's related to our Nugent Hand guy, denouncing the stupidity of putting that in a document. The next day, he protested to Richard Helms. Harvey made clear that Robert McNamara,

15:02 had himself brought up the question of assassination in Russ' office on August 10th. Staff took the Lansdale memo and whited out the offending phrase, but it survived in Harvey's notes to help. In Lansdale's deposition to the Rockefeller Commission in 1975, lawyer David Boleyn asked if he remembered those words. Lansdale, of course, said he did not.

15:37 Quote, I just don't recall anything at all on liquidation of leaders. That would be kind of awkward for somebody who is pretending to be military. Nor did he remember Frank Hands telling him about Harvey's phone call. Hold on just a second. Okay. Let's see. He just kept saying, I don't recall.

16:20 Recollection improved before the church committee where Lansdale testified that the idea had been shot down on the August 10th meeting, but that he had included it in the instructions to Harvey because it might be a possibility someplace down the road. Sure. More sharp arguments erupted at the Mongoose meeting on October 4th. There, the attorney general said that higher authority.

16:51 worried about the meager results and that he, RFK, wanted massive activity. McCone countered that the National Security Council had been holding the forces back. Bobby Kennedy said, to the contrary, the special group had urged and insisted upon action by the Lansdale operating organization and that no specific action had ever been rejected at the NSC level. The White House.

17:24 squawks were for particular reasons in the case of the frogmen landing in east cuba the men had been americans in another instance the miramar hotel the action had been irresponsible another major strike at the mine had been the objective of at least three failed missions

17:46 Lansdale told the group that half a dozen new raids were planned and another strike on a major target would be added. Some talked of mining Cuban territorial waters. On October 4th, the meeting concluded that more dynamic action was indicated. General Lansdale approached Bobby Kennedy in mid-October for a renewed initiative centered on Manalo Ray.

18:14 The only political warfare would trigger a Cuban revolt, he reiterated. He also said that a scheme to have a submarine surface and fire star shells over Cuba for all souls day night igniting Cuban superstitions, that seems to be a favorite psychological warfare tactic, coupled with the CIA spreading rumors of

18:44 Castro's fall. Tom Parrott thought it was ridiculous. The CIA talking about the second coming saying Christ opposed Castro, he called it, the elimination by illumination. In 1975, Lansdell reacted furiously to Parrott's characterization, claiming that he had never heard of the scheme. But in truth, the secret warrior proposed this psychological mission in a memo on October 15th, 1962.

19:15 moral of the story, you can't believe anything these people say, whether they're testifying in front of Congress or whatever, because they'll say whatever they want to say. And when things are proven differently, nothing ever happens to them. A day earlier, a CIA U-2 reconnaissance plane flying over Cuba had taken photographs showing equipment associated with Soviet nuclear missiles. This flight had been laid.

19:43 on as a result of reports from Mongoose, but the ensuing Cuban Missile Crisis would sweep away the CIA's project. When Richard Helms arrived at Robert Kennedy's office the morning of October 16th to deal with certain legal matters, Bobby had already seen the pictures. That afternoon, the special group would have evaluated Mongoose to date, a review Helms dreaded, but now the Attorney General had to help deal with the Soviet Missile Crisis.

20:12 Bobby went ahead with mongoose meetings to preserve the appearance of normalcy. Every bit as bloody as Helms feared, the review featured Robert Kennedy again declaring the president's anger. Acting for recently married John McCone in California on his honeymoon, Deputy Director General Marshall Carter presented a fresh CIA paper on sabotage.

20:39 Two CIA Cuban teams were ashore at the moment, and other minor achievements were cited, but the rest was for the future. Bobby liked the CIA paper, but insisted he would now begin meeting every morning with Lansdale and the Mongoose coordinators for results.

21:03 In fact, the greatest results ever achieved by the CIA project were the emplacement of Agent Netz, whose reports helped the U-2 spy planes find the Soviet missiles. Beginning that day, Robert Kennedy sat with his brother and others through a continuous session of executive committees at the National Security Council. They considered diplomatic approaches to the Russians, an invasion of Cuba, blockade, and bombing of the missiles.

21:31 Their central problem began getting the Russians to take those missiles out of Cuba without starting World War III. They needed to avoid anything that might provoke the Soviets or the Cuban military. In that context, Kennedy's constant pushing for actions in Mongoose was a problem. The secret warriors had their own solution to the Cuban crisis. They continued to act in accordance with previous orders.

22:01 and confirmed that they intended to do so. The State Department, Robert Hurwicz, Assistant for Cuban Affairs, wanted exiled pilots to bomb the missiles using unmarked planes, ostensibly trying to attack oil refineries. Bobby himself, according to some evidence, pondering staging a provocation like the sinking of the main at the onset of the Spanish-American War.

22:33 discussing it with Cuban leader Roberto San Roman, brother of one of the Brigade 2506 commanders, and Rafael Quintero, a CIA commando. Task Force W still pursued the Mongoose directive for action and moved to put commando teams in Cuba. Finding Russian nuclear storage bunkers had a high priority. Bill Harvey thought the teams could scout for U.S. invaders.

23:05 At the Miami station, the situation was very confusing. Ted Shackley had seen a stream of orders for more than a week. His exile teams were on edge. Felix Rodriguez, for example, had been accosted by case officer Thomas Clines and asked to volunteer for a parachute drop to place a radio beacon to guide a bombing raid.

23:32 was placed in a safe house without even the opportunity to pick his wife up. Sequestered for a pre-mission lockdown, the commandos needed surety. Shackley had 20 missions scheduled. 19 were paramilitary and one was intelligence. The JM wave chief begged Langley, sending a long dispatch. Part of it read this.

23:56 Believe fluctuations in go and stop orders over past seven days have been such that we are sitting on explosive human situation, which could blow at any time within the next 48 hours. The station chief reminded the headquarters that his 50 commandos were fully trained, ready to go, and would not remain under control unless Washington made up his mind.

24:21 There is, in my judgment, no middle ground on this issue, he stated. Thus, in the middle of the missile crisis, Ted Shackley threw the Kennedys this hot potato, amounting to a disposal problem all over again. That's interesting. Again, they're needling the Kennedys to botch the Cuban Missile Crisis, just like they did during the Bay of Pigs.

