Average customer rating:
|
Covert Action As a Tool of Presidential Foreign Policy: From the Bay of Pigs to Iran-Contra
John J. Carter
Manufacturer: Edwin Mellen Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 1945 - Present
| 20th Century
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| 20th Century
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Iran
| Middle East
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Relations
| International
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Espionage
| True Accounts
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Executive Branch
| United States
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0773458352 |
Book Description
Now available for the first time, "one of the most secret documents of the Cold War" (New York Times): the government's own report of the Bay of Pigs fiasco. For decades, the CIA's top secret postmortem on the April 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion has been the holy grail of historians, students, and survivors of the failed invasion of Cuba. But the scathing internal report on the worst foreign policy debacle of the Kennedy administration, written by the CIA's then-Inspector General Lyman Kirkpatrick, has remained tightly guarded--until now. Dislodged from the government through the Freedom of Information Act, here is an uncompromising look at high officials' arrogance, ignorance, and incompetence, as displayed in their attitude toward Castro's revolution and toward the Cuban exiles the CIA had organized to invade the island. Including the complete report and a wealth of supplementary materials, Bay of Pigs Declassified provides a fascinating picture of the operation and of the secret world of the espionage establishment, with stories of plots, counterplots, and intra-agency power struggles worthy of a Le Carr novel. Peter Kornbluh directs the Cuba Documentation Project at the National Security Archive. The Archive serves scholars, journalists, Congress, public interest organizations, and citizens by obtaining and disseminating internal U.S. government documentation that is indispensable for informed public debate. Includes: the complete text of the CIA report; a critical introduction; the newly declassified response to the report from Richard Bissell, who masterminded the operation; the first joint interview with the managers of the invasion, Jacob Esterline and Colonel Jack Hawkins; a comprehensive chronology; and biographies of the key participants.
Customer Reviews:
A typical 'government' job.......2001-02-14
A fascinating post-mortem on the Bay of Pigs operation and all the more so because it was done internally by the CIA Inspector General. Suppressed for three decades because of its remarkably blunt honesty this book will have you shaking your head. A perfect example of why the 'best and the brightest' are not always so. I found it enlightening and humorous at the same time. Not one of the best run CIA operations by any means.
Bay Of Pigs Declassified 2.......2000-02-10
this is my second report on the book bay of pigs declassified as I don't think my first was quite fair I found fault in that he didn't say any thing about my unit of 45 people I think we were the only ones know one knew about. every one else had been given away. but that didn't help we were caught and killed any how all but myself that is. to get back to mister Peter Kornbluh's book it was a very fine piece of work and he must have done much work to get so much info and to get it right. thanks for the chance to tell what I think about this very good book.
It is a very good book but it didn't tell the hole story........2000-01-11
the book Bay of Pigs Declassifieied is very good it don't have quit all the facts in that it don't say one word about the small unit of guerrillas that I was in charge of we worked behind the lines to clear and hold a landing spot for troops that never came. the hole unite was captured and all but my self was killed including my interpter a young Cuban girl code name Louise she died so bravely she saved many lives by not telling where some of them were. I have tried to find some of her family and friends. but being short on money and not realy knowing where to look makes it all most imposable. she also saved my life and I would like to see her name in some of the books about the BAY OF PIGS INVASION
Book Description
Grayston Lynch presents an exceptional portrayal of actual events that led to the betrayal of extraordinary, patriotic, and courageous men. Lynch's unmasking of "Kennedy's Camelot" reveals heart-wrenching facts that continue to stir emotions among Brigade 2506 veterans.
Customer Reviews:
Kennedy's betrayal of the Cuban exiles........2006-08-15
I share the author Lynch's disgust for the attitude of John F. Kennedy and how he treated the Cuban exiles. In his campaign, Kennedy stated he would pay any price for freedom. He also chided Nixon about being tough on Castro. When it gets his turn to decide, he waffles on how to deal with Castro. He dumps the 2506 brigade on the beach and then refuses them air support either from the exile aircraft or U.S. aircraft. He states it would give a bad impression in the world.
Fortunately Kennedy toughened up in a year and faced down the Soviets and Cubans. He would not have had to if he would have supported the Cuban exiles at the Bay of Pigs. Lynch details his work in the Cuban exiles training. He also details the exploits of the brave 2506 Brigade and their heroic defense. The U.S. should have supported these people more forcefully.
