Operation Northwoods
ConfirmedRECORDEDINDEXED · RT-003
A memo from the Joint Chiefs of Staff proposed staged incidents as a pretext for military action against Cuba. President Kennedy rejected it.
What the record shows
- The plan, dated March 1962, listed possible pretexts, including attacks that would be blamed on Cuba.
- Kennedy turned it down, and Chairman Lyman Lemnitzer was not reappointed later that year.
- The documents were declassified in the 1990s by the Assassination Records Review Board.
Claimed, but not shown
There is no evidence that any Northwoods scheme was carried out.
Verdict
The proposal is confirmed by primary documents. It was never executed.
checked. real.
Sources
- JCS memorandum, March 1962 (declassified 1997)
- JFK Assassination Records Review Board releases
Connected files (red threads)
- Gulf of Tonkin — Pretexts for war: planned (Northwoods) vs. misreported (Tonkin)
- The JFK Assassination — Kennedy rejected the Northwoods plan
- The Church Committee and the 'Family Jewels' — A reminder of how far Cold War planning went
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