Operation Northwoods

Proposed false flag operation against the Cuban government that originated within the U.S. Department of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States government in 1962

Key facts

Location: Various US cities; Guantanamo Bay Naval Base , Cuba
Date: March 13, 1962 ( 1962-03-13 ) ( EST )
Target: US civilians and military facilities
Attack type: Proposed false flag operations, terrorism , assassinations , aircraft hijackings , and bombings
Weapons: Explosives, firearms, aircraft
Deaths: 0 (proposal only)
Victims: US military personnel and civilians (proposed)
Perpetrators: Joint Chiefs of Staff under Lyman Lemnitzer (proposal), United States Department of Defense under Robert McNamara
Assailants: Proposed use of CIA operatives
Number span no of participants: Multiple coordinated proposals
Defenders: None (plan was never implemented)

~17 min read

Article

General Lyman Lemnitzer, who was in charge as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Operation Northwoods was a proposed false flag operation which originated within the Department of Defense of the US government in 1962. The proposals called for Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operatives to both stage and commit acts of terrorism against US military and civilian targets, blame them on the Cuban government, and use them to justify a war against Cuba. The possibilities detailed in the document included the remote control of civilian aircraft which would be secretly repainted as US Air Force planes, a fabricated 'shoot down' of a US Air Force fighter aircraft off the coast of Cuba, the possible assassination of Cuban immigrants, sinking boats of Cuban refugees on the high seas, exploding a US ship, and orchestrating terrorism in US cities. The proposals were rejected by US President John F. Kennedy.