Castro Resigns - Just like that. Fidel Castro is out as Cuba's leader. I thought for sure he would hang on like Pope John Paul II. I thought Castro would die before he gave up control of Cuba.

Throughout my lifetime I have not known a Cuba without Castro. This is so strange and foreign to me, a Cuba led by someone other than him.

The times they are a changin'. Fidel Castro is truly one of the last bastions of the Cold War and, I believe, the 1960s as I know it from the history books. To me he is a symbol of the Cold War tensions between the United States and Communist states in general. I think Castro stands out as much as Viet Nam and Nikita Khrushchev. Castro's presence in Cuba did nothing to help U.S./Soviet relations. But I do believe Castro did what he thought was right. In that respect, he was quite honorable, a man of principle. Call me naive or underinformed, but that's what I think.

Cuban-Americans loathe Castro. I'm sure all of them would disagree with me. They probably have good arguments too, but I haven't heard them. And I didn't like everything Castro did, but he had his reasons for his actions.

As far as the CIA goes, I don't think they tried hard enough to kill Castro. I can't imagine failing 638 times as Castro claims. I doubt that number is anywhere near accurate by the way. Still, I do believe the CIA didn't try hard enough.