Manufacturing a Pretext for War on Cuba

On Sunday, Axios reported that Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones and is discussing plans to use them to attack Florida, the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, and U.S. warships.

And yet, buried in the same report, Axios’s sources say that “U.S. officials don’t believe Cuba is an imminent threat, or actively planning to attack American interests.” On Friday, former CIA Director Robert Gates confirmed that Cuba does not post a national security threat on Face the Nation.

The “classified” intelligence arrives as Trump has raised the stakes against Cuba — in recent weeks, his administration has tightened sanctions, imposed an oil blockade, increased surveillance flights off Cuba's coast and prepared an indictment against former Cuban president Raul Castro.

Cuban-American hardliners are using the Axios report to call for military action against Cuba. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart claimed that “it’s clear that the Cuban regime is a national security threat.” Rep. Carlos Gimenez tweeted that Cuba “must be dealt with accordingly.”

Since its 1959 revolution, Cuba has not launched a military attack on the United States, invaded U.S. territory, or carried out strikes on U.S. soil. Cuba has been the victim of countless attacks with the support or complicity of the U.S. government. The alleged masterminds behind the 1976 terrorist bombing of Cubana flight 455, which killed 73 people, lived freely until their deaths in Florida.