Herald: Bay of Pigs Invasion Doomed to Fail

A newly discovered unclassified CIA document reveals that the planned Bay of Pigs invasion was "unachieveable as a covert paramilitary operation", reports the Miami Herald's Carol Rosenberg in today's edition.

Having just finished reading Humberto Fontova's outstanding book "Fidel: Hollywood's Favorite Tyrant" several days ago, the findings in the document aren't the least bit surprising (if you've waited as long as I did to pick up the book, perhaps this story will provide the impetus to buy it, it is well worth the money).

You don't have to go far into the released document to see how things would turn out. Here's an excerpt from the foreword:

"The policy decided on by the U.S. Government in March 1960 called for the displacement of Fidel Castro, and it was by no means a unilateral decision promoted by the CIA -- although it is demonstrable that the Agency was far more perceptive than the policy making bodies in recognizing the threat to the Western Hemisphere posed by Castro's communist affiliation. Because the policy makers feared censure by the United Nations and/or the Organization of American States, the myth of 'plausible deniability' was the caveat that determined the CIA would be the principal implementing arm for the anti-Castro effort. From inception to termination, 'deniability' would be the albatross around the necks of Agency planners; and from D-day minus 2 (15 April 1961) it became the strangling cord insuring the failure of the effort at the Bay of Pigs."

By deniability, I can deduce that it refers to the intended denial by the U.S. that American troops would be directly involved in the mission. As we know now, President Kennedy decided that the mission was too overt to then later deny, therefore pulling the plug on the air support and stranding Brigade 2506.

I will post more on this as time permits. Stay tuned.