24:58 wanted to go, admitting that he had not considered political realities and that he viewed matters as a nuts and bolts issue. Shackley kept pressing for a decision. A commando landing at the height of the crisis with both sides on hair trigger alert would have touched off World War III, and that's what they wanted.

25:21 Bill Harvey took the Shockley Cable and forwarded it to Ed Lansdale. General Lansdale circulated it in the Pentagon and forwarded it to the Special Group. Three of the teams had already left in submarines for the north coast of Cuba. Six more were to infiltrate from submarines or drop by air. The others would follow. Exile Rafael Quintero wanted assurances and phoned the Attorney General.

25:50 Facing the horrifying prospect of nuclear war, suddenly ceased being gung-ho for covert action. Bobby Kennedy later recorded an oral history in which he recounts looking into this matter to find that top CIA officials were unaware of many of the missions. In view of Shackley's cable, that's not possible. In fact, on the morning of October 26th,

26:20 The EXCOMM discussed the operation and McComb personally briefed the landings. President Kennedy and McGeorge Bundy both spoke of reorienting Mongoose. Bobby went to Langley and denounced everyone except Bill Harvey. On October 30th, the White House halted all Mongoose operations. Lansdale went to Miami to ride herd on Shackley. There were no more talk.

26:50 as there had been on October 4th of mining Cuban harbors. McCone soon packed Bill Harvey off to the Rome station, getting him out of the line of fire. And we all know what he did there. All this time, the exiled prisoners from the Bay of Pigs continued to languish in Cuban prisons. Hurt by the embargo in place since January 61, Castro offered to trade them for medicine tractors, spare parts, and such things. Exchanges

27:23 on the prospect occurred into 1962. After the missile crisis, Castro lowered his price while the administration threw its weight behind efforts to raise $53 million of medical equipment, drugs, and baby food for the deal. Lawyer James A. Donovan, who had arranged a trade deal with Soviet spy Rudolf Abel for CIA U-2

27:51 Pilot Francis Gary Powers negotiated the exchange. Final agreement on the prisoner trade was made on December 22, 1962. Altogether, 1,179 veterans of Brigade 2506 returned to the U.S. In a covert twist, CIA assassination plotters bought a scuba diving suit for Donovan to present to Castro as a gift.

28:21 The Langley Technical Service Division scientists impregnated the suit with a fungus to trigger a skin disease, and the breathing apparatus had tuberculosis in it. The suit was carried to Donovan by an unwitting lawyer, John Nolan, who learned of the ploy during the investigations in the 1970s.

28:45 Can you imagine, recalls Nolan, I mean, can you imagine? Here is Jim Donovan, the guy who has already done his stuff once, a guy the other side trusts down in Cuba trying to cut a deal with tough negotiations, very delicate discussions. Everything has got to be above board because Fidel holds all the cards and the company is setting Donovan up, not telling him, keeping him unwitting to hand Fidel Castro.

29:14 a germ bag. Fortunately, the American lawyer, witting or not, took the precaution of replacing the diving suit with one he bought himself. Castro returned the prisoners, including 20 non-brigade CIA agents. So, if you think that these bastards are not trying to sabotage Trump's negotiations, you're crazy.

29:40 The superpower eventually resolved the missile crisis at the high level. The Soviets removed their weapons from Cuba. The Americans later dismantled their missiles in Turkey. President Kennedy publicly promised not to invade Cuba. As for the covert forces in play, the CIA received orders to reorganize yet again. By the time of the crisis,

30:04 Richard Helms had already decided on Harvey's replacement. He needed someone with stature with the field officers to show them their project was a priority. Someone who knew the inner workings at Langley. Helms selected Desmond Fitzgerald, who was their Asian expert. You know, the guy that was helping Chiang Kai-shek attack China. To Desmond.

30:35 To get Desmond and avoid the impression that a Far East baron had taken a demotion to lead a task force, the Mongoose unit became a DO special staff. Desmond, simultaneously a deputy chief of a division responsible for Cuban matters. General Langsdell left his post as well, elevating Fitzgerald to direct command. To give him someone who knew the players, Jacob Esterling became the chief of operations.

31:05 President Kennedy also revamped White House controls. Instead of Robert Kennedy taking the lead, the National Security Council became the direct point of contact. Aspects of the Cuban project figured in EXCOMM discussions in late 1962 and early 63, and in a few sessions of the NSC. Therefore, the special group handed over

31:30 its role as prime manager to the National Security Council Standing Group, which was chaired by McGeorge Bundy. The Standing Group worked as Kennedy's utility infielders. In 1962, it had handled the delicate matter of Katanga in the Congo. Mostly, the group supervised routine matters, like in Algeria, backstopping negotiations with Spain. They also talked about plans for nuclear weapon

32:02 dispersal or establishing a worldwide network to communicate in space. Those functions now covered its highly serious assignment directing the Cuba project. Sudden location of Cuba decisions to this obscure NSC appendage may explain why today the secret war after the missile crisis has received so little attention. One question was policy towards Cuba's exiled brigade.

32:32 Castro's government statements pointedly feared a new larger, better equipped exile brigade. The U.S. denied such plans, but in fact, there was another exile initiative organized by the American military. It created a special Cuban volunteer program in 1961, though most of the influx took place only after the brigade returned. McNamara's deputy, Roswell Gilpatrick.

32:59 had told the Mongoose meeting in October of 62 that the Pentagon had made progress. When JFK spoke to the brigade at the Orange Bowl in December, the Army's Cuba program formed his core element. What to do with the brigade figured at the EXCOMM meeting in January 25, 1963. The NSC standing group had reviewed the issue the day before.

33:24 Under the group, a Cuba coordination committee handled day-to-day activities. As the issues were summarized for Vice President Johnson by his military advisor, quote, the basic decision must be made as to whether an invasion of Cuba directly or indirectly is to be supported, or whether, in a lesser sense, serious provocations or incidents should be part of the basic policy. When this decision is made, the disposition of the Cuban brigade can be easily determined.

33:55 Joseph Califano managed the project on behalf of the Secretary of the Army, Cyrus Vance. A special assistant, Califano was serious about the care and feeding of the Cuban brigade. Bobby or JFK was on the phone to Califano almost daily about the Cuban recruits. As the exile liaison, he dealt with one of the heroes of Gateron.

