by DrDebugDU » Wed Jul 13, 2005 1:07 pm
The Cuban-exiles and the CIA were not pleased that Fidel Castro was still in power and wanted to relaunch the Operation 40.<br><br>Following the disastrous invasion at Cuba's Bay of Pigs, the Kennedy administration regrouped and initiated a massive new covert action program to trigger Fidel Castro's overthrow. Operation Mongoose, as the effort was called, was launched in late 1961 and placed under the command of Brig. Gen. Edward Lansdale, an Air Force officer. (1)<br><br>In September 1960, Allen W. Dulles, the director of the CIA, initiated talks with two leading figures of the Mafia, Johnny Roselli (9) and Sam Giancana. (2)<br><br>The headquarters was JM WAVE in Miami - truly a state within a city - over, above, and outside the laws of the United States, with a staff of several hundred Americans directing many more Cuban agents in just such types of actions, with a budget in excess of $50 million (3) a year, and an arrangement with the local press to keep operations in Florida secret except when the CIA wanted something publicized. (4) (See also: Operation Mockingbird)<br><br>In November 1961 William Harvey was ordered to activate an assassination plot against Fidel Castro. This became part of what became known as the ZR/RIFLE project. Harvey decided to transfer David Sanchez Morales from Mexico City to the JM WAVE station. Johnny Roselli was also recruited into the project.<br><br>Roselli persuaded Santos Trafficante, the senior Mafia figure in Cuba, to join the conspiracy. Meyer Lansky also became involved in this plot and was reportedly offering a million-dollar reward for the Cuban leader's murder. Richard Cain, a specialist in electronics and wire taps, was also recruited by Roselli. Cain took part in a failed attempt in March 1961 to poison Castro.<br><br>On 12th March, 1961, William Harvey arranged for Jim O'Connell, to meet Sam Giancana, Santo Trafficante, Johnny Roselli and Robert Maheu at the Fontainebleau Hotel. During the meeting O'Connell gave poison pills and $10,000 to Rosselli to be used against Fidel Castro. As Richard D. Mahoney points out: (5)<br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><br>"Late one evening, probably March 13, Rosselli passed the poison pills and the money to a small, reddish- haired Afro-Cuban by the name of Rafael "Macho" Gener in the Boom Boom Room, a location Giancana thought "stupid." Rosselli's purpose, however, was not just to assassinate Castro but to set up the Mafia's partner in crime, the United States government. Accordingly, he was laying a long, bright trail of evidence that unmistakably implicated the CIA in the Castro plot. This evidence, whose purpose was blackmail, would prove critical in the CIA's cover-up of the Kennedy assassination." (6)<br><hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>In 1962 Theodore Shackley was appointed by William Harvey as deputy chief of JM WAVE. In April, 1962, Shackley was involved in delivering supplies to Johnny Roselli as part of the plan to assassinate Fidel Castro. Later that year he became head of the station that served as operational headquarters for Operation Mongoose. He was also responsible for gathering intelligence and recruiting spies in Cuba. (7)<br><br>The following plots were considered:<br>* Inject an untraceable poison, botulinum toxin, into selections of Castro's favorite brand of cigars and present the poisoned cigars to him<br>* Compress the poison into pill form and dissolve it into a drink for Castro<br>* Create a booby-trapped seashell that would explode if removed from the ocean floor by Castro, who was an avid diver<br>* Devise a wet suit with a breathing apparatus infected with deadly germs and present it to Castro as a gift<br>* Equip a fountain pen with a hidden needle capable of injecting a lethal toxin and persuade Castro to write with it<br>* Assassinate him with a high-powered rifle with telescopic sights ( 8 )<br><br>All plots of Operation Mongoose failed, but it implied that not only the CIA and the Cuban-exiles were frustrated, the Mafia had joined the ranks of displeased John F. Kennedy enemies.<br><br>Sources and notes<br>(1) <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://members.austarmetro.com.au/~hubbca/operation_mongoose.htm">members.austarmetro.com.a...ngoose.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br>(2) <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKmongoose.htm">www.spartacus.schoolnet.c...ngoose.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br>(3) See also $13 million (<!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKmongoose.htm)">www.spartacus.schoolnet.c...goose.htm)</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> There are contradictory statements about the budget for JM WAVE.<br>(4) <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://members.aol.com/bblum6/cuba.htm">members.aol.com/bblum6/cuba.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br>(5) Richard D. Mahoney, Sons and Brothers.<br>(6) <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKzrrifle.htm">www.spartacus.schoolnet.c...rrifle.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br>(7) <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKshackley.htm">www.spartacus.schoolnet.c...ackley.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br>( 8 ) <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.jfk.org/Research/Cuba/Mongoose_Plots.htm">www.jfk.org/Research/Cuba..._Plots.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br>(9) John Roselli (Filippo Sacco) first became involved in crime when he worked for Al Capone in the 1920s. Became senior crime boss in Las Vegas. Claimed that Fidel Castro did Kennedy. Killed July 1976. Tosh Plumlee claimed that Roselli had been killed because he knew too much about JM WAVE, Operation Mongoose, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy.<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKroselli.htm">www.spartacus.schoolnet.c...oselli.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>