KENNEDY, CASTRO AND CAUTION

Any real opportunity for the Bay of Pigs invasion to succeed would have required the full commitment of US military might

The fiasco of the Bay of Pigs invasion has been described as both “too much” and “not enough”. The operation was too large to keep secret and too small for a realistic chance of success. When President Kennedy examined the CIA plan, his concerns that overt American participation might lead to Soviet intervention and spark World War III trumped his desire to topple the Marxist regime of Fidel Castro in Cuba. Kennedy declined to forcefully intervene as the long days of mid-april 1961 wore on. After the pre-emptive air strike intended to cripple Castro’s air force failed, photos of the Cia-supplied planes were published, revealing early US involvement in the abortive operation. Kennedy cancelled a followup mission. On 19 April, he authorised an umbrella of six unmarked US fighter planes to cover another air attack, but a rendezvous with expatriate bombers was bungled.

OVERT U.S. PARTICIPATION MIGHT LEAD TO SOVIET INTERVENTION AND SPARK WORLD WAR III

Fidel Castro reportedly led forces at the Bay of Pigs from this Soviet SU-100 tank destroyer