Military Model Scene

Title: For God and the CIA
Author: Stephen Rookes
Publisher: Helion & Company
ISBN: 978-1-913336-24-0

This brings us to number 52 in the Africa @ War series, an 80-page soft-cover book, following the usual format for the series. The sub-title tells you more about the subject, 'Cuban Exile Forces in the Congo & Beyond, 1959-1967'. It adds to the story in another book in the series, 'Ripe for Rebellion', but either can be read in their own right and don't have to be read as a pair, though of course it does provide for a more complete understanding of what happened.
The background to the story starts with how the US started to create an apparatus for the conduct of Covert Warfare as they sought to block the worldwide spread of communism, and after trying this out in Guatemala, they moved to the Congo, as it came out of Belgian colonial rule. Having successfully won the revolution in Cuba, Fidel Castro was keen to promote his success by supporting other nations in their own revolutions. To support the new government against the rebels in Congo, the CIA provided aircraft to support the government against rebel forces which Che Guevara tried to organise. The rebels brought arms into the country across Lake Tanganyika, so the CIA then brought in more equipment in the form of Swift Boats, a couple of patrol craft which are perhaps better known for their use on the waterways of the Mekong Delta in the Vietnam war. To fly the aircraft and crew the boats, the CIA brought in Cuban Exiles, who were keen to have the chance to fight back against the victorious Castro regime in whatever way they could. The rebels however did not gell together in the way that Guevara wanted, and he found tribal influences were too strong. Supported with plenty of archive images and the centre pages holding helpful colour profiles, particularly of examples of the T-28 Trojan, uniforms and a map plus some colour images as well. Notable also is that as the last 19 pages, so almost 25% of the book, is devoted to copies of some key documents along with listing the notes on sources referenced throughout the book.
I found this interesting, containing so much I never knew, despite remembering the period being described. That is fairly natural as it was by its' very nature, covert action by the CIA. Using personal testimonies, government archives and now declassified US documents and to me it clearly demonstrates that while we so often focus on one aspect of events like this, it is actually a combination of factors which come together to produce a particular result. It also involves a famous revolutionary in the person of Che Guevara as well as the covert machinations of the CIA during the 1960s mixed in with the growing pains of a country which was finding its' place in the world as it finally gained independence from colonial rule. Another fascinating piece of African history.
Thanks to Casemate, the distributors for Helion & Co books, for our copy.

Robin