Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy (118 page)

Already angered by Kennedy's liberal domestic policies, the Bay of Pigs
fiasco, and his signing of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the Soviet
Union, top military brass undoubtedly were incensed in late 1963 when
Kennedy let it be known that he planned to withdraw all U.S. military
personnel from Vietnam by the end of 1965.

With that decision, the military turned against him and, even if they
wouldn't openly plot against him, the military leadership would not be
sorry if something were to happen to Kennedy.

The stage was set. Gen. Charles Cabell, the CIA deputy director fired
by Kennedy after the Bay of Pigs, was back in the Pentagon, and his
brother, Earle Cabell, was mayor of Dallas.

It was widely rumored that Vice President Lyndon Johnson-long associated with dirty politics, gamblers, and defense officials-was to be
dropped from the Democratic ticket in 1964. Texas oilmen, staunch friends
of Johnson and the military-industrial complex, were dismayed that Kennedy was talking about doing away with the lucrative oil-depletion allowance.

International bankers were shocked when Kennedy ordered the Treasury
Department to print its own money, rather than distributing the traditional
Federal Reserve notes, which carry interest charges.

Soldiers, mobsters, and conniving businessmen feared their apple cart
was about to be upset by this youthful president.

So the decision was made at the highest level of the American businessbanking-politics-military-crime power structure-should anything happen
to Kennedy, it would be viewed as a blessing for the nation.

And simply voting him out of office wouldn't suffice. After all, what
was to stop someone from carrying on his policies? Two more Kennedys
were waiting in the wings for their turn at the presidency. A Kennedy
"dynasty" was in place.

Therefore the decision was made to eliminate John F. Kennedy by
means of a public execution for the same reason criminals are publicly
executed-to serve as a deterrent to anyone considering following in his
footsteps.

And the men at the top of this consensus didn't even have to risk getting
their hands bloody.

Col. L. Fletcher Prouty-a former Pentagon-CIA liaison officer and
long-time assassination researcher-has said that most assassinations are
set in motion not so much by a specific plan to kill as by efforts to remove
or relax the protection around a target.

Prouty has written:

No one has to direct an assassination-it happens. The active role is
played secretly by permitting it to happen. That was why President
Kennedy was killed. He was not murdered by some lone gunman or by
some limited conspiracy, but by the breakdown of the protective system
that should have made an assassination impossible. . . . Once insiders
knew that he would not be protected, it was easy to pick the day and the
place. . . . All the conspirators had to do was let the right "mechanics"
(professional assassins-perhaps the French Corsicans?) know where
Kennedy would be and when and, most importantly, that the usual
precautions would not have been made and that escape would be
facilitated. This is the greatest single clue to the assassination- Who
had the power to call off or reduce the usual security precautions that
are always in effect whenever a president travels? Castro did not kill
Kennedy, nor did the CIA. The power source that arranged that murder
was on the inside. It had the means to reduce normal security and permit
the choice of a hazardous route. It also had the continuing power to
cover that crime for . . . years.

Once such a consensus was reached among the nation's top businesscrime-military leadership, the assassination conspiracy went into action.
Operational orders most probably originated with organized-crime chieftains such as Carlos Marcello and his associates Santos Trafficante and
Sam Giancana-who already were involved with the CIA.

But these mob bosses were smart. They realized the consequences if
their role in Kennedy's death should ever become known.

Therefore a world-class assassin was recruited from the international
crime syndicate-perhaps Michael Victor Mertz, the shadowy Frenchman
with both crime and intelligence connections who may have been in Dallas
on November 22, 1963, according to a CIA document. Armed with a
contract from the world crime syndicate, this premier assassin was given
entree to the conspiring groups within U.S. intelligence, the anti-Castro
Cubans, right-wing hate groups, and the military.

Slowly, several assassination scenarios utilizing agents already involved
in a variety of plots were constructed.

