This Is Not America
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The invasion A few days later, the invasion of Cuban began. During the night of the invasion, on April 17, General Charles Cabell, who controlled the air strikes by the CIA planes from Quarter’s Eye, tried to contact Kennedy twice: though the invasion was under way, there were no planes covering the troops disembarking on the shores. Secretary of State Dean Rusk awoke the President at 4h00, requesting new air cover, even though Rusk himself was the source of the ‘no go’-order. Rusk felt that the U.S. should only sent airplanes when the Brigade had captured an airstrip at Giron. That way, it could look like the planes were sky born from within Cuba. Without the airstrip, everyone would realize the planes were not Castro defectors but U.S.sponsored planes. Rusk phoned Bundy and the President and Kennedy agreed not to send any air cover unless there were ‘overriding situations’. Now, in the middle of night, Cabell, trying to change the President’s mind, was unsuccessful in that attempt. Some believe Kennedy knew the invasion would fail without the air cover, but that he also knew the invasion would fail anyhow because they had failed to kill Castro before hitting the beach at the Bay of Pigs. Robert Kennedy, perhaps in an effort to clear his brother’s name, said that Kennedy had okayed the air cover but that Rusk had said ‘no’ because Kennedy had said no U.S. troops would be used. Rusk, according to Robert Kennedy, felt that if there was air cover, it would look as if Kennedy had lied. The President had made up his mind, Rusk apparently believed, and now his Cabinet members had to explain there would be no air strikes. Dulles, at one of the most important moments in his career as DCI, was absent, giving a lecture in Puerto Rico. He had decided not to cancel his visit because he believed that visit would be an excellent cover. If he would have been in Washington, he had the authority (but thus also the responsibility) to order the planes to leave. He was the only man within the CIA who had enough authority to talk to the President. His absence created a void and that void wasn’t covered by his lecture-cover. Kennedy could still decide U.S. Forces would join the invasion brigade, but he realized that could start World War III. Nixon had advised him to move into Cuba, but Kennedy felt Khrushchev would then strike back, moving into Berlin. He didn’t want to take that risk. Adlai Stevenson, Ambassador to the United Nations, had always thought Kennedy was too impulsive and too certain of himself and might blunder the U.S. into World War III; Stevenson’s opinions didn’t come true... yet? The air strike, however, was not the only problem. There had been plans for a second invasion unit that would serve as a distraction for Castro’s troops. This unit, lead by Nino Diaz, would have to invade near Guantanamo, but it seems Diaz, at the last moment, couldn’t gather his strength: his unit remained just off the coast of Cuba. It is also rumored Bissell fully realized his plan couldn’t succeed without the help of military and therefore would use this unit as a means of forcing Kennedy into ordering armed forces to help the invasion. Should this second unit have been attacked by Castro’s troops, Bissell would have depicted this attack as an attack against the U.S. military, who were stationed in the immediate vicinity of the Bay and of this unit. By April 20, when everything had collapsed except Castro, the death count had reached 184; 1189 men had been captured by Castro’s forces. The Cuban exiles had hoped they would be able to live in Cuba again; their dream had collapsed and blamed, even hated Kennedy for that. Some said it was like “finding out Superman is a fairy”. General Thomas Lane commented that “President Kennedy’s refusal to use U.S. aircraft to protect the beachhead and destroy the Castro planes reveals the confusion of his thinking. He was