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Oswald: Communist/Socialist?


John Dolva

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and continuing on after another year of reading/thinking/learning:: I incline towards the latter

I wouldn't call Lees pants tight, nor would I call them baggy. In the left pocket, as he sat for the interview with his hands manacled behind his back were a key, a bus pass and five bullets. On request the handcuffs were shifted to his front. The bullet ouline in his pants were not noted.

Thes five bullets were found while he was waiting to be in the lineup at 4.30+.

yet:

"2:15 P.M. Taken into Police Dept.

2:15 - 2:20 P.M. - "Talked to" by officers Guy F. Rose and Richard S. Stovall. No notes.

2:25 - 4:04 P.M. Interrogation of Oswald, Office of Capt Will Fritz

"My name is Lee Harvey Oswald . . . I just had them in there," when asked why he had bullets in his pocket."

4.30 P.M. (to lineup)

The bullets had, according to the person who found them while searching him outside the lineup room at 4.30+, not been found by the time of this interview.

I think the key and buspass being flat were found at the linup search. The bullets were not 'found' until the correct revolver was confirmed as in the loop. He was not asked about the bullets again after they really had been 'found'. The revolver was 'drop gun' substituted for the one he was carrying. It was the one he had bought, but never had. The one he had which had been switched for the one he bought before he picked it up was found the next day in a bag a few blocks away by an unknown Willie Flat. (interestingly there is an order by Ruby on behalf of a 'L.S. McWillie' for a .38 snubnose that was never delivered)

The notion of "Oswald as Communist" does not gel with his statements that he turned to Communism after reading Das Kapital, while elsewhere saying no, and laughing at the idea, to a question if he had studied political economy in the US.

Das Kapital is basically a book on Political Economy. "In this book, you will find basic concepts of labour theory of value (what determines the value of a commodity); monetary theory (the evolution of money); the Theory of Surplus Value (what is profit and how does it come about - .. and lastly, the mechanism of production."- Review Written by O. B. Makhubela (amazon)

Someone wanting to pass themselves off as communist and who had not read Das Kapital yet knew its importance to Communist ideology may make such a mistake. Had he read it he would for consistency sake say he had studied political economy. Had he really known what he was talking about and had not read Das Kapital the correct book would be the Communist Manifesto or perhaps the very easy and clear "What is socialism?" by the SWP. IOW he was attempting to pass himself off as a Communist in a way that made sense to him as a right winger. He was at the very least a lazy study. However, there are anectotes that belie that. The simple explanation is : he was a Communist Pretender, coming at it from a world view that was informed according to a right winger.

The idea of the "Communist Pretender" gels with this mistake and with his expressed admiration for the Minutemen, and with him finding Soviet life too booring to put up with. I've come across 'wreckers' of this kind, so Lee as such is not that farfetched to me.

The particular matter which he expressed admiration for the Minutemen over was in the idea of bringing things to a head. Doing things that amplified contradictions. So him (acting under orders?) to shoot at and miss Walker may not be so contradictory at all.

What it would do is set him up as the fall guy for the Kennedy assassination. Not that he had any idea that things would turn out like this. Did the German-Walker interview become known after Oswald was silenced? Was he at any time during his interviews asked about Walker? According to Mae: no. So then, until he was done away with he must also be kept quiet, ie. if he knew he had been connected with the Walker incident he would also know without doubt he was being hung out to dry and would have started singing. (speculation of course) The Walker shooting-Oswald link was only made after he was dead. It did load the case against the now dead assassin.

It seems to me that the irrgualrities started with going to Russia. It seems that something made this 'the plan' of which the numerous slips merely point to the unprofessional approach. Not exactly what one might expect from a 'master spy' but rather born of following instructions from someone that he placed his trust in judgement while this someone left the preparations incomplete. Lunacy, really. I'd look to a zealot outside the usual agencies.

Before during or after arrest Oswald had no signs of drug use like dilated pupils or sweating, or erratic enhanced reactions, so that wasn't a factor.

Patsy doesn't only mean scapegoat, but also 'cheated' or 'betrayed'. His inconsistencies tell of peripheral involvement. Not as he thought when starting to play with the big boys, but used and dumped. Therefore killing him was essential before he realised just how much he had been left out in the cold.

As far as Lee knew he was'covered' as far as the Walker shooting went. The police were looking for two and a car, and they had a steel jacketed bullet which was far too mangled to match any particular rifle.

Lee played with the big boys and got burnt. They knew all along he was going to burn. They could hardly give him any inkling of that however, quite the contrary. Not until sitting in the Theatre did it begin to dawn on him what was going down. He still wasn't sure however, as he had no idea of any cop being killed. This he found out later.

His white supremacy shackled-fist salute was an ID in preparation to going to jail.

"Lee played with the big boys and got burnt."

This has always been my perception.

I just can't imagine him in the theatre waiting for his handler. That is sad.

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and continuing on after another year of reading/thinking/learning:: I incline towards the latter

I wouldn't call Lees pants tight, nor would I call them baggy. In the left pocket, as he sat for the interview with his hands manacled behind his back were a key, a bus pass and five bullets. On request the handcuffs were shifted to his front. The bullet ouline in his pants were not noted.

