Bay Of Pigs The Failed Invasion Essay — страница 2

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forces? ships destroyed, and no command and control ship, the logistics of the operation soon broke down as the other supply ships were kept at bay by Casto?s air force. As with many failed military adventures, one of the problems with this one was with supplying the troops. In the air, Castro had easily won superiority over the invading force. His fast moving T-33s, although unimpressive by today?s standards, made short work of the slow moving B-26s of the invading force. On Tuesday, two were shot out of the sky and by Wednesday, the invaders had lost 10 of their 12 aircraft. With air power firmly in control of Castro?s forces, the end was near for the invading army. During the seventy-two-hour invasion, the Cubans pounded the invading force of about 1500 men. The invaders?

weapons were no match for Castro?s 122mm Howitzers, 22mm cannons, and tank fire. By Wednesday the invaders were pushed back to their landing zone at Playa Gir?n. Surrounded by Castro?s forces, some surrendered while others fled into the hills. One hundred fourteen men were killed in the slaughter while thirty-six died as prisoners in Cuban cells. Others were to live out twenty years or more in those cells for plotting to topple the government of Castro. The men of the invading force never had a chance for success from almost the first days in the planning stage of the operation. Operation Pluto, as it came to be known, has its origins in the last days of the Eisenhower Administration and the murky time period during the transition of power to the newly elected president, John F.

Kennedy. In late 1958, Castro was still fighting a guerilla war against the corrupt regime of Fulgencio 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. This episode soured relations between Castro and the United States. The chief of U.S. Naval Operations, Admiral Burke, suggested sending in the Marines to destroy Castro?s forces, but Secretary of State Foster Dulles disagreed. Originally Castro was not a communist; he even had meetings with Vice President Richard Nixon. Fearful of Castro?s revolution, people with money, including

doctors, lawyers, and the Mafia, left Cuba for the United States. To prevent the loss of more capital Castro?s solution was to nationalize some of the businesses in Cuba. In the process of nationalizing some business? he came into conflict with American interests. Legitimate U.S. businesses were taken over, and the process of socialization begun with little if any talk of compensation. Following rumors of Cuban involvement in planning to invade Panama, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic, the US Government refused Castro any economic aid. After being rejected by the Americans, he met with Russia?s foreign minister Anasta Mikoyan to secure a $100 million loan from the Soviet Union. It was in this atmosphere that American Intelligence and Foreign Relations communities decided

that Castro was leaning towards communism and had to be dealt with. In the spring of 1960, President Eisenhower approved a plan to send small groups of trained Americans, Cuban exiles, to work in the underground as guerrillas to overthrow Castro. By the fall, the plan was changed to a full invasion with air support by exile Cubans in American supplied planes. The original group was to be trained in Panama, but with the growth of the operation and the quickening pace of events in Cuba, it was decided to move things to a base in Guatemala. The plan was becoming rushed and this would start to show. The man in charge of the operation, CIA Deputy Director Bissell said, ?There didn?t seem to be time to keep to the original plan and have a large group trained by this initial cadre of

young Cubans. So the larger group was formed and established at La Finca, in Guatemala, and there the training was conducted entirely by Americans.? By now it was fall and President John F. Kennedy had replaced President Eisenhower. President Kennedy could have stopped the invasion if he wanted to, but he probably did not do so for several reasons. Firstly, he had campaigned for some form of action against Cuba and it was also the height of the cold war. To back out now would mean having groups of Cuban exiles traveling around the globe claiming the Americans had backed down on the Cuban issue. In competition with the Soviet Union, backing out would make the Americans appear as wimps on the international scene. On the domestic home front, the new president would be seen as