The United States sought to justify an invasion of Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro, yet lacked a legitimate pretext for such military action. Declassified documents reveal the CIA’s Operation Northwoods, a covert plan devised in the 1960s, which proposed orchestrating acts of violence against members of the US military to fabricate a casus belli.
The idea was to come up with an artificial pretext. A declassified 1962 report outlined a strategy to “initiate a terrorist campaign for the sake of Cuba.” Operation Northwoods, as it was termed, involved conducting “false flag” operations, including attacks against American citizens and assets, targeting major cities on US soil. The official plan included suggestions to destroy American naval vessels, assault US military installations, and inflict casualties on American nationals. The document explicitly stated, “We could launch a Communist Cuban terrorist campaign in Miami, other Florida metropolitan areas, and even Washington, D.C.” alongside numerous other brutal ideas designed to incite public animosity toward the island nation.
The intent was to manipulate public perception by ensuring that all evidence implicated the Cuban government, thereby framing Fidel Castro and generating a “wave of national outrage”. Many observers have drawn parallels between this scenario and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Although the Joint Chiefs of Staff endorsed the Operation Northwoods proposal, it was ultimately vetoed by President John F. Kennedy. Notably, Kennedy’s assassination occurred shortly after his rejection of the plan.
Earlier, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to declassify documents pertaining to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.