James H. Fetzer Wrote:Mark,
The list of those involved appears to be substantial. The oil men feared he would cut the oil depletion allowance. Anti-Castro Cubans wanted revenge for the Bay of Pigs. The Joint Chiefs had concluded that he was part of the problem and not the solution to containing the expansion of international communism: he had not invaded Cuba (which they supported), he had signed an above ground test-ban treaty with the Soviet Union (which they opposed), and he was pulling our forces out of Vietnam (which they also opposed). He was threatening to shatter the CIA into a thousand pieces. Bobby was cracking down on the mob. He was going to reform or abolish the FED.
James, thanks for your reply.
This list you present is an (incomplete) list of those who had motive to want JFK dead, rather than a list of 'those involved', although I believe some had involvement at varying levels.
In a murder investigation, motive is one of the big 3 conditions, alongside means and opportunity, which need to be satisfactorily addressed before a conviction can be obtained. So motive is critically important if one is to proceed, and all who had motive should be looked at thoroughly, if one is to conduct an honest and complete investigation.
This is why I can't understand why you would arbitrarily rule a line beneath those you have listed, and not include Zionist Israel given what we now know about their pervasive influence throughout the institutions governing the US.
Texas oil certainly feared removal of the depletion allowance which JFK announced in early 1963 (but could not get through Congress). They also hated his left of centre, peace loving initiatives which they saw as the antithesis of what a good old commie hating, ass-kicking President should be. They were willing helpers with lots of money and power but not the architects, as I see it. Also, why then did they fail to assassinate Jimmy Carter when the depreciation allowance was scrapped during his administration?
'The mob' by which you seem to infer the Italian mafia, were under pressure, but this had been the case with previous administrations. If their natural response was to assassinate Presidents who had double crossed them, why didn't the nationwide syndicate led by Lucky Luciano attempt to assassinate FDR when he unleashed the Seabury investigation on them after he shrewdly obtained the support of mob controlled Tammany Hall for his nomination in 1932 by promising not to do that very thing?
Ditto for anti-Castro Cubans. Angry miscreants with zero access to the levers of real power have no place in a conspiracy of this complexity, except as ground level soldiers, to be readily sacrificed when circumstances dictate.
Apologies, but I'll have to make this post a two parter, as I have to attend to other things right now, and I want to examine the issue of motive further, in particular that of Zionist Israel (but not make it too long). To be continued......
I believe the motive to assassinate JFK among the Israeli leadership in 1963 was a stronger one than that of any aggrieved groups in the US.
This because they viewed JFK as an existential threat to their survival.
David Ben-Gurion believed Israel's only chance of survival in a country surrounded by hostile enemies was possession of the ultimate deterrent. This is clear from reading the letters he exchanged with Kennedy from April to June of that year, when JFK was exerting immense pressure on Israel not to introduce nuclear weapons to the Middle East. BG's hysteria is evident from the near hysterical tone, his evoking the still fresh memory of the holocaust and his pleading that 'my people have a right to live'.
Kennedy's refusal to budge obviously caused BG to believe the President didn't care whether Israel survived or not, despite the fact he offered repeated guarantees towards Israel's security.
BG knew his history and he knew that Israel must protect itself, and not rely on others to come to its defence. In 1957, he commenced the Dimona project and to this day he is remembered as the man most responsible for Israel's nuclear capacity. It wasn't easy. Opacity was Israel's official policy--even now they have never confirmed their nuclear capability--and this basically meant operating in secret, especially in regard to the prying eyes of the IAEA.
After DeGaulle was elected in 1959 France officially withdrew their support, but a young Shimon Peres, with extensive contacts within the French Government, was able to broker a deal whereby some of the French companies contracted to oversee construction were able to continue for two more years.
In December 1960, the US Government finally discovered, with anger and annoyance, that Israel had the Dimona nuclear facility under construction. There are strong indications that James Angleton at the CIA was responsible for the suppression of intelligence. When Kennedy meets BG at the Waldorf Astoria in May 1960, he is assured its only for cheap energy. Why this would be necessary given Israel's small population is not discussed.
The next two years see JFK continue to place pressure on BG and two unsatisfactory 'visits' resulted. The plutonium reprocessing plant remained concealed by the hosts.
The Cuban missile crisis in October 1962 was a critical turning point for JFK. After such a close encounter with a nuclear war, he became a crusader against nuclear proliferation, signing the test ban treaty with the Soviets in August 1963 and issuing the little known NSAM231 in March 1963, entitled 'Middle Eastern Nuclear Capabilities':
http://fas.org/irp/offdocs/nsam-jfk/nsam231.gif
NSAM 231 was aimed squarely at Israel. In it JFK directed the State Department to develop plans to forestall any nuclear programs by Israel or the the UAR. Kennedy knew Egypt had a ballistic missile program but no nuclear weapons program at that time. Kennedy was turning up the heat on BG and he was feeling that heat.
Then on April 17 1963 Egypt, Syria and Iraq signed the Arab Federation Proclamation, calling for the liberation of Palestine. Ben Gurion's fears were fuelled to hysteria, evidenced by his written communications with Kennedy. He equated the liberation of Palestine with the destruction of Israel and pointed this out to Kennedy, who didn't buy it. Instead, JFK ramped up the anti-nuclear rhetoric another notch and he began to threaten Ben Gurion about the damage Israel's nuclear program would cause to US-Israel relations.
At this point I believe BG assessed JFK to be an existential threat to his country.
Kennedy's letter to BG on May 18 1963 was considered by BG's inner circle to be 'harsh' and 'brutal'. BG replied with his final letter to JFK on May 27 in which he refused JFK's requests for six monthly inspections. The reactor was very close to its scheduled startup time of late '63 and since the US played no part in its construction Israel would not accept 'a system of formal United States control at the Dimona reactor', BG said. Finding this unsatisfactory, JFK sent another letter, cabled to US Ambassador Walworth Barbour on June 15, but Ben Gurion resigned the following day without ever reading it.
The meeting in El Paso with JFK, Governor Connally and longtime Israel advocate LBJ, where it was decided JFK would visit Texas, took place on June 6, 1963.
JFK continued the pressure on BG's successor Levi Eshkol, but the visits were always postponed by Eshkol, usually citing domestic political pressures as the excuse.
JFK died on November 22. Thirteen days later Israel tells LBJ they are now willing to accept an inspection regime (on their terms) and on December 26, 1963 the reactor goes critical ie. is switched on.
