The Invasion of the Bay of Pigs - Paper Example

Part I: Summary of the Bay of Pigs

The invasion of the Bay of Pigs began when the central intelligence agency (CIA) trained and financed groups of Cuban refugees in attempts to bring down Fidel Castro's power, but the attack was unsuccessful. Although the initial outlook of the operation was positive, the attack only lasted for 2 days and it was marred with difficulties even before the troops landed on the island. The US considered Fidel Castro a threat since 1959 when he took power with a revolution in Cuba because Castro's government commonly attacked US interests and companies in Cuba. Cuba's close relationship with this Soviet Union and Castro's inflammatory anti-American rhetoric made the US to consider Castro a threat in the western hemisphere. In 1960 the CIA under the order of president Dwight D. Eisenhower, trained and armed its forces to embark on attack on Cuba. However in 1961 john F Kennedy became the president of the U.S. and took over the Program. Most military advisors had shown the attack was not going to be successful because of the use of a group of lightly armed exiles. Nonetheless, Kennedy did not take that into consideration and gave a go ahead for the attack. Approximately 1200 Cubans exiles, what is considered the Bay of Pigs, using American aircrafts and armed with American weapons entered the south coast of Cuba. The exiled force was to function as a rallying point to help in overthrowing Fidel's government. Conversely, this plan was flawed by many challenges such as deadly counter attacks by Castro's military, most exiles supply ships were sunk buy Cuban air force, and the US was not able to provide critical air support. About 1100 captured and over 100 of the attackers were killed by Castro's military. The failure of the Bay of Pigs never led to an uprising and it cost the US deadly. Fidel Castro used Yankee imperialists and soviet military aid to solidify his power and base in Cuba. For example, the soviet military aid involved weaponry and missiles bases in Cuba, which also led to the 1962 Cuban Missile crisis between the US and Soviet Union in Cuba. Thus, the US plan to use its armed forces against Fidel Castro led to a subsequent failure, which left Kennedy more indecisive and vulnerable, while Castro remained a hero to many due to his staunch stand against the US. The invasion caused the US-Cuban relation to deteriorate and was an embarrassment to Kennedy's administration.

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Part II: Key Countries, Individuals, Political, and Military Leaders Involved

Dwight D. Eisenhower

In 1959, the Castro regime greatly reduced its strong ties with the US through the development of strong links with the Soviet Union and the expropriation of US economic assets in Cuba. Such developments were of concern to the US. As a result, seeing that Castro's government was openly opposing the US and increasingly becoming hostile, president Dwight D. Eisenhower asked the CIA to begin an operation that would invade and overthrow Castro's government. To facilitate this, the CIA funded and trained the exile counter-revolutionary Cubans or the brigade 2506 who served as an armed wing of the democratic revolutionary. President Dwight allocated about $13 million was availed for organizing the operation with the help of training Brigade 2506 in Guatemala and Cuban counter-revolutionary forces. The plan to overthrow Castro regime was availed to the National Security Council in 1960 with the support of President Dwight. The first plan was to replace Castro's regime with one that is more devoted to the interest of Cubans and the US. The actions that were to be taken involved the help of the anti communist opposition party in Cuba in providing offensive propaganda against Fidel Castro, developing paramilitary army in Cuban boarders, develop an intelligence network in Cuba, and provide logistical support in the Island to facilitate military operations. However, during this period, president Dwight D. Eisenhower did not know when the invasion would happen.

Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro became the president of Cuba in 1959 after he took power with a revolution, which overthrew Fulgencio Batista, one of the fiercest Cuban dictators in history. Since Cuba is just 90 miles from the US, Castro became a force in both Cuban and American politics since America had much interest in events in Cuba. Cuba under Fidel Castro became the center stage of both US and Soviet Union confrontations. As a communist revolutionary Fidel openly opposed the US and increasingly become hostile. His links with the Soviet Union also increased, further alienating the US. This made president Dwight D. Eisenhower with the help of the CIA, to develop a secret plan to remove Castro from power. The plan was not executed until John F Kennedy became the president in 1961. However, the plan was never successful due to inadequate supplies and poor planning. Castro army used a counter offensive strategy, headed by Jose Ramon Fernandez before Castro took control of the operation himself. As a result, Castro's army was able to use deadly counter attacks to sink exiles supply ships and defeat the US. About 1100 US army was captured and over 100 of the attackers were killed by Castro's military. Thus, failure of the Bay of Pigs cost the US deadly and left Castro a hero to many due to his staunch stand against the US.

John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy is considered one of youngest man to ever become the US president. His inexperience was clearly seen in the manner he handled the Bay of Pigs. Before inauguration, Kennedy was briefed by the CIA on a plan that was developed during the reign of the former president Dwight D. Eisenhower. The main goal was to overthrow the Cuban government, under Fidel Castro and establish a non-communist government that would support US interests in Cuba. The CIA under Kennedy implemented the Eisenhower's program trained a small army. Kennedy also allowed Jose Miro, one of the major critics of Castro government in Cuba, to lead anti-Castro exiles into the US. In case invasion was to succeed, Jose Miro was to become the next Cuban president. Although the invasion was a secret, it became a common knowledge among Cuban exiles and Castro learned through his intelligence about the impending US attack. In the first invasion, the CIA used World War II B-26 bombers, which missed most of the target and left Castro's military camps intact. The news broke out that the US had carried out the invasion using World War II B-26 bombers resembled Cuban air force planes, and Kennedy cancelled the second strike. The second invasion involved the use of Brigade 2506 and the Bay of Pigs which were counter attacked by Castro's army on land. Kennedy seeing the US chances to win were slim, he ordered six unmarked American fighter planes to help brigade's B-26. However, they were shot and they crushed, signaling the defeat of Kennedy by Castro's forces. The after match of the Bay of Pigs saw Kennedys government negotiating with Castro to release US prisoners, which saw a$53 million worth of medicine and baby food in exchange of the prisoners. The defeat impacted Kennedy's administration, and to make up for his failure, he settled for the possibility to assassinate Castro.

Richard M. Bissell Jr.

Richard M. Bissell Jr. was the Deputy Director for Plans (DDP) at CIA who was tasked with overseeing the plan to ensure the Cuban invasion was a success. He was the one who briefed President JF Kennedy on the plans to overthrow Cuban government. Bissell was assisted by other agents such as Howard Hunt, Gerry Droller, and David Phillips. Bissell asked Hunt to travel to Havana to speak with Cubans on the possibility to lease with them and overthrow Castro's regime. Bissell remained in charge of the operations until 1962 when he resigned after the Bay of Pigs operation.

Part III: The Historical Aspects in Understanding the Bay of Pigs

The Castro's Cuban revolution succeeded in overthrowing President Fulgencio Batista, a US friend and dictator to establish a socialist state in Cuba. US president Dwight D. Eisenhower feared the growing influence of communism and the presence of the Soviet Union. As a result, he ordered the CIA to develop an anti-Castro operation. This came at the end of Dwight's term and handed the plan over to president elect John F. Kennedy. In 1959, the Castro regime greatly reduced its strong ties with the US through the development of strong links with the Soviet Union and the expropriation of US economic assets in Cuba. Such developments were of concern to the US. As a result, seeing that Castro's government was openly opposing the US and increasingly becoming hostile, president Dwight D. Eisenhower asked the CIA to begin an operation that would invade and overthrow Castro's government. To facilitate this, the CIA funded and trained the exile counter-revolutionary Cubans or the brigade 2506 who served as an armed wing of the democratic revolutionary. President Dwight allocated about $13 million was availed for organizing the operation with the help of training Brigade 2506 in Guatemala and Cuban counter-revolutionary forces. The plan to overthrow Castro regime was availed to the National Security Council in 1960 with the support of President Dwight. The first plan was to replace Castro's regime with one that is more devoted to the interest of Cubans and the US. The actions that were to be taken involved the help of the anti communist opposition party in Cuba in providing offensive propaganda against Fidel Castro, developing paramilitary army in Cuban boarders, develop an intelligence network in Cuba, and provide logistical support in the Island to facilitate military operations. However, during this period, president Dwight D. Eisenhower did not know when the invasion would happen.

Kennedy was briefed about the plan to overthrow Fidel Castro and he approved the plan, which involved three primary plans. John F. Kennedy is considered one of youngest man to ever become the US president. His inexperience was clearly seen in the manner he handled the Bay of Pigs. Before inauguration, Kennedy was briefed by the CIA on a plan that was developed during the reign of the former president Dwight D. Eisenhower. The main goal was to overthrow the Cuban government, under Fidel Castro and establish a non-communist government that would support US interests in Cuba. The CIA under Kennedy implemented the Eisenhower's program trained a small army. Kennedy also allowed Jose Miro, one of the major critics of Castro government in Cuba, to lead anti-Castro exiles into the US. In case invasion was to succeed, Jose Miro was to become the next Cuban president. Although the invasion was a secret, it became a common knowledge among Cuban exiles and Castro learned through his intelligence about the impending US attack. In the first invasion, the CIA used World War II B-26 bombers, which missed most of the target and left Castro's military camps intact. The news broke out that the US had carried out the invasion using World War II B-26 bombers resembled Cuban air force planes, and Kennedy cancelled the second strike. The second invasion involved the use of Brigade 2506 and the Bay of Pigs which were counter attacked by Castro's army on land. Kennedy seeing the US chances to win were slim, he ordered six unmarked American fighter planes to help brigade's B-26. However, they were shot and they crushed, signaling the defeat of Kennedy by Castro's forces. The after match of the Bay of Pigs saw Kennedys government negotiating with Castro to release US prisoners, which saw a$53 million worth of medicine and baby food in exchange of the prisoners. The defeat impacted Kennedy's administration, and to make up for his failure, he settled for the possibility to assassinate Castro.

Preparatory Phase Issues

Research has shown that the US under Kenned...