Operation Northwoods: The Pentagon's False-Flag Proposal
When the Joint Chiefs of Staff proposed staging terrorist attacks on American soil to justify invading Cuba
The Proposal
On March 13, 1962, the Joint Chiefs of Staff presented a top-secret memorandum to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara titled “Justification for US Military Intervention in Cuba.” The document, codenamed Operation Northwoods, proposed a series of false-flag operations designed to create a pretext for a U.S. military invasion of Cuba. The memorandum was signed by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Lyman Lemnitzer and all members of the Joint Chiefs.
The proposals included:
- Staging mock attacks on the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, including starting fires, blowing up ammunition, sabotaging aircraft, and lobbing mortar shells into the base from outside — all performed by U.S. personnel disguised as Cuban agents.
- Sinking a U.S. Navy ship in Guantanamo Bay and blaming Cuba. The document specified creating “a ‘Remember the Maine’ incident” (referencing the 1898 USS Maine explosion used to justify the Spanish-American War).
- Conducting a campaign of terror in Miami and other Florida cities, including bombings and the sinking of refugee boats carrying Cuban exiles. The memo explicitly stated these could be “real or simulated.”
- Shooting down a CIA plane disguised as a civilian charter flight and blaming Cuba. The proposal detailed using a drone aircraft painted to match a real civilian plane while the actual passengers would be transferred to a different aircraft.
- Fabricating evidence that Cuban forces had attacked a U.S. military aircraft over international waters.
Kennedy’s Rejection
President John F. Kennedy rejected Operation Northwoods. According to the historical record, McNamara did not forward the proposal with a recommendation for approval. Kennedy removed General Lemnitzer as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in October 1962, reassigning him to become Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. Whether the Northwoods proposal contributed to Lemnitzer’s reassignment is debated among historians, though the timing is notable.
Declassification
The Northwoods documents were first declassified in 1997 as part of the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board’s work to release classified government records. They received broader public attention after journalist James Bamford published them in his 2001 book Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency. The original documents are held at the National Archives.
Significance
Operation Northwoods is significant not because it was carried out — it was not — but because it demonstrates that the highest-ranking military officials in the United States formally proposed committing acts of terrorism against American citizens and military personnel as a tool of foreign policy. The proposal was documented, signed, and submitted through official channels. It was not the work of rogue officers or an informal discussion. It was a formal recommendation from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Secretary of Defense.
Research Verdict
| Assessment | CONFIRMED |
| Confidence | High |
| Summary | The Joint Chiefs of Staff formally proposed false-flag terrorist attacks against American targets to justify an invasion of Cuba in 1962; the proposal was rejected by President Kennedy |