34:30 On the army side, Califano employed two experienced lieutenant colonels, James Patchell for covert operations and Alexander Haig Jr. to take care of the brigade. Haig found officers who would have merited promotion in any army.

34:53 but others who attained positions in Brigade 2506 on the basis of social standing. These status cases were the hardest. In early 63, the program took in 200 exiles a week. Almost 3,000 enlisted and 2,600 Cubans completed U.S. military training. The Army leaped at the opportunity to bring them in. The Air Force was much more apprehensive.

35:21 and Bobby Kennedy had to knock the Navy into line. As had happened with Quintero during the missile crisis, exiles had disagreed with Califano's actions, often took their cases to Bobby. Okay, so this is the program we've talked about in other books where they were guaranteed U.S. citizenship if they enlisted in or joined the military. And this is,

35:52 leading into Vietnam, which is why many of them ended up in Vietnam. Califano deputized for Vance, who almost never attended any of the meetings, was representing the Pentagon on the Cuba Coordination Committee. It was nominally chaired by State Department man, but in actuality, RFK attended most of the meetings.

36:23 As before, many of the meetings took place in the Attorney General's office. Mongoose merely moved further underground. Joe Califano found some of the proposals bizarre. Balloon leaflet schemes were the least of it. Here, there were a series of suggestions to use radio broadcasts to get all Cubans to turn on their water faucets at the same time. Attaching incendiary devices to bats whose timed fuses would ignite.

36:54 building as the bats, sorry, they wanted to rig bats, like flying bats, to explode. Notions of parachuting saboteurs trained at U.S. military bases who, if captured, would have direct implications on the U.S. were only slightly less dangerous. As for the flying bats, they would have had to be transported by U.S. aircraft, reflecting later.

37:26 on this period, he decided that it was basically best characterized, he being Califano, Keystone cops. On February 18th, Vance and Califano, committee chair Sterling Cottrell and others met President Kennedy in the Oval Office. Colonel King attended for the CIA. General Krulik represented the SACSA. Kennedy sat in his rocking chair.

37:56 Vance presented a paper arguing for a range of actions against Castro. He and Cottrell began arguing over which were appropriate. JFK walked out. Independent exile raids remained a problem. In 62, despite the existence of hundreds of boats and probably carried out thousands of cruises, U.S. Customs and Coast Guards and other authorities apprehended four boats and 50 Cubans.

38:23 Very likely, these seizures were intended as lessons to the others to follow the orders of their CIA controllers. In January of 63, Desmond Fitzgerald went to Miami and supposedly urged all U.S. authorities, not just Customs and Coast Guards, but the police as well, to crack down on the Cuban exiles. Yet raids in March twice caused serious damage to Soviet merchant ships, leading to diplomatic protest.

38:51 In a letter discussed at the NSC on March 29th, Secretary Russ said, quote, I am concerned the hit and run raids by Cuban exiles may create incidents which work to the disadvantage of our national interest. Increased frequencies of these forays could raise a host of problems over which we would not have control, unquote. Again, CIA trains these people and.

39:20 carries out our foreign policy regardless of what anybody in Washington wants. The CIA refocusing had almost finished training a new team of frogmen for underwater demolition and had two paramilitary teams in readiness and all about 50 exiles. As of April, no harassment missions were underway. Propaganda broadcast into Cuba ran 270 hours a week and the most ambitious activity, a subtle

39:50 sabotage program featured about 50,000 pieces of mail per month sent anonymously to Cubans from throughout the Hispanic world encouraging resistance. Agency subsidies to Cuban political groups continued at at least a quarter million a month. Also underway were technology developments

40:16 The General Dynamics Corporation had a contract to design a shallow draft boat for inshore work that would be faster than anything Castro's navies had. Desmond Fitzgerald had worries too. The Cuban response to one exile pinprick exposed a CIA mothership in the same area. Working with small boats to put operatives ashore another time, one of the Cuban

40:47 followed some exiles back to their forward base at the British Cayman Islands, seizing commandos and their equipment. International incidents in British intervention became complicating factors. On April Fool's Day, ha ha ha, the coordinating committee demanded action anew. There was top officials at the White House two days later.

41:17 would be hashing out the issue. Both the CIA and Pentagon were present in force, Helms and Fitzgerald for the agency, Vance and Califano for the Department of Defense. McGeorge Bundy guarded the president's interest. Observers included Tom Parrott, Ralph Dugan, and Robert Hurwicz. They were prodding JFK, and Desmond Fitzgerald admitted that raids were accomplishing nothing.

41:47 Kennedy actually didn't mind. He said as long as the exiles stopped their incessant press conferences where they fought for credit in the U.S. Seems a bit odd. Bundy added that the special group had decided that the raids weren't worth the effort. RFK said he wanted to know the prospects for larger raids of 150 exiles. Joe Califano could hardly believe what he was hearing.

42:24 During April, the standing group began meeting weekly in the White House. But Bundy plunged into the project with the typical skepticism beyond surveillance of Cuba to monitor Soviet forces and weapons, the covert action damage to Castro's economy. There are new concerns, he said, isolating Cuba from the free world and countering.

42:55 the subversion. Bundy at least allowed for the possibility of improving relations with Castro, but deliberations never went there. Instead, Kennedy had full NSE consider other options. Four days later, McNamara told the group that Castro's position would only improve if the U.S. took no additional measures. McComb followed up saying the CIA projected Castro would be stronger in a year or two.

43:23 This was the moment to act if they were going to. The agency had completed more proposals for covert sabotage. Bobby Kennedy proposed the U.S. aim at ousting Castro, causing as much trouble as possible. The director of central intelligence described the possibility starkly. McCone doubted the CIA would overthrow Castro or detach him from Moscow.

43:52 but he wanted the Soviets and their weapons out of Cuba. The director felt that we must not, under any circumstances, dismiss the possibility of a second confrontation. He had the same feeling about the SAM sites in Cuba. The CIA director also wanted to amplify and play back any criticism Cuban and Soviet leaders might make of each other to create divisions between the two. Among subjects discussed at the NSC policy review was

44:25 Conditions without Castro, assuming Castro would die or be assassinated. A few days later, on the agenda for the standing group meeting, the death of Castro was listed as a contingency. At the meeting, Robert McNamara, taking McCone's point, acknowledged that a small-scale sabotage had little potential. Afterwards, Bundy asked the CIA what was their assessment of Cuba after Castro.

