Considered by some to be the starting point for the Cuban Missile Crisis and one of the worst foreign policy disasters of the 20th century, the Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961 was a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)-guided effort by 1400 American-trained Cuban exiles living in Miami to overthrow Fidel Castro’s regime and replace it with a more U.S. friendly, non-communist government. Deemed “Operation Pluto,” the plans for the invasion originated during the end of the Eisenhower administration, as a response to Castro’s ousting of General Fulgencio Bastista, a corrupt and repressive dictator who was pro-American and supported American operations. Becoming nervous at the thought of communism so close to the U.S.’s borders, the Eisenhower …show more content…
had developed a fear of a post-World War II communist world domination. This became apparent when the CIA began to shift from an intelligence-gathering function under President Truman to one under President Eisenhower that focused on more aggressive actions. However, upon further examination, it is revealed that the National Security Act mentions nothing about conducting secret operations overseas. According to Weiner, it more or less instructed the agency to “correlate, evaluate, and disseminate intelligence information, and to perform other functions and duties related to intelligence affecting national …show more content…
Indicators present include the presence of cognitive consistency in information processing, which incorporates selective biases and poor information searches; unanimity; over-optimism; and the lack of alternative appraisal. The information on the geographic limitations of the location was ignored, along with information on Castro’s support among Cubans and information regarding the unsuccessful air raids. Furthermore, the site of the Bay of Pigs invasion was approved unanimously, as was the decision to keep the operation covert. Over-optimism was also present, as the chances of a successful operation were less than fifty percent, but was still approved even without a backup plan. Lastly, there was no evidence that an alternative plan was ever