ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Volume ...

Belgium, Intelligence and Security AgenciesCuban government forces responded to the attack. Theremnants of the Cuban Air Force bombed and strafed theinvading forces, as Brigade 2506 had not been suppliedwith fighter aircraft and President Kennedy categoricallyrefused to allow U.S. fighters to go into combat.The military situation deteriorated steadily (from theinvaders’ point of view) over the next 48 hours. On April18, while the fighting was at its peak, Adlai Stevensondenied to the United Nations, in response to Cuban accusations,that the U.S. was attacking Cuba. Eventually,Kennedy was persuaded to authorize unmarked U.S. fighterjets from the aircraft carrier Essex to provide escort coverfor the invasion’s B-26 bombers, most of which were nowbeing flown by CIA agents in support of the ground invasion(two-thirds of the Brigade pilots were refusing to fly).The jets from the Essex missed their rendezvous with theB-26s by an hour due to a misunderstanding about timezones; in the subsequent, unescorted bombing raid overCuba, two B-26s were shot down and four Americans werekilled. The fighting ended on April 20, 1961, with the defeatof Brigade 2506.The project, most analysts would later conclude, hadbeen hopeless from the beginning. Fidel Castro enjoyedwide support in Cuba and had just consolidated a militaryvictory against the Batista regime; a few thousand lightlyarmedinvaders could not possibly have taken the island.Furthermore, the idea that the U.S. could keep its rolesecret had become ridiculous long before the invasionwas attempted. The New York Times had run a story onMarch 17, 1961, predicting a U.S. invasion of Cuba in thecoming weeks, and another story on April 7, entitled“Anti-Castro Units Trained to Fight at Florida Bases,”which noted that invasion plans were in their final stages.Although the Times had watered down the latter storyconsiderably at President Kennedy’s personal request,when Kennedy saw the paper he exclaimed that Castrodidn’t need spies; all he had to do was read the news.But Castro, and others, did have spies, and the SovietUnion was fairly well-informed of U.S. invasion plansahead of time.The costs of the Bay of Pigs were high, and not only inlives lost. In the wake of the invasion, Castro consolidatedhis regime, supported by public outrage in Cuba over theU.S.-plotted invasion, and concluded a mutual-defenseagreement with the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union exploitedthis relationship to get Cuban permission to placeballistic-missile launch sites on Cuban soil. These launchsites, detected by U.S. aerial photography, were the immediatecause of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, generallyagreed to have been the closest approach to all-outnuclear war that the world has yet ecountered.❚ FURTHER READING:BOOKS:Blight, James and Peter Kornbluh. Politics of Illusion: TheBay of Pigs Invasion Reexamined. Boulder, CO: LynneRienner Publishers, 1998.Kornbluh, Peter. Bay of Pigs Declassified: The Secret CIAReport on the Invasion of Cuba. New York: The NewPress, 1998.SEE ALSOCuban Missile CrisisKennedy Administration (1961–1963), United StatesNational Security PolicyBelgium, Intelligence andSecurity AgenciesOfficially upholding a declared policy of neutrality, Belgiummaintains a small number of defense, intelligence,and military forces. Belgium has three national languages,French, German, and Dutch, all of which are equally recognizedfor official government use. The nation’s centralgeographic location, varied linguistic structure, and policyof neutrality have aided the growth of Brussels as aninternational city and financial center. The Belgian capitalalso serves as the capital of the European Union (EU). Withthis added international responsibility, the Belgian governmentrestructured many of its intelligence and lawenforcement agencies in the early 1990s. National agencieswork closely with other EU member nations to providesecurity in the international capital.Belgium maintains both military and civilian intelligenceforces. The nation’s armed forces have varioussmall, strategic intelligence units, but the Permanent Committeefor the Control of Intelligence Services coordinateswide-scale military intelligence operations. The centralcommittee, a branch of the Ministry of Defense and theGeneral Intelligence Service, governs various operationaldivisions responsible for intelligence and security. Thecommittee also coordinates joint operations with militaryand civilian security services.The Intelligence Division of the Ministry of Defensemanages external intelligence operations. Charged withprotecting Belgian national interests at home and abroad,the Intelligence Division cooperates with military intelligenceto gather, process, analyze, and act upon information.Mainly focusing on information from and aboutforeign states, the Intelligence Division maintains a smalloperational division.A second operational division in the Belgian intelligencecommunity is the Security Division. Charged withthe protection of military security and classified informationregarding foreign agreements, the Security Divisionconducts surveillance of military property and operations.The Security Division also screens government and militaryofficials for various security clearances, granting accessto classified materials.98 Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security