Operation Northwoods

Record	OBS-0030
Category	Government/Cover-ups
Status	PARTIALLY SUBSTANTIATED
Summary	Operation Northwoods was a 1962 proposal by the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff to stage false-flag attacks on American soil and blame Cuba to justify military intervention. The plan was never implemented and was rejected by President Kennedy.
Origin	Proposed in March 1962 by the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Chairman Lyman Lemnitzer, during the Cold War and the Cuban Project (Operation Mongoose).
Claimed	The U.S. military proposed committing terrorist acts against American civilians and military targets, including hijacking aircraft, sinking refugee boats, and bombing U.S. cities, to blame Cuba. The plan included fabricating a shoot-down of a U.S. Air Force plane and using remote-controlled aircraft to simulate attacks. The goal was to create a pretext for U.S. military intervention in Cuba. The plan was rejected by President John F. Kennedy.
Evidence / consensus	The existence of the Operation Northwoods memorandum is confirmed by declassified documents from the National Archives and the State Department's Foreign Relations series. However, the plan was never executed, and there is no evidence that any such false-flag attacks occurred.

> OBSERVER NOTE:
File contains a real, declassified proposal. The plan was never carried out. Distinguish between the documented proposal and any claim that it was actually implemented.

Sources

Sources are external and provided for verification. Listing does not imply the Observer endorses their claims.