A first hand account of the Bay of Pigs.......2005-09-09
Grayston Lynch was one of two American "advisors" who stormed the Bay of Pigs with the 2506 Assault Brigade on April 17, 1961. In Decision for Disaster, Lynch attempts to set the record straight on what caused the mission to fail. He offers a unique perspective in that his position privileged him to the inner happenings of CIA and White House planning, yet he can also give a firsthand account of the battle itself, having fired the first shots of the invasion himself. Lynch is clearly not content in the contemporary historical account of the Bay of Pigs, proclaiming in the preface that "the true story has never been told, until now." Lynch goes on to tell his story with reasoned contempt for Castro and Camelot, and a deep reverence for the 2506 Assault Brigade.
Lynch became a player in the Bay of Pigs in December 1960. The Texan had just retired from a 22 year career with the US Army, most recently as the captain of a US Army Special Forces A-Team in Laos. He had seen combat and was wounded at Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge and Heartbreak Ridge in Korea. He was awarded two Silver Stars and a Bronze Star with Valor. The Cuban cause was something that Lynch took to heart; even after the Bay of Pigs he continued to play a major role in anti-Castro commando raids. His decision to write this book now came from the recent passing away of his fellow "advisor" William "Rip" Robertson and the declassification of items essential to the telling of the story. Besides using his first-hand account, Lynch enlisted the knowledge of commanding officers and 2506 Assault Brigade survivors in writing this book.
Lynch had his book published by Potomac Books which was founded in 1983 as a part of British publishing house Brassey's. Since this books publishing, Potomac was purchased by American book distributor Books International. Potomac has strong roots in military history, but has broadened its range to include general history, world affairs, foreign policy, intelligence, memoirs, biographies, and even sports. Its most successful book to date was Michael Scheuer's American Hubris. Potomac's usual offerings come with a strong dose of realism backed with a healthy dose of knowledge and first hand experience; Decision for Disaster is no exception.
Lynch gets off to a rough start in his account. He attempts to weave together several concurrent stories that will eventually lead to the invasion. A difficult enough task by itself, he attempts to do it as a flashback story while on his voyage to invade Cuba. This continued flashback-fastforward-recollection-juxtaposition can give the reader a mild case of mental whiplash. His constant foreshadowing and alluding to the invasion gave me a strong case of deja vu by the time he was invading in real time. However, whatever Lynch lacks in authorship, he makes up for in laying out an intriguing fact-laden journey through all relevant events leading up to the invasion.
One of the stories Lynch tells exceedingly well in the build up to the invasion is Castro's initial revolutionary undertakings in Cuba. Lynch robs any Bolivarian Romanticism from Castro's invasion, likening him and his cohorts more to a buffoonish F-Troop, who shortly after arriving are gunned down from eighty-three men to twelve. What is especially amazing is that through some perfect storm of idiot journalism, Congressional nativity, and Batista's yellow belliedness, Castro still somehow manages to seize power in two years time. This is something that the US backed 2506 Assault Brigade would fail to do.
When all members of the invasion force meet in Nicaragua, Decision for Disaster takes off. From here Lynch takes command of the story and tells it with an earnestness and humorous wit that allows the reader to experience a real empathy for him and the 2506 Assault Brigade. The story that follows is so outlandish and multi-dimensional that it left me wondering why fictional war stories exist. The politicking, bravery, cowardice, mutiny, and chance that make up the Bay of Pigs invasion is mind numbing. There is no way an academic or bureaucrat could deliver a better synopsis of the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
All good stories have a villain, and Decision for Disaster's is not who you might think. Though Lynch makes no doubt about his contempt of Castro, he dismisses him as a thuggish opportunist who only reigns due to the failing of our true villain: JFK. Lynch begins his case against Kennedy during his presidential race with Nixon. He quotes Kennedy arguing with Nixon, "If you can't stand up to Castro, how can you stand up to Khrushchev?" Kennedy played this weakness card throughout the election, and was befuddled to learn of the extensive invasion plan already in place when he arrived in office. From here, Lynch documents action after action that Kennedy takes to push the project closer and closer to failure. Against the heeds of all military advisors, Kennedy relocates the invasion spot, restricts Air Force use, and delays the project enough to allow Castro to receive his first shipment of Soviet tanks and arms.
