CONTRADICTIONS OVER CUBA
Marlow, James
Contradictions over Cuba by JAMES MARLOW "Dichard ?. Nixon is now just as vague as President Kennedy on how to get Communism out of Cuba. The history of these two men on this subject is a history...
...Nevertheless, the invasion occurred The conduct of American policy toward Castro's Cuba has been marked by confusion, contradictions, and deceit...
...But later he said he opposed it only to cover up preparations then going on for an invasion...
...And it was Nixon who supported him in this disaster...
...Nixon also said during the campaign, while he wanted to intervene but was saying the opposite, that it was Kennedy who wanted to intervene...
...But Kennedy said later the doctrine of non-interference couldn't stand in the way of the United States in protecting its own security...
...There was a U.S.-backed invasion...
...Charter and inter-American treaties which prohibit intervention...
...Reprints of the Marlow presentation are available from The Progressive without charge.—The Editors in April, 1961, and Kennedy took full responsibility for it...
...This country, Nixon said, must keep its treaties and act legally...
...This gives them the excuse they have been waiting for, because now they can say very easily: 'What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.' We can't play it both ways...
...Nixon said: "Do you know what this would mean...
...We would violate right off the bat five treaties with American states" and the U.N...
...I am convinced that the risks of inaction are far greater than the risks of action...
...And, Nixon said in his book, Kennedy knew in the 1960 campaign all about the invasion preparations because he had been briefed by the Central Intelligence Agency...
...The Administration claims there are risks...
...He was a good prophet...
...Senator Kennedy, during the campaign, insisted this government should not handicap anti-Castro rebels in this country...
...He said: "I have never advocated and I do not now advocate intervention in Cuba in violation of our treaty obligations...
...The White House promptly denied this and so did Allen Dulles, who was head of the CIA in 1960...
...But he had suggested this country "assist" the rebels and that they should not be "constantly handicapped" by American government authorities...
...Both Nixon and Kennedy in the campaign insisted this country should not intervene against Fidel Castro in Cuba in violation of the U.N...
...Now Nixon, not mentioning treaties, calls for action without saying how or what kind...
...And even while he was secretly backing the invasion he said publicly if such a thing happened it would give Premier Khrushchev an excuse for moving into Cuba and thus put the United States in an awkward position...
...Khrushchev subsequently moved in...
...charter...
...As it was collapsing he told the American Society of Newspaper Editors that year on April 20: This country would not hesitate to meet its "primary obligations, which are the security of our nation" if it "should ever appear that the inter-American doctrine of non-interference merely conceals or excuses a policy of non-action...
...Here's the record: On October 22, 1960, Nixon, charging Kennedy had called for an American-backed anti-Castro revolution, called this "shockingly reckless" because it would mean intervening in another country's internal affairs...
...Yet, it was Kennedy who later, as President, backed the invasion which failed...
...Then he added this: Intervention would be a "direct invitation to the Soviet Union to intervene militarily on the side of Castro...
...Kennedy denied he had any such thought although he talked of assisting the rebels...
...Kennedy denied this the next day...
...The history of these two men on this subject is a history of unhappy contradictions...
...Nixon told the American Society of Newspaper Editors (recently): "We must no longer postpone making a command decision to do whatever is necessary...
...It is reprinted verbatim below...
...But as President he now bars them from using American soil for hit-and-run raids on Cuba...
...The former Vice President in the 1960 campaign publicly opposed intervention in Cuba...
...But it wasn't until he wrote his book, Six Crises, published in March, 1962, that Nixon undertook to say how he secretly felt in the campaign of I960 when he was opposing intervention...
...His troops there have put the United States in an awkward position...
...James Marlow, Associated Press news analyst, recently recorded a fragment of that remarkable story in a dispatch sent to AP member papers...
...They could say we can't object to the Soviet Union moving into Cuba under the Monroe Doctrine—we could at the present time (1960)—if the United States is attempting to intervene and move into the internal affairs of Cuba...
...That's why, apparently, Kennedy and Nixon are vague on what to do next...
...He said he was for an invasion all the time but said the opposite only to conceal the fact that the Eisenhower Administration was then training Cuban rebels for an invasion of their homeland...
...The next day, Nixon publicly backed Kennedy for supporting the invasion which flopped...
Vol. 27 • June 1963 • No. 6