44:55 The Board of National Estimates did a report. Bundy also instructed the agency to study effective interference with the Cuban economy. On May 28th, the NSC standing group listened to Fitzgerald present his fresh covert plans. There were two, a general plan with a specific option of dealing with Cuban oil supplies. Director McCone provided the preface.

45:23 introducing his new task force chief with the remarks that America needed to heighten hardship on Cuba and that measures to that end plus sabotage might create desperation. McCone was prepared for the CIA's role in this to become apparent. McNamara reiterated his earlier stance that sabotage was insufficient. Desmond Fitzgerald said that a new sabotage program could begin.

45:53 In July, Desmond Fitzgerald revised his proposal based on the standing group discussion. And on June 8th, revision built on the assumption that there would be no major U.S. intervention and included only things the CIA could do. But the plan integrated existing projects and some new ones, like finally doing intelligence collections, focusing on propaganda.

46:26 and stimulating disaffection in Cuba, economic sabotage, and support an exile resistance program. The proposed hit and run attacks against selected targets, specifically the Cuban electrical power industry, its oil refineries or facilities, transportation, and manufacturing. Several weeks into the project, Desmond Fitzgerald returned to the NSC standing group.

46:57 The agency planned two operations on the anniversary of Castro's revolution, July 26th. These were postponed to avoid conflicting with U.S.-Soviet negotiations on a nuclear test ban. That was scheduled for a few days later. Soon, Ted Shackley, JM Wave, was preparing a dozen or so missions every month. Special Forces Officer Bradley Ayers, training the exile unit in the Florida Keys, enthusiastic, received a visit.

47:29 from RFK. Then he received orders to stand down. But the Exile Brigade notion did not disappear. In fact, the really novel feature of the June decision was to switch to a stance of backing autonomous raids. In other words, plausible deniability. Manuel R. Time returned from prison in Cuba.

47:58 He was a prime mover at invigorating the brigade. He became the centerpiece. He wanted to be based in Central America and stage raids into Cuba. This would have been the Bay of Pigs all over again, with the exiles supposedly calling the shots this time, not the CIA, except they're directly tethered to the CIA. Rafael Quintero scouted locations for this base.

48:30 Luis Somoza, the Nicaraguan dictator, offered his cooperation. Manuel Artime and other prominent exiles completed their arrangements. They set up shop near a town in Nicaragua. They soon began bombing Cuba. Langley sent Jake Esserling to Panama as station chief, placing him where he could coordinate training services and other help for Artime.

49:01 So again, they're passing them off as independent, but they're directly tethered to the CIA and their oversight and their funding. Public speculation of CIA involvement ran high. The public was right. Langley had assigned Henry Hechner as a case officer to Our Time, subsidizing him up to $100,000 a month. Hechler held monthly meetings with Our Time.

49:34 often accompanied by Quintero, usually in the U.S., though not in Miami. Another indication of CIA support was what happened when our time in Quintero tried to recruit Felix Rodriguez for their communications. They promised him a demonstration of their U.S. government backing. Rodriguez, one of those who had enlisted in the special army program at Fort Benning, was commissioned an army lieutenant.

50:03 He demanded radio training right there on the base instead of his normal duties. Two gentlemen promptly showed up at Benning and did that. Yeah, that's not the way the Army works at all, so you know that wasn't Army. On July 16th, Desmond Fitzgerald reported to the standing group on the brigade in Central America. Actually, the brigade was located in the United States, as we all know. Oliva

50:31 had gotten permission to pull together all the Cubans in the army and create a combat unit in the army of Cuban exiles. The press had already connected RFK to our time and others in the operation. Bobby suggested floating so many rumors that no one would be able to distinguish the truth. John McCone agreed. Washington considered putting out an official statement denying any relationship.

51:01 Actually, the raids gave the CIA good cover for its own activities. In the Magic City, Shackley invented a phony Cuban exile group, Commandos Mambas, to take credit for the CIA raids. With Deputy David Morales and paramilitary officer Bob Simon, he set up a frogman team for clandestine missions, kept outside and separate from the commandos.

51:30 On August 18 and 19, gunboats struck one of Cuba's oil facilities. Desmond Fitzgerald has specifically made Castilla one of the targets, which showed that they had the set of targets from the CIA that they were using for this supposed group that had nothing to do with the CIA. Shackley had one of their front.

52:05 assets claim credit on behalf of the fake group. According to Shackley, this device worked like a charm, but Gordon Chase, Bundy's NSC staffer for intelligence, told security advisors, quote, even in Miami, it seemed to pay relatively no attention to the two CIA-sponsored attacks, unquote. Within weeks, the Bundy staff was congratulating itself on an excellent operational security of the August raids.

52:35 And Chase wrote a paper for the special group on the continued need for secrecy using the August raids as an example. Ted Shackley's unit made only three more raids on Cuba. By now, McGeorge Bundy wore many hats. Among them was chairman of the special group where he had succeeded Maxwell Taylor. General Taylor had given up the post in 62 when appointed to head the Joint Chiefs of Staff because what's left out of all of this is Operation Northwood.

53:09 That's the reason why Taylor had to go be the chairman because Lyman Lemesger gets fired for writing Operation Northwood. That's why it's good to read many books. On October 3rd, Bundy's special group adopted a memo of nine additional CIA missions and on the 25th scheduled a period from November to January of 64, including 13 raids, among the missions against the electric plant.

53:38 oil refinery, and a sugar refinery. Within Califano's army office, Alexander Haig processed the paperwork and passed it along. Bundy Mett held the reins there too, apparently none too successfully since it seemed that at least five direct CIA raids occurred between the summer of 63 and the spring of 64, the strikes by Shackley's phony exiles.

54:07 Desmond Fitzgerald briefed the intelligence board on the program in early September. This culminated in a series of contacts with Joe Califani's request in which Fitzgerald let out bits of the CIA story and asked for help. For some time, the Pentagon had been less enthusiastic about the secret war. The typical military view held that the Bay of Pigs and Mongoose were failures and they didn't want any part of it.

54:38 In July, Califano's office compiled a detailed analysis of where the secret warriors had been and what they needed to win. Presidential decisions back in April had given the military a wider support role. The August bombing raid, well equipped and coordinated, the subject of much media speculation.

