ings themselves because he [Kennedy] was under pressure from those whowanted to proceed." When faced with biased information from the CIA andquiet advisors, it is no wonder that the president decided to go ahead withthe operation. For an organization that deals with security issues, the CIA's lack ofsecurity in the Bay of Pigs operation is ironic. Security began to breakdown before the invasion when The New York Times reporter Tad Szulc ". . .learned of Operation Pluto from Cuban friends. . ." earlier that year whilein Costa Rica covering an Organization of American States meeting. Anotherbreakdown in security was at the training base in Florida, . . . Local residents near Homestead [air force base] had seen Cubans drilling and heard their loudspeakers at a farm. As a joke some firecrackers were thrown into the compound . . . .The ensuing incident saw the Cubans firing their guns and the federalauthorities having to convince the local authorities not to press charges.Operation Pluto was beginning to get blown wide open, the advantage ofsurprise was lost even this early in the game. After the initial bombing raid of April 15th, and the landing of theB-26s in Florida, pictures of the planes were taken and published innewspapers. In the photo of one of the planes, the nose of it is opaquewhereas the model of the B-26 the Cubans really used had a plexiglass nose, . . . The CIA had taken the pains to disguise the B-26 with "FAR" markings [Cuban Air Force], the agency overlooked a crucial detail that was spotted immediately by professional observers . . . .All Castro's people had to do was read the newspapers and they'd know thatsomething was going to happen, that those planes that had bombed them werenot their own but American. In The New York Times of the 21st of April, stories about the originsof the operation in the Eisenhower administration appeared along withheadlines of "C.I.A. Had a Role In ...
