The U.S. military once wrote a plan to slay American citizens and to then blame Cuba for it. They wanted a war and thought it was the only way to get the war they wanted.

It was 1962. Castro had taken power 90 miles from Florida. Washington’s Bay of Pigs invasion had just failed. Military leaders wanted a war with Cuba. The problem was simple: the American public didn’t want one.

Washington’s premeditated regime change earlier this year used the same playbook.

Before the seizure of the oil-rich Venezuela, there were many media-hyped US attacks on boats alleged to be drug trafficking under the direction of the elected Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Operation Northwoods

So, the Joint Chiefs of Staff drew up a plan to change that. It was called Operation Northwoods. The plan proposed staging fake terrorist attacks inside the United States, then blaming Cuba.

Shades of 9/11 and scores of other False flags

Bombings in Miami and Washington. Sinking a boat of Cuban refugees. Blowing up a U.S. Navy ship in Guantanamo Bay. Faking the destruction of a passenger plane, letting the public believe Cuba had shot it down.

Creating a war psychosis

The document even explained the upside: American casualties would create public anger. And public anger would create support for war.

This wasn’t a fringe memo. It was signed by the highest-ranking general in the U.S. military and sent to the Secretary of Defense for approval.

It reached President John F. Kennedy’s desk. He said no. Northwoods was never carried out.

Instigator gets promoted

General Lemnitzer was removed as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs a few months later, though he didn’t lose his career. He was promoted to run NATO.

The documents stayed classified until the 1990s. When they finally came out, Americans learned their own government had seriously considered using their deaths as a recruiting tool for war.

Defenders of the plan say: this is standard Cold War contingency planning.

How democracy is supposed to function

The military drafts worst-case options all the time. The fact that it was rejected proves the system worked exactly as it should. Kennedy said no. That’s how democracy is supposed to function.

Damning

Critics say: a plan doesn’t have to be carried out to be damning. The willingness to write it down, sign it, and send it up the chain says everything about how disposable ordinary Americans were to the people making the decision.

The only reason it didn’t happen was one man’s veto. What if the next president says yes?

So, here’s the question: Was Northwoods proof that the system worked because Kennedy said no, or proof that a system that relies on one person saying no is already broken?  Send us your comments

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