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CounterPunch
February
10, 2003
Template for Iraq
Pretext
Operations: Cuba, 1962; Iraq, 2003
by
JOHN STANTON
On March 13, 1962, the Pentagon's Joint Chief's
of Staff prepared a document titled Operation
Northwoods containing plans to create a pretext for a US
invasion of Cuba. The Pentagon intended to stage Cuban attacks
on Americans to incite public opinion in support of an attack
on Cuba. Jim Bamford brought the document to light in his expose
of the National Security Agency titled Body
of Secrets. With the torrent of propaganda coming out of
the US government--to include US military live fire exercises
carried on CNN and Fox, rebroadcasts of the thriller True Lies
and carefully timed announcements of US troop deployments--it's
worth looking at some of the more sinister elements of that document
presented to then Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara.
Given the secrecy surrounding the Bush
Regime--and the statements emanating from its officials--it does
not seem unreasonable to assume that the US government has in
play pretext-operations plans for Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Colombia
and, perhaps, Cuba. It's important to remember that the US entry
into the Vietnam War came about over the August, 1964 incident
in the Gulf of Tonkin in which US, South Vietnamese and Laotian
military forces deliberately provoked North Vietnamese patrol
boats into a fight. That resulted in the ill-fated Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution, which, in the end, tore the US apart for decades
to come. Commenting on that event, President Lyndon Johnson would
say in 1965 that "for all I know, our Navy was shooting
at whales out there."
In the prelude to the first Persian Gulf
War in the early 1990's, Bush I's pretext-operations included
lying to the American public about Iraqi troops massing on the
Saudi Arabian border when, in fact, satellite photos would later
show they were not. He also tried to convince the American public
that Iraqi troops were invading hospitals and throwing infants
out windows when, in fact, they were not. The US government has
a long history of deception and deceit and it always is at the
expense of the American people.
Does any of this sound familiar? "The
desired resultant from the execution of this plan would be to
place the United States in the apparent position of suffering
defensible grievances from a rash and irresponsible governmentand
to develop an image of a threat to peace in the Western HemisphereIn
as much as the objective is overt military intervention both
overt and covert operations [should] be assigned [to] the Joint
Chiefs of StaffHarassment and deceptive actions to convince the
Cubans of immanent invasion would be emphasized. Our posture
throughout execution of the plan will allow rapid change from
exercise to interventionWe could develop a Cuban terror campaignin
WashingtonHijacking attempts against civil air and surface craft
should appear to continueIt is possible to create an incident
which will demonstrate that a Cuban aircraft has shot down a
chartered civil airliner en route from the US to Jamaica, Guatemala,
Panama or VenezuelaIt is possible to create an incident which
will make it appear that Communist Cuban MIGS have destroyed
a USAF aircraft over international waters in an unprovoked attackIt
is understood the Department of State also is preparing suggested
courses of action to develop justification for US military intervention
in Cuba."
That was the plan in 1962 for Cuba. Is
this plan in operation for Iraq in 2003? On February 7, 2003,
one day after Secretary of State Colin Powell's Invasion Iraq
presentation before the United Nations, the Bush Regime took
the American public to code "Orange"--the second highest
threat level--an was warned of immanent chemical-biological attacks
on US soil. Precaution? Good intelligence?
Ask the Joint Chiefs or the Secretary
of State.
John Stanton
is a Virginia based writer specializing in national security
matters. Reach him at cioran123@yahoo.com
Today's Features
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Anthony Gancarski
Peggy
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The Columbia and the Manufacture of Tragedy
Robert Fisk
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Robert Jensen
Powell
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Dissecting Powell's Speech:
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Powell vs. Blix
The Case for War Remains Unmade
Rahul Mahajan
Responding
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Is This All You've Got?
Paul de Rooij
Where Are the Incubators, Gen. Powell?
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