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the US program should be overt or covert, with the overt implications being the ultimate application of US military force to oust Castro. DCI Dulles emphasized that contingency planning should be under- taken by the Special Group, without necessarily in- volving either the President or the National Security Council. The Department of State was concerned that if Fidel Castro were deposed, perhaps his successors, Che Guevara and Raul Castro, would be even worse than Fidel. As reported in subsequent congressional reve- lations concerning CIA's role in assassination plots, it was during the Special Group Meeting of 13 January 1960 that the Director of Cen"tral Intelligence "empha- sized that we do not have in mind a quick elimination of Castro, but rather actions designed to enable re- sponsible opposition leaders to get a foothold." 13/ At this same Special Group Meeting, President Eisenhower's National Security Adviser, Gordon Gray, predicted with uncanny accuracy the situation which would ultimately develop as one of the key weaknesses in the whole concept of the Bay of Pigs Operation. According to the report on the Special Group Meeting: - 43- ~p lFPRFT