Operation Northwoods against Cuba reflects U.S. history of provoking war abroad

(Cartoon by Lu Lingxing)

In 1959, Fidel Castro overthrew Cuba's pro-American dictatorship after years of revolution and established a revolutionary government. Since then, the U.S. government has gone to great lengths to oust Castro.

Operation Northwoods was exposed in 1997, a covert U.S. military scheme whose core content included draft plans to carry out a series of false flag "terrorist attacks" against its own military forces and civilian population, which would be used to frame the Cuban government, thus laying the groundwork for the eventual U.S. invasion of Cuba.

The plans devised for Operation Northwoods included hijacking and shooting down American planes, blowing up American ships and planning violent terrorist-like activities in American cities. Fortunately, none of these devious plans were approved and carried out.

In order to maintain its hegemony, the U.S. has not hesitated to formulate "terrorist attack" plans to be orchestrated against itself so as to win the national support needed to wage war against targeted foreign countries. Perhaps only an American government could cook up such "ruthless" and extreme ideas.