55:09 was attributed to Shackley's commando, Mambus, the fake thing. But the inertia level remained high in relations with the CIA, delicate between the Pentagon. On one occasion, Califano met Fitzgerald in a Miami hotel. Desmond opened the door, put his finger to his lips, proceeded to turn on the radio full blast and run every water tap as he whispered into Joe's ear.

55:42 Joe said he thought he had stumbled into a spy movie. Now, again, can you imagine writing a book where you are talking about the secret war against Castro and not mentioning the CIA and the Pentagon, because we're talking about both here, not mention Operation Northwood, where you are proposing

56:14 to do false flags in the United States and implicate Fidel Castro and justify a full ground invasion. This book was written in 2006. We definitely knew about Operation Northwood. Again, that's the reason why.

56:42 Reading multiple books is important and why we put all the pieces together when we read a book that leaves big chunks of the information out. Okay. So that's it for today. Do we have any questions? Comments? I'm surprised that some of this stuff here that you talked about, we had people that were going off on their own. And of course, that was a no-no.

57:21 And it seems to me that what they were really trying to do here is do nothing more than bee stings at this point with the raids that they had going on. Although I'm also looking at the fact of what they're actually targeting and saying, I don't see how that's any different than what we're doing today. Well.

57:50 Yeah, there's a lot of difference in my opinion of what we're doing today. But what they thought was that all of these pinpricks would galvanize resistance in Cuba and basically give them the impetus to do it themselves. That ultimately was their goal because that's all they have.

58:18 Kennedy has made it emphatically clear, we're not bringing the military in there. So this was literally all they had. And again, this becomes the problem. You have a couple of thousand trained killers that know how to blow shit up because you taught them how to blow shit up and how to kill people. And they're roaming around on the streets in Miami, killing people. And you have to,

58:50 at some point appease their need to get in the game to do this kind of shit because they're just going to do it here. And when you set up these fake groups or you move them down to Nicaragua and let them continue to do that and throw them the money to do that, if for some reason they succeed, great. If they don't, it's no sweat off your back.

59:20 you're just penalizing somebody that's a target of your ire anyway. And you get the added benefit of jeopardizing the productivity of the Cuban because you're declaring economic warfare on them. You're targeting all of their capability. They don't care that they're starving people in Cuba. They don't care about any of that stuff. So yeah, it's...

59:51 But that's true every time they bring these people. And it's not the Cubans are not the only one that they bring in from these failed projects that they have all over the world. So I think that's kind of the underlying theme is that you throw them a little bit of raw meat every once in a while and let them go to town.

1:00:16 They haven't even talked about, and I forget in this book if they do, because there's still a little bit more about Cuba here. But our time, he was a terrorist. He's the one that blew up that airplane that had the fencing team on it that left Venezuela. They do all kinds of terrorist stuff. And they're doing it all being paid by the CIA.

1:00:45 That's one other thing I noticed about this book, now that you bring that up, is that we are finally seeing the crowd Felix Rodriguez ran around with. Yeah. And what they were capable of doing. And I find that rather interesting to understand, okay, here's what's going on. Here are the key players in the actual operation versus the key players.

1:01:17 in the planning stages. Yeah. Yeah. And the fact that you would take somebody like Felix Rodriguez, I mean, he's a terrorist. He was trained by the CIA and you embed him in the army. You know, how many other people did he affect in the army? He's very, very outgoing and very, very corrupt.

1:01:46 The fact that you would even let these people in the U.S. Army is terrifying to me. Literally terrifying to me. And then you know that all the officers that are supposedly his superiors in the Army, if you're bringing in a CIA comms group to give him individual training, you've just completely disrupted your morale and welfare of your units.

1:02:15 at Fort Benning because this guy shows up. He doesn't show up. He's sometimes there. He's not there. It's basically sheep dipping CIA assets and agents into the military. And that's horrible for the military. I was looking at that portion as well. When you started talking about the brigade, that brigade, it shocked me because

1:02:46 If I understand correctly, that brigade was totally trained and formed on U.S. soil. Yes. So that should worry everybody. Yes. Yes. Yes, it should. By the organization that's not allowed to operate in the United States. All right. Anybody else got anything? I was going to say something like nepotism is real. I was shocked by...

1:03:25 Anyway, I kind of feel like I'm just overblown again, just like normal, about all the shenanigans that it seems like our CIA was involved with. And it seems like, you know, they do their shenanigans and, you know, the military, you know.

1:03:47 They embedded, I mean, I thought that when people were in the CIA and they were doing things with the military, they let themselves be known that they're CIA or something like that. But it doesn't sound like it. It sounds like they just embedded in there as well, right? No, you don't ever know. And I don't know if you, I've said this a couple of times.

1:04:13 When they were doing these operations under those ARC wings in Japan during the U-2 program, the commander may or may not know. Now, in the case of the U-2 program, because some of the U-2 aircraft were CIA and they had one or two Air Force U-2s there under a quote-unquote weather mission, those ARC wings

1:04:41 The commander, the colonel, that was the wing commander, knew which were which. Nobody else in the unit knew. They had no idea. The people showed up either as all military. In some cases, depending on where they were at. But the majority of the time, they showed up as if they were military.

1:05:11 And they even will go to the point where like our investigators in the Air Force under the Office of Special Investigations, OSI, which is like NCIS for the Navy, they will come to your base and do a covert investigation. Even as the personnel officer that's in processing this new arrival, they make fake records for these people. Now, over time, if you know what you're doing,

1:05:41 and you're looking at somebody's records, and you kind of know the progression of a particular career field, and you're looking at something and you're going, yeah, this ain't right. You can start to see some trends, but generally speaking, they just go to work at whatever the new unit is that they're assigned to. And meanwhile, they're making friends with people, but they're making friends with the targets of the investigation.

1:06:10 To the general public, there's no official recognition of those people at all. None. You don't even know they're there. And like a few months after, there will be the guy goes TDY and he never comes back. And then his records mysteriously disappear from our database. Then you get a report.

1:06:32 of some big investigation and the JAG office is arresting people and shit like that. And then you're like, yes, I knew that was an inspector or an investigator. But that's the only way you know for sure is if they find something and there's arrests made. And so in the case of the CIA, these people will...

