10 Terrifying Government Plots That Nearly Succeeded

4. The Bay Of Pigs Invasion

The Objective: To overthrow the revolutionary government of Fidel Castro by way of an armed invasion. The Plan: Between the 13th and 16th of April, 1961, over 1,400 members of the Brigade 2506 paramilitary force met in Guatemala, then travelled to Cuba by boat. Meanwhile, eight CIA-supplied B-26 bombers devastated a number of Cuban air fields. The main invasion force landed on the Playa Girón beach in the Bay of Pigs, initially overwhelming local militaries by sheer numbers alone. Why it failed: A large counter-invasion force personally controlled by Castro himself led to the surrender of the United States forces. The entire incident was an embarrassment for the United States' foreign policy, leading to multiple internal investigations, and John F. Kennedy's declaration that he wanted, "to splinter the CIA in a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds." This isn't necessarily the most terrifying plot on this list (unless you're Cuban), but who knows how the Cold War could have concluded if it were successful.