What is especially frustrating about Kennedy's actions is that not only did they doom the invasion, but they did absolutely nothing to meet his misguided intention of hiding the obvious US involvement. Kennedy's inexcusable pussyfooting around the invasion offers a case example of what happens when the US tries to placate international concerns. A more Machiavellian approach, using overwhelming power to achieve decisive victory, would have brought success and avoided the missile crises that followed due to its failure. Lynch succeeds in painting Kennedy as an incompetent boob, who should be held ultimately responsible for the deaths and loss of American respect that resulted from the Bay of Pigs fiasco. For those who would like to place blame elsewhere, Lynch starts his book with the following quote, "For the greatest enemy of truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, pervasive, and unrealistic". This is quoted from none other than JFK himself.
Decision for Disaster is an excellent book that succeeds in telling the story in a believable manner. There is no circular logic or excuses made in Lynch's book. His humbleness while telling the story makes it clear that he has no agenda outside of relating the story as it should be told. Though Lynch occasionally stumbles to tell his story coherently in the beginning, he builds enough momentum through humor and insightfulness that it is easily overlooked. With Decision for Disaster, Lynch offers a great opportunity to relive the macrocosm of the Bay of Pigs with a genuine and witty tour guide, highly recommended.
A Must Read for Everyone!.......2003-11-28
This book is definitely an eye opener. I remember as a child my father telling me of the cover-ups and distortions created by the Kennedy administration. The real truth about what happened at the Bay of Pigs is finally out. JFK's mistake caused untold missery to millions of people. Not just Cubans, but also Nicaraguans, Guatemalans, Colombians, and now Venezuelans. Cubans, and Americans as a whole, should be extemely grateful to Mr. Grayston Lynch for writing this book. I know I am. Thank you, thank you Mr. Lynch.
It finally comes out.......2002-04-09
This is an excellent book. Finally an author speaks out against "Camelot." America's love affair with the Kennedys is sickening. The CIA has gotten a bum rep because of the Bay of Pigs and this book finally points the finger in the right direction
The Right Stuff.......2001-11-30
This is the story that should have been told long ago. However, as usual our country prefers to lie to its people and the world to save embarrassment. Grayston Lynch gives us the truth, from first hand experience. I have spoken to many of the men that were there on that doomed invasion. I have read numerous books on this subject from others that were there and some that were not. However, Mr. Lynch is the only one that I am aware of that was not only there, but was privy as to the decisions that were made in Washington, why they were made and by whom they were made. It's almost incomprehensible that the original plan designed by true warriors, that was as close to perfect as could be would be changed so dramatically by someone that had absolutely no clue as to what he (they) were doing. (Not incomprehensible to me since I too have had first hand experience with people like these.) It's actually down right scary! This is the one to read on this subject. Grayston Lynch is a true American. Thank you my friend, for risking your life for us, the Cubans and for risking your life for us the Americans. Most of all, thank you for telling the truth!!
Customer Reviews:
Impassioned Memoir Of War.......2005-10-27
Between 1959 and 1961 dramatic events unfolded in Cuba. The Batista government was overthrown and replaced by the regime of Fidel Castro. After the initial rejoicing it soon became clear that a communist, totalitarian form of government was being imposed. Many Cubans fled the island, but some were determined to fight back. Operation Puma is the story of that valiant but doomed effort known to us as the Bay of Pigs fiasco.
Eduardo Ferrer and many other highly motivated young officers were trained, supplied and encouraged to invade Cuba and overthrow the Castro government. Unfortunately, the United States government wavered in its support and ultimately allowed the enterprise to fail. Perhaps there were good geopolitical reasons for this, but to those involved it was a shattering, bitter disappointment. Here the story is told from the inside, by an officer who took part in the whole incident from its inception to its collapse.
The book is well written, taking the reader along from battle to battle. Everything that happens is personal to the author and this comes across in crisp, lucid prose that doesn't allow you to stop reading. The episode of the Bay of Pigs was current events in this reviewer's time but is now "history." It deserves to be looked at again, and this little book is a good introduction. BTW, it was not hard to obtain a copy. I recommend it highly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.
Operation Puma.......2004-07-23
This book expresses an extra ordinary ordeal "the tragic story of a gallant failure" Admiral Arleight Burke
Inspirational, informative and entertaining!.......2001-06-08
Operation Puma details pilot Eddy Ferrer's experience with the Liberation Air Force from the jungles of Guatemala and Nicaragua to the skies over the Bay of Pigs. It is an incredible story of the Cuban pilots dedication to freeing Cuba from Castro's communism. You'll learn why the pilots of the Brigade felt compelled to devote their hard efforts, and some even their lives, to the cause of freedom. It is both filled with funny stories of pilot's in training with American instructors as well as heartbreaking battle drama as some of the pilots fall victim to combat. You'll also see how the CIA fits into the picture of the Bay of Pigs that is little known. I highly recommend this rare glimpse into the Air Battle of the Bay of Pigs!
Book Description
Stephen Rabe's timely book examines President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Latin American policy and assesses the president's actions in light of recent "Eisenhower revisionism."
During his first term, Eisenhower paid little attention to Latin America but his objective there was clear: to prevent communism from gaining a foothold. The Eisenhower administration was prepared to cooperate with authoritarian military regimes, but not to fund developmental aid or vigorously promote political democracy. Two events in the second administration convinced Eisenhower that he had underestimated the extent of popular unrest—and thus the potential for Communist inroads: the stoning of Vice-President Richard M. Nixon in Caracas and the radicalization of the Cuban Revolution. He then began to support trade agreements, soft loans, and more strident measures that led to CIA involvement in the Bay of Pigs invasion and plots to assassinate Fidel Castro and Rafael Trujillo. In portraying Eisenhower as a virulent anti-Communist and cold warrior, Rabe challenges the Eisenhower revisionists who view the president as a model of diplomatic restraint.
Customer Reviews:
Goes best with Bitter Fruit and Shattered Hope.......2003-03-26
An enjoyable read! This book is a must if you are interested in the 1954 CIA sponsored coup in Guatemala. Stephen Rabe rounds out the history from a clear U.S. Foreign Policy perspective, and adds depth to the history of this time. This book should be read along side Bitter Fruit and Shattered Hope for the most complete historical perspective.
Book Description
This is the story of the Bay of Pigs invasion, told for the first time in the words of the idealistic participants who came together in April, 1961, to overthrow Fidel Castro's dictatorship. Most of the approximately 1,500 men of Brigade 2506 were captured by Castro's forces in Cuban swamps and jailed until December 1962. About 114 died. Combining oral history and traditional narrative form, Victor Triay tells us who individual members of the brigade were and what they fought for.
Customer Reviews:
Could have been more objective.......2001-10-16
Unfortunately, this book breaks little new ground, and tends to glamorize the participants in the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion of Castro's Cuba.
The rest of the story.......2001-06-12
It's about time someone got this story right. These stories completely shatter the myths created by Castro's propaganda machine and his U.S. boot-licks over the years. Far from being Batistianos, the men of Brigada 2506 were overwhelmingly pro-democratic Cuban patriots, many of them former revolutionaries, who were exercising the only choice Castro had left them. What these men did was perhaps the purest and noblest act of self-sacrifice on behalf of human liberty in the Twentieth Century history of the Western Hemisphere. Thank God someone thought to put these stories down for the record before it was too late. In the future, when the people of Cuba are free to inquire into their history, they will be able to discover who the real Cuban patriots were.
Outstanding Work by Author of Fleeing Castro (Pedro Pan).......2001-03-19
Bay of Pigs: An Oral History of Brigade 2506 by Victor A. Triay
This important new work about the Bay of Pigs was written by Dr. Triay, a prominent Cuba scholar from Miami, Florida and living in Middletown, Connecticut. Dr. Triay's work captures the poignancy of the interviews with the individuals whose personal stories were the primary sources of Triay's research. As with his previous work, Fleeing Castro: Operation Pedro Pan and the Cuban Children's Program (University Press of Florida November 1998), Bay of Pigs incorporates Triay's trademark style of weaving historical context with personal stories.
In the book, Dr. Triay relates the stories of several members of Brigade 2506, the volunteers who united in exile to form the American-trained invasion force that went into Cuba in April 1961, after it had become clear that Castro would not live up to his promise to restore democracy in Cuba. Their stories reveal the men's conviction and the democratic ideals for which they fought. In addition, the book includes stories from the CIA's top man at the invasion, as well as the touching personal histories of some of the Brigade members' loved ones.