1:06:57 come into units. And in the case of this program, they were actually assessed into the army and they would just come and go based on when the CIA had things. And then they go on these deployments and they're assigned to like Fort Bragg, where people come and go and there's classified within classified. So they could be on a building in the backside of the base and wear their uniform.

1:07:24 and blend in but when they go off on their missions there's just an airplane that shows up picks them up and that's not unusual activity on a base like fort benning that has an airfield and that type of thing or fort bragg so a lot of this stuff you don't know about um and the the whole problem of course is that

1:07:50 These people appear to be military, and that's what I'm saying about Lansdale. That guy was never military. He went from the OSS, supposedly was in the Air Force, but all he ever did was work on CIA shit. He wasn't an Air Force officer. He wore an Air Force rank. So anyway, War Hamster, go ahead. Hey, with apologies, I was in and out of a nap throughout the hour or so.

1:08:20 I think I heard it correctly. They said something about smuggling of viruses to Castro in a scuba diving. Yes. Yes, you did. That's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard in my entire life. And I'll tell you, first of all, there's no such thing as a scuba diving suit. You got a wet suit. Dry suit hadn't been invented yet. And you don't need a wet suit in Cuban waters. And I actually prefer.

1:08:46 not to have any kind of buoyancy at all or any kind of thermal protection at all when I'm in the Caribbean. But that being said, and they call it a breathing device. It's not a breathing device. It's called a regulator. You can't put a virus in there. The thing would last, the virus wouldn't last more than like 24 hours exposed to the air. It's just, it might be the dumbest scheme I think I've heard in all of this entire thing. It's just, no. And what the hell are they doing letting Castro scuba diving in the first place?

1:09:13 I don't even, they never even said, and I've heard this, I've heard about, I've read about this scheme multiple times. Nobody's ever even confirmed he scuba dived. Well, diving hadn't really been a self, scuba diving is self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. The frogmen of World War II didn't, weren't self-contained. They were, they'd run a hose off a ship. Yeah.

1:09:37 They were salvage divers. These guys were insanely good. And most of what we know about scuba diving safety, we learned the hard way. But right around the 60s is when we got the first, you know, you're able to self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. A lot of what we learned back then, we still use today in technical diving because this Navy got it really smart. But I can't imagine a Cubans had any ability to even have an air compressor. I mean, I do not get.

1:10:06 what that was all about that I think and the author didn't use the right terminology so he something similar to that may have happened but the way that idea is presented yeah it definitely happened because I've read this in like four or five different books um but it is the dumbest thing I think I've ever heard this yeah I do well they've done some really stupid stuff um and so that's really saying something but anyway uh yeah but

1:10:34 Again, to me, the bigger part, and thank you for the technical part of that, the bigger part of it is you're trying to release a thousand people that you caused to be imprisoned in delicate negotiations. And you use that opportunity, even in theory, to try to murder the guy that you're trying to negotiate with. I'm like,

1:11:02 What the hell? So anyway, the whole thing's retarded. I agree with you. Sean, go ahead. Hi, thank you. Yeah, what you were saying about planes landing in these military air bases and one person gets on and they get transported somewhere else, that reminded me of this show I'm watching at the moment on Apple TV called Pluribus. It's the...

1:11:31 New show by Vince Gilligan, the guy behind Breaking Bad. Bear with me here. I'm getting someplace with this, right? But the show is basically about the idea that SETI, the Self-Defined Extraterrestrial Intelligence, gets a message from outer space, which is a government agency, right? And this message is basically a formula for a virus. And basically, the humans...

1:11:59 manufacture the virus based on the instructions and the message and this virus infects everybody on the planet and everybody on the planet becomes part of a global hive mind right they're all part of one unity once one being every all of human knowledge gets shared with every single person so an ordinary person who used to be a barista can fly a plane or something you know

1:12:25 And it reminded me of that. It's the resources that we have at our disposal as humans. The things we can do for positive and good are enormous, but we don't do that. We still keep on fighting wars, you know, and the CIA are totally involved in that, I think. I agree. Absolutely agree. Okay. So.

1:12:56 If we're done, I'm gonna go ahead and log off here so I can get ready to go to dinner. And I appreciate everybody being here. So you guys have a nice evening. We do have an Alpha Warrior show tonight. And that will be at nine o'clock. And let's see. Tomorrow, I probably am going to cancel the show.

1:13:27 I say that because I'm going to be on with Crypto Rich at five o'clock our time. So instead of having a short one or starting earlier or any of those things, I'm probably just going to not do a show. But on Friday, we are going to do the Warhamster show at noon. Sometime that day, Tommy.

1:13:57 And the normal group that we do on Tommy's podcast, we'll release one. We're gonna record it at 10 o'clock that morning. And then we will be back at four o'clock. I also have another one, so four that day, at 7.30 on a podcast that will stream over 2X with Sabin Jones, Sabin Jones.

1:14:23 So you'll hear more about that over the next couple of days. So anyway, that's what the schedule looks like. So thanks everybody for tuning in. I appreciate it. You guys have a nice evening and I will see you back tonight on Apple Warrior Show and then Friday several times during the day to include our normal four o'clock show. So take care, everybody.

Entities here

CIA50 Cuba50 Robert F. Kennedy31 United States25 Operation Mongoose25 Fidel Castro25 National Security Council22 John F. Kennedy22 Edward Lansdale18 Ted Shackley16 John McCone15 Soviet Union13 Desmond Fitzgerald13 William Harvey12 Cuban Missile Crisis12 McGeorge Bundy10 U.S. Army10 Brigade 250610 Joe Califano10 Miami8 Manuel Artime7 Department of Defense6 Bay of Pigs6 Rafael Quintero6 Felix Rodriguez5 Richard Helms5 Cyrus Vance4 James A. Donovan4 U.S. Air Force4 U.S. State Department4 Fort Benning4 U.S. Navy3 Operation Northwoods3 Nicaragua3 EXCOMM3 NSC Standing Group3 Ray Cline2 Sterling Cottrell2 John Nolan2 Miramar2

Claims made here

Ray Cline member_of CIA documented ▶ 3:27

“Intelligence supports improved from what it had been a year earlier, but continued to have difficulties. Ray Klein, CIA's deputy director for intelligence, after Amory, knew of every aspect of Mongoos…”

