Or did he just cover it up?
I read something on economic policy journal saying that LBJ ordered it, but that was the first time I'd ever heard that.
It's a shame that the U.S. govt is always on the high seas, so even if he didn't order it the U.S. govt put them at risk anyway. The U.S. govt being on the high seas goes all the way back to the beginning of the Republic... the war of 1812 happened in part because of the U.S. govt on the high seas. The fact that U.S govt agents were being kidnapped was just an excuse for the war.