As the true assassination plot began to come together, word must have
reached the ears of J. Edgar Hoover, a power unto himself with plenty of
cause to hate the Kennedy brothers. Hoover was in contact with his close
friend Lyndon Johnson and with Texas oilmen such as H. L. Hunt and Clint
Murchinson of Dallas. His agents and informers were in daily contact with
mob figures. This was only one cross point for mobsters, politicians, the
FBI, and wealthy Texans. There were many others in New York, Washington, Las Vegas, and California.

Aided by ranking individuals within federal agencies and organized
crime, agents from both intelligence and the mob were recruited. Many were like Watergate burglar Frank Sturgis in that they had connections to
criminal circles as well as to U.S. intelligence and anti-Castro Cubans. It
was a military-style operation in that overall knowledge of the plot was
kept on a strict need-to-know basis. Many people on the lower end of the
conspiracy truthfully could say they didn't know exactly what happened.

To keep public attention away from the real conspirators a scapegoat-or
patsy-was needed. Enter Lee Harvey Oswald, a patriotic young man who
followed the tradition of his father and brothers by voluntarily joining the
U.S. military.

After being sent to Atsugi Air Base in Japan-the CIA's largest Asian
training center-Oswald's real activities become clouded. Apparently he
was recruited into U.S. intelligence, first through the Office of Naval
Intelligence and then on to the CIA.

At Atsugi, in addition to his intelligence work while serving as a radar
operator monitoring the supersecret U-2 flights over the Soviet Union,
Oswald began concocting his "legend" of being a communist sympathizer.

After a quick and curious release from service, Oswald left for Russiamost probably on some sort of intelligence mission unrelated to the
assassination.

Here is where the scenario becomes even more complicated.

There is abundant evidence that author Michael Eddowes (a former
member of British intelligence) may be correct in charging that a duplicate
Oswald returned to the United States. Photo and voice analyses, differences in height and physical markings, and several other discrepancies all
tend to support the theory of a bogus Oswald.

However, based on contradictory Marine records that seem to indicate that
Oswald was in two places at once while in the service, there exists the possibility that a U.S. agent was substituted for the real Oswald prior to his trip to
Russia. Many oddities in Oswald's records and habits may be better understood
using this theory, especially if the patriotic Oswald agreed to the switch.

If the Dallas Oswald was a Soviet agent or a U.S agent posing as a
procommunist, he would have made the perfect patsy for the assassination.
As an intelligence agent, he would have been eager to follow orders and
easily could have been manipulated into incriminating himself as the
assassin. Furthermore, his position as a spy would have prevented the
Russians from proclaiming the truth of the assassination, since they could
hardly be expected to admit their knowledge of Oswald.

If the Dallas Oswald was the real Oswald he still could have been
ordered to build up an incriminating trail of evidence.

The question of Oswald's true identity-intriguing as it may be-is
nevertheless only a peripheral one. The preponderance of evidence now
clearly indicates that the Dallas Oswald did not kill Kennedy. Real Oswald
or impostor, this man was maneuvered about by the assassination conspirators who-knowing or suspecting him of being a Russian agent-had obtained him from U.S. intelligence.

Acting on orders, Oswald was put into contact with unsuspecting
FBI and CIA agents, anti-Castro Cubans, and others to confuse investigators after the crime.

Oswald was a perfect fall guy. His capture or death eliminated a
possible Soviet agent and implicated Russia, Cuba, and leftists-drawing
attention away from the true right-wing perpetrators. Naming Oswald as
the assassin also implicated the FBI and CIA as organizations, thus forcing
uninvolved agency officials to help cover up incriminating evidence.

One of Oswald's managers in late 1962 and early 1963 may have been
George DeMohrenschildt, himself connected to Texas oilmen and various
intelligence agents. While it now seems clear that DeMohrenschildt had no
inkling of what was to become of his young friend, it is entirely possible
that it was through DeMohrenschildt that the assassination conspirators
learned of Lee Harvey Oswald.

