Operation Northwoods

Operation Northwoods

Operation Northwoods was a clandestine plan proposed by the U.S. Department of Defense in 1962, detailed in declassified documents, to create a pretext for military intervention in Cuba. The scheme involved orchestrating false flag operations, including staged terrorist acts like bombings, hijackings, and attacks on U.S. military and civilian targets, such as sinking a U.S. ship or staging assaults on Cuban exiles in the U.S. These acts would be falsely attributed to Cuban forces to garner public and international support for war against Fidel Castro’s regime. The Joint Chiefs of Staff approved the plan, but President John F. Kennedy rejected it, and it was never executed. The proposal, revealed through declassification in 1997, remains a stark example of how far some U.S. military leaders were willing to go to achieve geopolitical objectives, raising ethical concerns about government-sanctioned deception.