◆ SpookStack

meeting of the Taylor Committee and the session was initiated by questions which allowed the DCI to express his opinions about the need for the anti-Castro project and about the probability of success of the planned operation. Particular emphasis was placed on the chances of the Brigade to hold the beachhead, in-eluding the airstrip, for sufficient time to encourage resistance groups to seek contact with the invading forces and to acquire arms and materiel to expand the fight against Castro. Dulles very carefully pointed out that the objective of the invasion was not to precipitate an immediate uprising by the Cubans--here he emphasized his own experiences with the . French underground during World War II where precipitate action by dissident groups had led to their sudden and quick demise. The DCI stressed that until a populace could be well armed, prospects for success against even poorly armed militia were exceedingly remote. Dulles was challenged on this point, apparently by Robert Kennedy, who suggested that his brother the President had under- stood that there was to be a call for an uprising coincident with the invasion. Kennedy said: It might have been the pressure of the time but I know the President kept after Dick Bissell about the uprising and Dick Bissell stated on the first day [D-Day] that it was going to happen that night. "' r-6 i)-.