Military history records no fewer than three events, all dubbed Operation Mongoose:
- A special operation by a British team operating from bases in India during World War II training Karen tribesmen in Burma to harass the Japanese rear. The British built up an impressive force. Covert airfields were built for supply flights and even hospitals were secretly established.
- The insertion of a three-man American team by parachute near Stresa, Italy on the night of September 26, 1944 to establish a local partisan network.
- The general name for CIA operations and plans designed to destabilize Cuba and overthrow its leader, Fidel Castro. Operation Mongoose is also know as "The Cuban Project". President John F. Kennedy was briefed on the operation guidelines on March 16, 1962 [1]. Over thirty different plans were considered under this project, some of which were carried out. The plans included the use of American Green Berets, destruction of the Cuban sugar crop, mining of harbors and even the possible creation of a rumor that Jesus would return to Cuba after the Communists were overthrown. Mongoose was led by Air Force General Edward Lansdale and came into being after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. It was in full swing during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis; a six man CIA team blew up a Cuban industrial facility on November 8, 1962. See [2] for a CIA report on schemes that were suggested for assassinating or discrediting Castro.