John McCone member_of CIA documented ▶ 3:55

“of the CIA, McCone, occasionally took Klein along to meetings. McCone solicited his advice and permitted Klein to discuss matters with his analyst. Although the director of intelligence did not write …”

Edward Lansdale headed Operation Mongoose documented ▶ 4:54

“There were restrictions that RFK had set telling McCone that Mongoose had lots of data but little to show for it. At the time, Mongoose remained mired in phase one. Lansdale worried that the agencies …”

Edward Lansdale recruited William Harvey documented ▶ 5:21

“He persuaded Bill Harvey and the CIA to prepare a revised alternative course B and then went to discuss it with Bobby Kennedy. The latest plan aimed at strengthening the atmosphere of resistance in Cu…”

Robert F. Kennedy approved Operation Mongoose documented ▶ 5:46

“A strike force of about 50 commandos would conduct sabotage missions and a wide variety of psychological warfare propaganda and other means would be used to sharpen fears. Lansdell cut back Bill Harve…”

William Harvey covered_up Operation Mongoose book_quoted ▶ 9:17

“There were commando strikes on Cuban railroads, oil, and sugar refineries and factories. Photographic intelligence expert Dino Bruganini recalls Harvey almost as an enemy, believing that the analysts …”

William A. Robertson Jr. carried_out_attack Cuba book_quoted ▶ 10:40

“At one point, Robertson led a mission where the team was to sabotage one of the mines, which was Cuba's largest, setting explosive charges on conveyors and key equipment. The mission came off, but not…”

Brigade 2506 carried_out_attack Havana book_quoted ▶ 11:37

“Balinquina Hotel, exiles decided to make a raid. Six Cubans crammed into a speedboat with .50 caliber machine guns and a cannon and a bunch of rifles. On August 24th, they entered the suburban harbor …”

Jose Basalto member_of Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 12:08

“revolutionary director at DRE, continued on the CIA's payroll. One of the raiders, Jose Basalto, would continue to lead similar independent forays into the Cuba for decades that followed. That's weird…”

John McCone ordered_assassination_of Fidel Castro book_quoted ▶ 12:40

“Meanwhile, Washington's belly thumping culminated in a series of meetings in the Joint Chiefs of Staff Operations Room on August 8th and 9th and at the State Department on August 10th. At the last of …”

John McCone covered_up Operation Mongoose book_quoted ▶ 13:11

“McCone insisted he protested instantly that he went to Robert McNamara's office right afterwards and reiterated the protest. McCone's special assistant said that he did protest, but not immediately. O…”

Edward Lansdale ordered_assassination_of Fidel Castro documented ▶ 13:55

“rears its ugly head again, the paper General Lansdale sent to his agency managers after the August 10th meeting assigned Bill Harvey to write a paper on the CIA's role, listing under the rubric of pol…”

Edward Lansdale covered_up Operation Mongoose documented ▶ 15:02

“had himself brought up the question of assassination in Russ' office on August 10th. Staff took the Lansdale memo and whited out the offending phrase, but it survived in Harvey's notes to help. In Lan…”

Edward Lansdale covered_up Operation Mongoose documented ▶ 16:20

“Recollection improved before the church committee where Lansdale testified that the idea had been shot down on the August 10th meeting, but that he had included it in the instructions to Harvey becaus…”

Edward Lansdale proposed Operation Mongoose book_quoted ▶ 17:46

“Lansdale told the group that half a dozen new raids were planned and another strike on a major target would be added. Some talked of mining Cuban territorial waters. On October 4th, the meeting conclu…”

Edward Lansdale proposed Operation Mongoose documented ▶ 18:14

“The only political warfare would trigger a Cuban revolt, he reiterated. He also said that a scheme to have a submarine surface and fire star shells over Cuba for all souls day night igniting Cuban sup…”

CIA spied_on Cuba documented ▶ 19:15

“moral of the story, you can't believe anything these people say, whether they're testifying in front of Congress or whatever, because they'll say whatever they want to say. And when things are proven …”

Robert F. Kennedy headed EXCOMM documented ▶ 21:03

“In fact, the greatest results ever achieved by the CIA project were the emplacement of Agent Netz, whose reports helped the U-2 spy planes find the Soviet missiles. Beginning that day, Robert Kennedy …”

Robert A. Hurwitch member_of U.S. State Department book_quoted ▶ 22:01

“and confirmed that they intended to do so. The State Department, Robert Hurwicz, Assistant for Cuban Affairs, wanted exiled pilots to bomb the missiles using unmarked planes, ostensibly trying to atta…”

Robert F. Kennedy ordered_assassination_of Fidel Castro book_quoted ▶ 22:01

Ted Shackley member_of CIA documented ▶ 23:05

“At the Miami station, the situation was very confusing. Ted Shackley had seen a stream of orders for more than a week. His exile teams were on edge. Felix Rodriguez, for example, had been accosted by …”

Felix Rodriguez member_of Brigade 2506 book_quoted ▶ 23:05

Ted Shackley proposed Operation Mongoose documented ▶ 23:56

“Believe fluctuations in go and stop orders over past seven days have been such that we are sitting on explosive human situation, which could blow at any time within the next 48 hours. The station chie…”

John F. Kennedy removed_from_power Operation Mongoose documented ▶ 26:20

“The EXCOMM discussed the operation and McComb personally briefed the landings. President Kennedy and McGeorge Bundy both spoke of reorienting Mongoose. Bobby went to Langley and denounced everyone exc…”

John McCone reassigned William Harvey documented ▶ 26:50

“as there had been on October 4th of mining Cuban harbors. McCone soon packed Bill Harvey off to the Rome station, getting him out of the line of fire. And we all know what he did there. All this time,…”

Fidel Castro traded_network_to United States documented ▶ 26:50

James A. Donovan member_of United States documented ▶ 27:23

“on the prospect occurred into 1962. After the missile crisis, Castro lowered his price while the administration threw its weight behind efforts to raise $53 million of medical equipment, drugs, and ba…”

CIA ordered_assassination_of Fidel Castro documented ▶ 27:51

“Pilot Francis Gary Powers negotiated the exchange. Final agreement on the prisoner trade was made on December 22, 1962. Altogether, 1,179 veterans of Brigade 2506 returned to the U.S. In a covert twis…”

