Operation Northwoods: A Plan to Create an Event and Open the Way to War
On March 13, 1962, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff sent Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara a classified memorandum titled “Justification for US Military Intervention in Cuba.” Cuba, an island about 150 kilometers from Florida, had allied with the Soviet Union under Fidel Castro, the CIA-backed Bay of Pigs invasion had failed in 1961, and Operation Mongoose was applying pressure to Fidel Castro’s government. Northwoods proposed situations that could create a public reason for US military intervention.
⬛ CONFIDENTIAL nhat141210/data 8/14/2026 1 min read
On March 13, 1962, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff sent Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara a classified memorandum titled “Justification for US Military Intervention in Cuba.” Cuba, an island about 150 kilometers from Florida, had allied with the Soviet Union under Fidel Castro, the CIA-backed Bay of Pigs invasion had failed in 1961, and Operation Mongoose was applying pressure to Fidel Castro’s government. Northwoods proposed situations that could create a public reason for US military intervention.
On March 13, 1962, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff sent Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara a classified memorandum titled “Justification for US Military Intervention in Cuba.” Cuba, an island about 150 kilometers from Florida, had allied with the Soviet Union under Fidel Castro, the CIA-backed Bay of Pigs invasion had failed in 1961, and Operation Mongoose was applying pressure to Fidel Castro’s government. Northwoods proposed situations that could create a public reason for US military intervention.
On March 13, 1962, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff sent Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara a classified memorandum titled “Justification for US Military Intervention in Cuba.” Cuba, an island about 150 kilometers from Florida, had allied with the Soviet Union under Fidel Castro, the CIA-backed Bay of Pigs invasion had failed in 1961, and Operation Mongoose was applying pressure to Fidel Castro’s government. Northwoods proposed situations that could create a public reason for US military intervention.
On March 13, 1962, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff sent Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara a classified memorandum titled “Justification for US Military Intervention in Cuba.” Cuba, an island about 150 kilometers from Florida, had allied with the Soviet Union under Fidel Castro, the CIA-backed Bay of Pigs invasion had failed in 1961, and Operation Mongoose was applying pressure to Fidel Castro’s government. Northwoods proposed situations that could create a public reason for US military intervention.