The Bay of PigsIn The Bay of Pigs, Howard Jones provides a concise, incisive, and dramatic account of the disastrous attempt to overthrow Castro in April 1961. Drawing on recently declassified CIA documents, Jones deftly examines the train of missteps and self-deceptions that led to the invasion of U.S.-trained exiles at the Bay of Pigs. Ignoring warnings from the ambassador to Cuba, the Eisenhower administration put in motion an operation that proved nearly unstoppable even after the inauguration of John F. Kennedy. The CIA and Pentagon, meanwhile, both voiced confidence in the outcome of the invasion, especially after coordinating previous successful coups in Guatemala and Iran. And so the Kennedy administration launched the exile force toward its doom in Cochinos Bay on April 17, 1961. Jones gives a riveting account of the battle--and the confusion in the White House--before moving on to explore its implications. The Bay of Pigs, he writes, set the course of Kennedy's foreign policy. It was a humiliation for the administration that fueled fears of Communist domination and pushed Kennedy toward a hardline "cold warrior" stance. But at the same time, the failed attack left him deeply skeptical of CIA and military advisers and influenced his later actions during the Cuban missile crisis. |
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Action Report administration Aguilar air force air strikes Alleged Assassination Plots American AMLASH Anti-Castro Cuban Operation approved April 18 April 24 assault asserted Bay of Pigs beachhead Bissell’s Blagar Blue Beach brigade brigade’s Bundy Burke Cabell Castro’s forces CIA’s Committee Cuba Cuban Operation Zapata Cubela D-Day D-Day strikes Decision for Disaster Defense Dennison Dulles Eisenhower Esterline Fidel Castro FRUS Gray Green Study Group Guatemala guerrilla Havana Hawkins ibid insisted Inspector General’s Survey JFKL JMWAVE Johnson Joint Chiefs June 13 Kennedy’s kill Castro Kirkpatrick Kornbluh landing Lansdale Lemnitzer Lynch Mafia Maheu McCone McNamara meeting of Green Memo of second Miami Narrative of Anti-Castro Office Oral History Interview Pepe Perfect Failure Pigs and CIA Pigs Declassified pilots planes plausible deniability Playa political President Kennedy president’s Puerto Cabezas Red Beach regime Robert Kennedy Rodrıguez Roselli Rusk Schlesinger Soviet tanks Taylor Trinidad U.S. military United Washington White House Wyden