Rendering Unto Caesar: Remembering JFK's Demise
Death dates are rather grim affairs. The Jesus cult transformed a traditional Jewish festival into a celebration of the execution of its principal martyr. There are people in the US and abroad who reflect on the martyrdom of history's most famous jelly doughnut Berliner. One of my favorite music groups of the 80's sang a tribute to Herr Kennedy. This week marks an even five decades, a half century, since the making of the Zapruder film in Dallas, Texas.
I remember one of the conspiracy theories of the 60's speculating that the assassination was motivated by Kennedy's plans to withdraw American troops from Vietnam. Like all such theories, there was no evidence other than the fact that Kennedy had recently announced plans to draw down military advisers from a country that was hotly contested by Communist and anti-Communist factions. In fact, the draw-down proceeded as planned after Kennedy's death with a thousand soldiers being sent home from Vietnam the following month.
One of the things that puzzled me as I got older were the competing conspiracy theories that the long arms of Moscow or Havana were responsible for the assassination because of Kennedy's hostility concerning the island hosting the Guantanamo military installation. Those theories had the support of the assassin's supposed Soviet loyalty behind it, but the theorists ignored the larger body of anti-Communist hostility against Kennedy. They also ignored the possibility that Oswald's pro-Communist stance may have been a ruse. Later documentation of government penetration of the Communist Party points to the possibility that Oswald was a mole.
Does this mean that I buy into the CIA plot conspiracy theory? There are plenty of people outside of official government channels who could have been involved. It is quite possible that a private party with Federal connections was the ultimate force behind the attack. The fact that some CIA bureaucrats have acted in a rogue capacity may be used to favor CIA involvement, but it does not prove anything.
Do you buy into the official story of a lone gunman? Do you trust that the findings of the Warren Commission constitute an accurate analysis of the event? If not, which group of conspirators do you think is most likely responsible?
Links: Spliff singing Herr Kennedy. The Zapruder film. Rebecca Onion on JFK in anti-Communist, John Bircher crosshairs. British TV series from 25 years ago on the plethora of conspiracy theories. David Freedlander reviews Roger Stone's book pinning the blame on Lyndon Johnson.
I remember one of the conspiracy theories of the 60's speculating that the assassination was motivated by Kennedy's plans to withdraw American troops from Vietnam. Like all such theories, there was no evidence other than the fact that Kennedy had recently announced plans to draw down military advisers from a country that was hotly contested by Communist and anti-Communist factions. In fact, the draw-down proceeded as planned after Kennedy's death with a thousand soldiers being sent home from Vietnam the following month.
One of the things that puzzled me as I got older were the competing conspiracy theories that the long arms of Moscow or Havana were responsible for the assassination because of Kennedy's hostility concerning the island hosting the Guantanamo military installation. Those theories had the support of the assassin's supposed Soviet loyalty behind it, but the theorists ignored the larger body of anti-Communist hostility against Kennedy. They also ignored the possibility that Oswald's pro-Communist stance may have been a ruse. Later documentation of government penetration of the Communist Party points to the possibility that Oswald was a mole.
Does this mean that I buy into the CIA plot conspiracy theory? There are plenty of people outside of official government channels who could have been involved. It is quite possible that a private party with Federal connections was the ultimate force behind the attack. The fact that some CIA bureaucrats have acted in a rogue capacity may be used to favor CIA involvement, but it does not prove anything.
Do you buy into the official story of a lone gunman? Do you trust that the findings of the Warren Commission constitute an accurate analysis of the event? If not, which group of conspirators do you think is most likely responsible?
Links: Spliff singing Herr Kennedy. The Zapruder film. Rebecca Onion on JFK in anti-Communist, John Bircher crosshairs. British TV series from 25 years ago on the plethora of conspiracy theories. David Freedlander reviews Roger Stone's book pinning the blame on Lyndon Johnson.