CIA Technical Services Division supplied_arms_to Fidel Castro documented ▶ 28:21

“The Langley Technical Service Division scientists impregnated the suit with a fungus to trigger a skin disease, and the breathing apparatus had tuberculosis in it. The suit was carried to Donovan by a…”

John Nolan covered_up Fidel Castro book_quoted ▶ 29:14

“a germ bag. Fortunately, the American lawyer, witting or not, took the precaution of replacing the diving suit with one he bought himself. Castro returned the prisoners, including 20 non-brigade CIA a…”

Richard Helms appointed Desmond Fitzgerald documented ▶ 30:04

“Richard Helms had already decided on Harvey's replacement. He needed someone with stature with the field officers to show them their project was a priority. Someone who knew the inner workings at Lang…”

Desmond Fitzgerald headed Operation Mongoose documented ▶ 30:35

“To get Desmond and avoid the impression that a Far East baron had taken a demotion to lead a task force, the Mongoose unit became a DO special staff. Desmond, simultaneously a deputy chief of a divisi…”

Jacob Esterlin headed Operation Mongoose documented ▶ 30:35

National Security Council headed Operation Mongoose documented ▶ 31:05

“President Kennedy also revamped White House controls. Instead of Robert Kennedy taking the lead, the National Security Council became the direct point of contact. Aspects of the Cuban project figured …”

McGeorge Bundy headed NSC Standing Group documented ▶ 31:30

“its role as prime manager to the National Security Council Standing Group, which was chaired by McGeorge Bundy. The Standing Group worked as Kennedy's utility infielders. In 1962, it had handled the d…”

Salvadoran Armed Forces founded Brigade 2506 documented ▶ 32:32

“Castro's government statements pointedly feared a new larger, better equipped exile brigade. The U.S. denied such plans, but in fact, there was another exile initiative organized by the American milit…”

Joe Califano headed Brigade 2506 documented ▶ 33:55

“Joseph Califano managed the project on behalf of the Secretary of the Army, Cyrus Vance. A special assistant, Califano was serious about the care and feeding of the Cuban brigade. Bobby or JFK was on …”

Robert F. Kennedy recruited Brigade 2506 documented ▶ 33:55

Joe Califano recruited Alexander Haig documented ▶ 34:30

“On the army side, Califano employed two experienced lieutenant colonels, James Patchell for covert operations and Alexander Haig Jr. to take care of the brigade. Haig found officers who would have mer…”

CIA trained Brigade 2506 documented ▶ 39:20

“carries out our foreign policy regardless of what anybody in Washington wants. The CIA refocusing had almost finished training a new team of frogmen for underwater demolition and had two paramilitary …”

CIA funded Brigade 2506 documented ▶ 39:50

“sabotage program featured about 50,000 pieces of mail per month sent anonymously to Cubans from throughout the Hispanic world encouraging resistance. Agency subsidies to Cuban political groups continu…”

General Dynamics supplied_arms_to CIA documented ▶ 40:16

“The General Dynamics Corporation had a contract to design a shallow draft boat for inshore work that would be faster than anything Castro's navies had. Desmond Fitzgerald had worries too. The Cuban re…”

Robert F. Kennedy ordered_assassination_of Fidel Castro documented ▶ 43:23

“This was the moment to act if they were going to. The agency had completed more proposals for covert sabotage. Bobby Kennedy proposed the U.S. aim at ousting Castro, causing as much trouble as possibl…”

John McCone targeted_for_regime_change Fidel Castro documented ▶ 43:23

Anastasio Somoza funded Manuel Artime documented ▶ 48:30

“Luis Somoza, the Nicaraguan dictator, offered his cooperation. Manuel Artime and other prominent exiles completed their arrangements. They set up shop near a town in Nicaragua. They soon began bombing…”

Manuel Artime carried_out_attack Cuba documented ▶ 48:30

CIA funded Manuel Artime documented ▶ 49:01

“So again, they're passing them off as independent, but they're directly tethered to the CIA and their oversight and their funding. Public speculation of CIA involvement ran high. The public was right.…”

CIA trained Felix Rodriguez documented ▶ 50:03

“He demanded radio training right there on the base instead of his normal duties. Two gentlemen promptly showed up at Benning and did that. Yeah, that's not the way the Army works at all, so you know t…”

Robert F. Kennedy funded Brigade 2506 documented ▶ 50:31

“had gotten permission to pull together all the Cubans in the army and create a combat unit in the army of Cuban exiles. The press had already connected RFK to our time and others in the operation. Bob…”

Ted Shackley front_for Commandos Mambises documented ▶ 51:01

“Actually, the raids gave the CIA good cover for its own activities. In the Magic City, Shackley invented a phony Cuban exile group, Commandos Mambas, to take credit for the CIA raids. With Deputy Davi…”

Ted Shackley carried_out_attack Cuba documented ▶ 51:30

“On August 18 and 19, gunboats struck one of Cuba's oil facilities. Desmond Fitzgerald has specifically made Castilla one of the targets, which showed that they had the set of targets from the CIA that…”

Desmond Fitzgerald ordered_assassination_of Fidel Castro documented ▶ 51:30

CIA covered_up Commandos Mambises documented ▶ 52:05

“assets claim credit on behalf of the fake group. According to Shackley, this device worked like a charm, but Gordon Chase, Bundy's NSC staffer for intelligence, told security advisors, quote, even in …”

Manuel Artime carried_out_attack Venezuela host_asserted ▶ 1:00:16

“They haven't even talked about, and I forget in this book if they do, because there's still a little bit more about Cuba here. But our time, he was a terrorist. He's the one that blew up that airplane…”

CIA trained Felix Rodriguez host_asserted ▶ 1:01:17

“in the planning stages. Yeah. Yeah. And the fact that you would take somebody like Felix Rodriguez, I mean, he's a terrorist. He was trained by the CIA and you embed him in the army. You know, how man…”

Alphonse Gabriel Lansdale member_of U.S. Air Force host_asserted ▶ 1:07:50

“These people appear to be military, and that's what I'm saying about Lansdale. That guy was never military. He went from the OSS, supposedly was in the Air Force, but all he ever did was work on CIA s…”

Fidel Castro carried_out_attack Cuba speculative ▶ 1:08:46

“not to have any kind of buoyancy at all or any kind of thermal protection at all when I'm in the Caribbean. But that being said, and they call it a breathing device. It's not a breathing device. It's …”