PRESIDENT EXPLAINS BAY OF PIGS PLAN U.S. AIR COVER PLEDGE DENIED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000600230004-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 26, 1999
• Sequence Number: 4
• Content Type: NSPR

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Sanitized - Approved For Release :'CIA-R0P7 GlO1
CPYRGHT
CPYRGHT
''~Pr+~~lideidtit . plzitn!, Bay of Pigs Plain
U. 'Air Cover Pledge Denis
By Carroll Kilpatrick 1 ore e missile ,sa a cover was tfot prom
s,Arr Rcaorter 'capons in Cuba. I-Ie said crisis. ised.
1'rtsidcnt Kennedy yestcr-! ne Soviet ship has arrived! In the House, Rep. 11'illiamj "Certainly we in the brigad
day entered the new contro. Cuba since the October.E. Minshall (R-Ohlo) intro.
vets`' over the abortive Bay ofd isis "which may have armsduced a resolution calling for
1'i;;; invasion with the asset- n it, possibly military cargo."
! But he said that there was creation of a Joint House-Sen.
!fun that no United States air o military buildup in the ate Committee to make a full.
c wcr was ever planned to help nse of equipment coming in'scale investigation of the Bay
the Cuban attackers. om outside Cuba (here of Pigs invasion.
What was planned, and what] no evidence that this ship: Referring to the Attorney
proved to he a failure, he said, rried any offensive weap C;eneral's comment that no air
+ it strike by I3-26 bombers) s ? the President said.
flown by pilots not based in
the United Stales.
The invasion brigade thought
that this attack would give .it
protection on the beach, but
Cuban jets "were very effec-
tive" and the Invasion brigade
was not able to maintain air
supremacy on the beach," the
President said.
He replied to questions
raised at his news conference
following moves, by Senate
:Minority Leader Everett M.
Dirksen (R-I11.) and Barry
Goldwater (R-Ariz.) for an in-
vestigation on the question of
air cover.
The controversy washeight.
ened yesterday when a Flor-
ida editor and a brigade mem-
ber claImed that United
States air cover was promised
but was withdrawn when It
was mot needed.
Attorfi'ey General Robert F.
Kennedy said in an interview
last week that no air cover
was ever promised, and the
President said his brother's
report was correct. Instead of
ending a controversy, how-
ever, the Attorney General's
comment spurred the critics
on to new demands fora full-
scale inquiry.
President Kennedy also re.
,plied to questions about a re-
tant controversy transcends
political parties and partisan.
motivations. At this late date,
ail honest, accurate report of
e"'ents leading up to and in.
Eleven h u n d r e d and
sixty Cuban refugees leave
Havana aboard freighter
Shirley Lykes bound for
Port Everglades, Fla.
----- Page A4.
f om Cuba since October, he
s Id, and there are 16,000 or
1 ,000 Russians still there,
grating technical equipment
d building barracks. Some
the Russians are in or-
nized military units, he
s id.
"Our scrutiny of Cuba Is
fly, the President said.
Secretary' of State Dean
sk is scheduled to testify
t day before a Senate Foreign
lations subcommittee in-
iring Into the reports of 'a
c ntinuing Soviet buildup In
ba.
Sen. Kenneth B. Keating
-N. Y.) said yesterday the
ildup consists of tanks,
g ns, fighter planes and other
apons but not long-range
ssiles and bombers.
Keating said he had learned
f in refugee sources that. So-
v t military activity on Cuba
1 10 times greater than it was
Military instructors that w
would be given air cover suf
ficient to succeed in our mis
sion," Penabaz insisted.
It there was to have bee
United.. States air cover, th
President said, "you might
well have a complete Unite
The other .assertion that ,A1
cover Wa? promised can) l
from Jack W. Gore, edito
and publisher of the For
Laude{ News
Gore an
.
eluding the Invasion would not }six otherFlorida editors vI
break security ." ited the. President at th
6? f ,.
Defense Secretary .Robert S..iurt,ita -Ro
M
10 1
use on
ay
9
N
Mc
amara. and vthgr,?Pent.a-
gon officials are expected . to
be questioned about reports.of
a new Cuban buildup when
they appear before the House
Ar m e d: Services Committee
for an, annual mllitaf y. review next Wednesday.
Chairman Carl A. VIAso'n
(D-Ga.) said he had no lnforma-1
Lion to support Keating's asser-;
tion, but he said: "We'll ask'
all about that."
Shortly before President
the editor said.
Gore "said the President toi
them he canceled the plan fo
air cover. The President re
lated. that Ambassador Adlai
E. 'Stevenson was concerned
that "any "such action would,
make a liar out of him in the
United Nations."
Noting that the meeting wit
the President was off-the-reoa
ord, Gore said he felt released
from his pledge when, tho At-.
torney General cgmmented on
the issue.
Cuban exile fighter; Manuel "What Robert K e n n e d y :`..
Penabaz said at a press con- hoped to accomplish by com
ference here that "all our
brigade leaders and fighters
believed that air cover would
be furnished -by U. S. 'air and
naval forces,"
Pcnabaz called the Attorney
General ill-informed when he !kind Gore related.
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-001,49R000600230004-0
Ing out at this late date and
denying that any air cover had
ever been planned, The News
cannot fathom," Gore wrote.
The President said there was
no such conversation of the