JFK was pond scum. NEWSWEEK, August 19, 1996. ^ The Peace Corps was 'Paid Voluntarism' for unskilled JFK do- gooders . ^ Bay of Pigs, Cuba, April 15, 1961 - JFK interfered with the military operation both in planning and execution to make it worse; did not keep commitments he had made, especially for airstrikes; made public statements that the US would not support insurrection in Cuba which discouraged resistance to Castro, blamed others for its failure and lied to the public about it. JFK weakened the original plan to make it virtually certain to fail (both of the original CIA planners Esterline and Hawkins threatened to resign over the changes). JFK was directly told by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Lemnitzer that the invasion would have very little chance of success. The Joint Chiefs in a memorandum of January 27, 1961 wrote The current Political-Para- Military Plan does not assure the accomplishment of the above _object_ive nor has there been detailed follow-up planning to exploit that plan if it succeeds or for any direct action that might be required if the plan is found to be inadequate. JFK went ahead with the plan, according to Arthur Schlesinger, to impress Eisenhower and Kruschev. RFK led the cover-up to protect the president with a shield of lies that he had received bad advice and really didn't know much about it. Esterline says now What I find so unacceptable is how cavalier they (the Kennedys) were in taking nearly 2,000 people and putting them out as animal bait. Four Americans and 114 CIA-trained Cubans were killed and 1,189 were captured  . Update ! : [McBundy : JFK never called for a force comparison before the invasion , between the tiny Cuban brigade sent to invade Cuba and what it would of taken if US forces were used , he would of saw immediately that it would of taken several divisions and thats SOP in any military adventure being backed by the US. We didn't get back the survivors of the invasion for free , Castro held them for ransom until JFK shipped 120 million dollars of non-military aid to Cuba , a country bent on our destruction !Don't worry I didn't believe the conspiracy theory that stated : Was JFK killed by the Kremlin because they thought he might turn American But I can see why some quack wrote it  ] ^ Cuban Missile Crisis - JFK brought the world to the brink of nuclear holocaust by pursuing a game of nuclear chicken that defines him as the riskiest president in history. Dean Acheson said JFK was phenomenally lucky. We were too. JFK forced the public confrontation for political reasons and humiliated Kruschev, the man he had to deal with. JFK backed down on inspection for compliance and lied to the public about the resolution of the crisis, denying that we had agreed to withdraw vital U.S. installations from Turkey in exchange for the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba - a deal which was political poison. On October 22, 1963, JFK wrote his staff in a hand-written note Is there a plan to brief and brainwash key press within 12 hours or so? By being dishonest with the American people, JFK gave the Soviets, who had the facts, the power to destroy his Presidency and thereby unduly influence him. Also the timing was dishonest, he had known about the missiles since August 22 when informed by CIA Director McCone. He announced it on October 22nd to influence Congressional elections in favor of Democrats - the classic October surprise. There is evidence that the Russians never removed their missiles, but at best the end result - status quo ante minus US missiles in Turkey - was clearly worse for the US. JFK's handling of the crisis to the point of our nuclear annihilation was the most irresponsible act of any president in history. His body was on speed and his mind was on sex at the height of the crises – he asked McNamara about an attractive Pentagon secretary, “I want her name and number. We may avert war tonight” . Update ! : [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dino_Brugioni http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc291/cdddraftsman/DinoBrugioni.jpg ] ^ The New Terrorisist : JFK ! .... Ordered the CIA (100 million dollar Operation Mongoose) to sabotage the Cuban economy and assassinate Fidel Castro, showing an irresponsibility and lack of judgment bordering on dereliction. The CIA offered a 150,000 dollar open contract on Castro. Samuel Halpern, the CIA executive in charge of Task Force W whose sole purpose was to assassinate Castro, wrote that the Kennedys were obsessed about wanting Castro dead for personal reasons - because the family name was besmirched by the Bay of Pigs. Even up to his death, JFK was directing an effort to manufacture pretexts to invade Cuba. These efforts may have precipitated the Cuban missile crises . Update ! : [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Project   The Cuban Project (also known as Operation Mongoose or the Special Group or the Special Group Augmented) was a program of CIA covert operations developed during the early years of US President John F. Kennedy. On November 30, 1961 aggressive covert operations against the communist government of Fidel Castro in Cuba was authorized by President Kennedy. The operation was led by Air Force General Edward Lansdale and went into effect after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Operation Mongoose was a secret program of propaganda, psychological warfare, and sabotage against Cuba to remove Castro from power; which was a prime focus of the Kennedy administration, according to Harvard historian Jorge Domínguez.[1] A document from the US Department of State confirms that the project aimed to help Cuba overthrow the Communist regime , including its leader Fidel Castro, and it aimed for a revolt which can take place in Cuba by October 1962 . American policy makers also wanted to see a new government with which the United States can live in peace . (Source: US Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States 1961-1963, Volume X Cuba, 1961-1962 Washington, DC ^ Vietnam .....November 1, 1963 JFK instigated a plot to overthrow and kill South Vietnam's Premiere Diem. JFK played politics with American lives in Vietnam, he put his election ahead of American lives. He feared that Diem, who was negotiating with the North, would force Americans out before the 1964 elections. Voice of America broadcasts called for the coup, JFK had cut off pay to the Palace Guard and American advisors were attached to almost every unit that attacked the Presidential Palace. The Viet Cong made huge advances in the resulting confusion. JFK had asked Air Force General Edward Landsdale, an ex-CIA man, to go to Saigon and help get rid of Diem (he refused). Lt. Col. Lucien Conein was used instead. The fundamental planning document was the August 30, 1963, memo to Secretary of State Dean Rusk from Roger Hilsman, Assistant Sec. State for Far Eastern Affairs. It said among other things, We should encourage the coup group to destroy the palace if necessary to gain victory... and in point 10 it ordered the death of Diem. In 1961 when JFK took office there were 685 US military advisors in Vietnam and in 1963 there were 16,732 (including combat troops) in violation of the 1954 Geneva Conventions and aid had gone up to $400 million per year. Kennedy said now we have a problem in trying to make our power credible, and Vietnam looks like the place . Update ! : [The real reason Diem was killed was because he was allegedly negotiating with the Communists and wanted the Americans out of the country. At any rate, Diem considered himself a nationalist, and did not want to be an American puppet . JFK did not want to lose Viet Nam and look soft on Communism before the '64 elections. JFK's electorial platform was _base_d upon the fact that the (R) were soft on communism and had let China go 'Red' . So Diem was killed. Yet JFK's admirers claim JFK wanted to get out of Viet Nam ! What this means, if it is true, is that JFK was willing to prolong the war for 12 to 18 months, if not longer, at the cost of tens of thousands of lives