It was just at the time of DeMohrenschildt's departure to Haiti that
Oswald left for New Orleans, where he became embroiled with anti-Castro
Cubans, ex-FBI agent Guy Banister, his old friend David Ferrie, and
others involved in assassination plotting.

On November 22, 1963, there were many people in Dealey Plaza who
were not just innocent bystanders.

There were cars roaming the area behind the famous Grassy Knoll with
out-of-state license plates and extra radio antennas, men brandishing Secret
Service identification when officially there were no agents in the vicinity,
and an odd assortment of people pumping umbrellas in the air, waving
fists, speaking into walkie-talkies, and even one man firing a rifle who
apparently was wearing a uniform similar to that of the Dallas police.

Professional gunmen-the "mechanics''-quietly moved into position,
secure in the knowledge that security was minimal.

Only three police officers were stationed at the critical points in Dealey
Plaza-two on the Triple Underpass and one in front of the Depository.
Police were under orders not to allow anyone onto the grassy area on the
south side of Elm Street-exactly where bullets were reported striking the
grass. Sheriff's deputies were ordered not to interfere with motorcade
security no matter what.

It was a textbook ambush, and President Kennedy rode right into the
middle of it in an open limousine that violated security regulations by
making a 120-degree turn in front of the Texas School Book Depository
and by slowing almost to a halt when shots first rang out. In fact, Kennedy's
entire security force exhibited a startling lack of preparedness and response.

Three volleys of shots were fired-at least six and perhaps as many as
nine-most probably using fragmenting bullets or "sabot" slugs which
could be traced to Oswald's 6.54 mm rifle.

Shots were fired from the Depository building to draw attention there
while other gun teams were on the Grassy Knoll and perhaps even at other
locations, such as the Dallas County Records Building.

It appears there may have been two serious slip-ups for the conspirators
during the assassination. First, it appears unlikely that as many as three
shots were intended. More likely the assassination was to have been
constructed so that it would appear that Kennedy was killed by one lucky
shot from the Depository. The conspirators, of course, would have been
prepared to fire another volley if necessary. Second, it is equally likely
that their scapegoat, Oswald, was to have been killed by a conspirator
during return fire by Kennedy's security men. However, there was no
return fire and Oswald managed to slip away from the Depository.

The first shot, described by many bystanders as sounding different from
the rest, may have been a bad round. Instead of striking Kennedy in the
back of the head, this old wartime ammunition may have dropped, striking
him in the middle of the back and failing to penetrate more than an inch or so.

This necessitated visual signals that more shots were needed-perhaps
these came from the "umbrella man" or perhaps the dark-complected man
near him.

The final volley-planned for but not anticipated by the real assassinswas ragged, resulting in many witnesses claiming that more than four shots
were fired. This created a problem for subsequent investigators, who
resolved it by proclaiming that three shots had been fired-the absolute
maximum allowable for one gunman.

When the shooting started, confusion was rampant. No one except the
conspirators knew what was happening, and the Dallas police radio channel used for the presidential motorcade security was blocked for more than
eight minutes due to an open microphone.

The true assassins simply strolled away, after dumping their rifles into
nearby car trunks or passing them to confederates.

Oswald most probably was exactly where he said he was during the
shooting-safely out of sight in the lunchroom of the Depository. Perhaps
he had been told to wait for a telephone call at that time by an intelligence
superior.

Since there is evidence that Oswald may have been reporting to the
government on the activities of the assassination conspirators, he must
have been shocked when he learned that Kennedy had been shot as planned.

Shortly after his encounter with Officer Baker, Oswald may have begun
to realize what was happening. He then left the Depository and made his
way to his South Oak Cliff rooming house. His landlady said that within
minutes of his arrival, he hurried from his room after a Dallas police car
stopped out front and beeped its horn twice.

Whatever plans Oswald had at this point, he most probably was slated to
be killed by police for "resisting arrest"-a backup plan in the event he
escaped Dealey Plaza alive.