The Invasion The Bay of Pigs invasion was in 1961. It started on April 15th with the bombing of three Cuban military bases. The bombings were by supposed to be defecting Cuban military pilots. In actuality the bombings were by US planes designed to look like the Cuban B-26. 54 people were killed in the bombing and only a part of the Cuban air force was destroyed.1 The next day was scheduled to finish the job but for unknown reasons President Kennedy halted the ordered air strike 2. Two days later the assault on the Bay of Pigs began.

The US discovered some problems. First the troops had problems with the landing. The terrain was unexpectedly a swampy marsh making it hard for the troops to get situated. Second the Cuban military acted very quickly. The Cuban air force sank the command ship, destroyed some supply vessels, shot down 10 of the 12 aircraft used for the invasion, and pu

In late 1958, Castro was still fighting a guerrilla war against the corrupt regime of Batista. Before he came to power, there was an incident between his troops and some vacationing American troops from the nearby American naval base at Guantanamo Bay. During the incident some US Marines were held captive by Casto's forces but were later released after a ransom was secretly paid 5. This episode soured Castro's relation with the United States.

The American involvement in Guatemala may be another factor that led the government to believe that they could get rid of Castro. Leaders in Guatemala during the 50's had been progressing a new land reform. During these reforms a major American company, the United Fruit Company, lost its land without sufficient compensation from the Guatemalan government. The company then lobbied to the U.S. to take action. The U.S. invaded the country and put to power a leader more suitable to U.S. interests. With its success in Guatemala, CIA had the confidence that it could now take on anyone who interfered with American interests.

Secondly, the CIA thought it still had to prove itself. Obsessed with secrecy, it kept the number of people involved to a minimum. The intelligence wing of CIA was kept out of it, their Board of National Estimates could have provided information on the situation in Cuba and the chances for an uprising against Castro once the invasion started 12. Also kept out of the loop were the State Department and the Joint Chiefs of Staff who could have provided help on the military side of the adventure 13. In the end, the CIA kept all the information for itself and passed on to the president only what it thought he should see

In early 1960, President Eisenhower approved a plan to overthrow Castro.8 . By the fall, the plan was changed to a full invasion with air support by exile Cubans in American supplied planes 9. President Kennedy who had now been elected now inherited the plan. If he wanted to stop the plan he could have, but he didn't for several reasons. First, he had campaigned for some form of action against Cuba and it was the height of the cold war 10. If he was to back out, it would have shown globally that the U.S. had backed down on the Cuban issue. In competition with the Soviet Union, backing out would make the Americans look weak on the international scene, and for domestic consumption the new president would be seen as backing away from one of his campai

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Approximate Word count = 1652
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)