The JFK admin and CIA were openly committing terrorism on Cuban soil ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mongoose ), at the same time the Joint Chiefs of Staff were begging Kennedy to let them perform terrorist attacks on Americans(!), to be blamed on the Cuban government ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods ); that plan was apparently just a little too far over the line to get green lit