Edward Lansdale, CIA counterinsurgency specialist, outlines "The Cuba Project" under "Operation Mongoose", plans for a program that "aims for a revolt which can take place in Cuba by October 1962" through "intelligence gathering, sabotage and political warfare" as well as numerous assassination plots against Castro. Operation Mongoose entailed the use of propaganda among other resources to create dissatisfaction and revolt in Cuba in order to oust Castro. The assassination plots were devised by the CIA and included such oddities as poisoned cigars, breathing masks on scuba diving suits, and explosive sea shells for the diving enthusiast Cuban leader to pick up off the sea floor. The CIA also approached the Mafia, offering $150,000 for Castro's assassination, although the Mafia said they would do it for free. The advantage of employing the Mafia was that if the assassins were discovered, "the public-and the press-might assume that the 'hit' came as a result of Castro's interference in the Mafia's criminal enterprises in Cuba." These plots and Operation Mongoose continued unsuccessfully until the Cuban Missile Crisis.