Kennedy & Cuba
Sir:
I am in favor of supporting a Cuban revolt. I feel this is imperative. I am sympathetic with our failure. It is understandable that errors were made.
What I cannot tolerate is the evidence of moral decay in our Government—deceit and dishonesty! To think that we yell to the world that the invasion is strictly Cuban, and then publicly bemoan our failure—rehash it thoroughly! This has so thoroughly disillusioned me, I'll never fully believe our leaders again. What an awful way to feel about our wonderful country.
MRS. LYNN DAVIS
Visalia, Calif.
Sir:
There was a time when actions like our now admitted intervention in Cuba were called "brinksmanship." There was a time also when Adlai Stevenson would have spoken out against our conduct in this affair as did, to his lasting credit, Senator Wayne Morse. Those were the days when Senator Kennedy was rapping President Eisenhower for publicly and vainly lying about our role in the U-2 incident.
Now Kennedy has evolved from U-2 to me-too, strengthened Castro, and made the U.S. and its unintelligence service the laughingstock of the world—amidst new threats of direct military intervention and a frantic quest for testimonials from Goldwater and Nixon, from Eisenhower and Truman and Rockefeller. President Kennedy has taken the official blame but is busy trying to establish a future innocence-by-association.
FELIX ANSELM Madison, Wis.
Sir:
How ironic that Mr. Kennedy succeeded (briefly) in pushing his brave New Frontier to—of all places—the Bay of Pigs!
Matthew (7:6) must have had Mr. Kennedy in mind when he wrote: "Neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."
RAY (no kin) KENNEDY Glendale, Calif.
Sir:
"The moon is red. Message to Stanislav. The moon is red." These are the words that came across the air to Guatemala on D-day-plus-one. We all felt as though we were on a sinking ship; Cuba was going to be lost. I, as an American citizen married to a Guatemalan, would have a lot of explaining to do.
The Guatemalans are completely incredulous as to what has happened. I hear all around me: "How can your countrymen allow the establishment of a Communist base in Cuba, a menace to the U.S. and all of Central and South America?" The people here have retained the memory of a past Communist regime too vividly to bury their heads in the sand.
Your article "The Cuban Disaster," as one of the thermometers of the American people, will help to show the Latin Americans that someone in the States is on their side.
DORIS SMITH TÖPKE Guatemala City, Guatemala
Sir:
TIME'S sagacious reporting of the Cuban invasion disaster was a real eye opener. Perhaps the only good to come from this ugly mess will be the awakening of the average American as to his naivete in global politics. If this is representative of the New Frontiersmanship, the prospects look dismal indeed.
JOHN R. HEMBY Cincinnati
Sir:
Did the CIA also advise George III of England?
ELIZABETH BARRY Arlington, Va.
Sir: