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Big>Killing of Kennedy may have derailed Cuba pact By Julian Borger in Washington November 27, 2003 Days before his assassination, president John F. Kennedy was planning a meeting with Cuban officials to negotiate the normalisation of relations with Fidel Castro, a declassified tape and White House documents reveal. The rapprochement was cut off in Dallas 40 years ago by Lee Harvey Oswald, who appears to have believed he was assassinating the president in the interests of the Cuban revolution. But the new evidence suggests Dr Castro saw Kennedy's killing as a setback. He sought a dialogue with the next administration,...

ALL THE TALK about President Kennedy and his sexual exploits with a White House intern is full of leers and jeers and smutty comparisons to President Clinton. There has been little talk, though, about how reckless behavior may have affected his ability to function as chief executive. There is some evidence that those around Kennedy treated him with less respect than is due the American president. Could it be because they perceived him as the priapist he was and were contemptuous? Turn, for example, to the marvelous narrative history published in 1991 by Michael R. Beschloss--"The Crisis Years: Kennedy and...

The Bay of Pigs – The Truth Humberto Fontova Monday, April 29, 2002 "They fought like Tigers," writes the man who commanded the Cubans who splashed ashore at the Bay of Pigs 41 years ago this month. "But their fight was doomed before the first man hit the beach." That commander, CIA operative Grayston Lynch, knows something about fighting – and about long odds. He carries scars from Omaha Beach, The Bulge and Korea's Heartbreak Ridge. In those battles freedom's cause also appeared doomed. In each, Americans were out-manned and out-gunned. In each, the odds looked hopeless. In each, surrender...

Bay of Pigs – Part 2 Humberto Fontova Friday, April 24, 2003 (This is the second part of a two-part article on the Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961. Read Part 1.) We left the 1,400 Bay of Pigs invaders abandoned on the beachhead last week, with Castro’s air force unopposed above them and with 51,000 Red troops massing for attack. The Brigada 2506’s lumbering B-26s now provided rollicking sport for Castro’s jets, and the troops and supplies below even more. It was a turkey shoot. The Brigadistas dug in deeper, counted their meager ammo, tried to treat their...

April 17 marks the 42nd anniversary of the Bay of Pigs, where approximately 1,500 Cuban exiles attempted to overthrow Fidel Castro’s totalitarian regime. To discuss this event is Victor Triay, a history professor at Middlesex Community College in Connecticut and author of “Bay of Pigs: An Oral History of Brigade 2506.” When, by whom, and why was the operation that became the Bay of Pigs conceived? The source of the invasion had numerous starting points. There were a large number of Cubans conspiring against Castro from very early on, with new groups joining the cause daily. These groups ranged from...

Dear Lord, There's a young man far from home, called to serve his nation in time of war; sent to defend our freedom on some distant foreign shore. We pray You keep him safe, we pray You keep him strong, we pray You send him safely home ... for he's been away so long. There's a young woman far from home, serving her nation with pride. Her step is strong, her step is sure, there is courage in every stride. We pray You keep her safe, we pray You keep her strong, we pray You send her safely home...

Since the Cold War began, no Democratic President has successfully concluded an armed conflict. Every military mess they have gotten into has been cleaned up by a Republican President. Republicans alone have demonstrated competence at prosecuting military might: Korea - begun by Truman - ended by Eisenhower Bay of Pigs - begun by Kennedy - ended in failure Vietnam - begun by Kennedy - ended by Nixon/Ford Iran crisis - bungled by Carter - ended by Reagan The Cold War - begun by Truman - ended by Reagan Panama and Grenada - Reagan started and quickly dispatched these campaigns Beiruit...

THE BAY OF PIGS - THE TRUTH By Humberto Fontova "They fought like Tigers," writes the man who commanded the Cubans who splashed ashore at the Bay of Pigs 41 years ago this month. "But their fight was doomed before the first man hit the beach." That commander, CIA operative Grayston Lynch, knows something about fighting ­ and about long odds. He carries scars from Omaha Beach, The Bulge and Korea's Heartbreak Ridge. In those battles freedom's cause also appeared doomed. In each, Americans were out-manned and out-gunned. In each, the odds looked hopeless. In each, surrender beckoned. But in...

BAY OF PIGS: Intrigue An obsession with 'plausible deniability' doomed the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion from the outset. By Colonel Jack Hawkins, U.S. Marine Corps (ret.) Bay of Pigs: Intrigue - Part 1 The catastrophic invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in April 1961 caused the United States acute international embarrassment and severely blemished the reputation of the newly installed administration of President John F. Kennedy. I was involved in that undertaking in a capacity that made me knowledgeable of its full scope. During the many years since that event took place, I have not revealed information...

ELIZABETH, N.J., April 17, 2001 — As they steamed toward the coast of Cuba in April, 1961, they were young, confident and idealistic, driven by dreams of ousting Fidel Castro and emboldened by the backing of the U.S. government. Forty years later, Castro still holds sway in Havana, and the surviving members of Brigade 2506 still live in exile, their anger and sense of betrayal as palpable as ever. “WE FELT CONFIDENT because we had the word of the United States,” recalled Eliecer Grave de Peralta, who stormed Giron Beach near the Bay of Pigs on April 17, 1961, along...