The stories are told from the point of view of the individuals interviewed by Dr. Triay, who introduces each chapter with an excellent synopsis of the relevant historical context. While the book is sure to gain a tremendous amount of notoriety among Cuba scholars as the first work of its kind, this fast-paced, hard-hitting, and absorbing book is a "must have" for anyone interested in the history of the Bay of Pigs invasion and the uncommon warriors who made up Brigade 2506.
The book traces the story of the volunteers who made up the Brigade, beginning with some Brigade members' early anti-Castro activities and their recruitment into the Brigade. This is followed by a section on their training in Retalhuleu and Base Trax in Guatemala and their journey across the Caribbean to the invasion site. Capturing the invasion's drama in an almost breathtaking manner, Triay relates the landings (by air and by sea), advancements, and major engagements of the Brigade.
Throughout the book, the reader never loses sight of the Brigade's courage, tenacity and determination, despite having been abandoned by their American allies. Also told in riveting detail are the stories of the defeated Brigade's retreat into the swamps, their capture by Castro forces, their wretched twenty-month imprisonment, and their ultimate joyous release. Perhaps the book's greatest surprise is an entire chapter dedicated to the women the Brigade members left behind.
Triay's book is truly an outstanding piece of Cuban history.
Customer Reviews:
Receipe of Disaster.......2004-02-09
The writer gives a blow by blow discription of what happened to cause the Bay of Pigs disaster.
Allen Dulles was on a roll, having just used the CIA to take over Guatamala, and install a government we liked there.
Ike had never signed off the the Cuban plan, but let it continue. Kennedy came in and thought that Ike had approved it.
It was a fiasco from the start, with Kennedy demanding that he might pull the plug on the last day before the invasion, if he did not like it. The CIA and the military could not conceive that once things started that air support would be refused.
I knew from years ago that Kennedy had denied air support from our own Navy for the invasion.
What I did not know until reading this book was that Kennedy also reduced the size of the liberation forces B26 strikes, and eliminated 2 of them, thus allowing Fidel's air force to survive and slaughter the freedom fighters on the beach and their supplies coming in from the sea.
Also, the Alabama National guard had and pilots who trained the Cubans in flying the B26 and 2 of them were killed when they flew strikes in for ground support of the invasion.
Moving the target landing zone from Trinidad to the Bay of Pigs at the last minute eliminated any chance of survivors escaping into the mountains to fight as guerillas if anything went wrong, and everything went wrong.
The CIA flaws are numerous. They did not know about a reef that everybody in the area knew about, and sunk the supply ships.
They refused to place guns on the supply ships as unneeded, as there would be air cover, and were forced to because the owner of the ships would not let them use the ships unless they were armed. The guns were used a lot. All the communications equipment was in one crate and went to the bottom, making it impossible to communicate with the beach. CIA officials were not on the supply ships.
The air strike plan was not made clear to the Pres in advance.
The plan assumed an uprising that never took place. It was only in the minds of the invaders.
After the air strikes were cancelled, the CIA went ahead with the plan as there was no place to take a bunch of armed, pissed of Cuban freedom fighters, other than to Cuba.
It is a frustrating book to read.
Product Description
This is the story of the Cubans selected by CIA to lead Brigade 2506 on its invasion of Cuba and were held captive by Castro
Books:
- D-Day June 6, 1944
- Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
- Fool's Gold: Color Me Consumed (TrueColors Series #6)
- Friendly Fire: The Accidental Shootdown of U.S. Black Hawks over Northern Iraq
- German Army on the Somme, 1914-1916
- Gettysburg--Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill (Civil War America)
- Great American Bombers of World War II
- Guerrilla Warfare
- Historical Dictionary of the Civil War (Historical Dictionaries of War, Revolution, and Civil Unrest, No. 18)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World
- Other Voices, Other Rooms
- Cellulose: Molecular and Structural Biology: Selected articles on the synthesis, structure, and appl
- Foundations of Genetic Algorithms: 9th International Workshop, FOGA 2007, Mexico City, Mexico, Janua
- History: Fiction or Science
- Nine Marks of a Healthy Church
- May the Best Man Die
- Bungalow Bathrooms
- Earthworks and Beyond: Contemporary Art in the Landscape
- The Illustrated Flora of Illinois: Flowering Plants: Willows to Mustards