Thes five bullets were found while he was waiting to be in the lineup at 4.30+.

yet:

"2:15 P.M. Taken into Police Dept.

2:15 - 2:20 P.M. - "Talked to" by officers Guy F. Rose and Richard S. Stovall. No notes.

2:25 - 4:04 P.M. Interrogation of Oswald, Office of Capt Will Fritz

"My name is Lee Harvey Oswald . . . I just had them in there," when asked why he had bullets in his pocket."

4.30 P.M. (to lineup)

The bullets had, according to the person who found them while searching him outside the lineup room at 4.30+, not been found by the time of this interview.

I think the key and buspass being flat were found at the linup search. The bullets were not 'found' until the correct revolver was confirmed as in the loop. He was not asked about the bullets again after they really had been 'found'. The revolver was 'drop gun' substituted for the one he was carrying. It was the one he had bought, but never had. The one he had which had been switched for the one he bought before he picked it up was found the next day in a bag a few blocks away by an unknown Willie Flat. (interestingly there is an order by Ruby on behalf of a 'L.S. McWillie' for a .38 snubnose that was never delivered)

The notion of "Oswald as Communist" does not gel with his statements that he turned to Communism after reading Das Kapital, while elsewhere saying no, and laughing at the idea, to a question if he had studied political economy in the US.

Das Kapital is basically a book on Political Economy. "In this book, you will find basic concepts of labour theory of value (what determines the value of a commodity); monetary theory (the evolution of money); the Theory of Surplus Value (what is profit and how does it come about - .. and lastly, the mechanism of production."- Review Written by O. B. Makhubela (amazon)

Someone wanting to pass themselves off as communist and who had not read Das Kapital yet knew its importance to Communist ideology may make such a mistake. Had he read it he would for consistency sake say he had studied political economy. Had he really known what he was talking about and had not read Das Kapital the correct book would be the Communist Manifesto or perhaps the very easy and clear "What is socialism?" by the SWP. IOW he was attempting to pass himself off as a Communist in a way that made sense to him as a right winger. He was at the very least a lazy study. However, there are anectotes that belie that. The simple explanation is : he was a Communist Pretender, coming at it from a world view that was informed according to a right winger.

The idea of the "Communist Pretender" gels with this mistake and with his expressed admiration for the Minutemen, and with him finding Soviet life too booring to put up with. I've come across 'wreckers' of this kind, so Lee as such is not that farfetched to me.

The particular matter which he expressed admiration for the Minutemen over was in the idea of bringing things to a head. Doing things that amplified contradictions. So him (acting under orders?) to shoot at and miss Walker may not be so contradictory at all.

What it would do is set him up as the fall guy for the Kennedy assassination. Not that he had any idea that things would turn out like this. Did the German-Walker interview become known after Oswald was silenced? Was he at any time during his interviews asked about Walker? According to Mae: no. So then, until he was done away with he must also be kept quiet, ie. if he knew he had been connected with the Walker incident he would also know without doubt he was being hung out to dry and would have started singing. (speculation of course) The Walker shooting-Oswald link was only made after he was dead. It did load the case against the now dead assassin.

It seems to me that the irrgualrities started with going to Russia. It seems that something made this 'the plan' of which the numerous slips merely point to the unprofessional approach. Not exactly what one might expect from a 'master spy' but rather born of following instructions from someone that he placed his trust in judgement while this someone left the preparations incomplete. Lunacy, really. I'd look to a zealot outside the usual agencies.

Before during or after arrest Oswald had no signs of drug use like dilated pupils or sweating, or erratic enhanced reactions, so that wasn't a factor.

Patsy doesn't only mean scapegoat, but also 'cheated' or 'betrayed'. His inconsistencies tell of peripheral involvement. Not as he thought when starting to play with the big boys, but used and dumped. Therefore killing him was essential before he realised just how much he had been left out in the cold.

As far as Lee knew he was'covered' as far as the Walker shooting went. The police were looking for two and a car, and they had a steel jacketed bullet which was far too mangled to match any particular rifle.

Lee played with the big boys and got burnt. They knew all along he was going to burn. They could hardly give him any inkling of that however, quite the contrary. Not until sitting in the Theatre did it begin to dawn on him what was going down. He still wasn't sure however, as he had no idea of any cop being killed. This he found out later.

His white supremacy shackled-fist salute was an ID in preparation to going to jail.

"Lee played with the big boys and got burnt.'' That notion has occourred to me , too. I cant imagine that young man waiting in the Texas Theatre for his handler. That is sad.

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  • 1 year later...

Without having read the previous posts, though I will try to refresh myself of them,

I would have to say neither.

He professed to be a Trotskite, and talks about it during the radio debate and in his writings, but yet he there seems to be no record of him discussing this with his good friend Michael Paine, son of one of the founders of the Trotskite Party in the USA.

I would say that Oswald was an Operative, who could be anybody he wanted, depending on the mission.

BK

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Without having read the previous posts, though I will try to refresh myself of them,

I would have to say neither.

He professed to be a Trotskite, and talks about it during the radio debate and in his writings, but yet he there seems to be no record of him discussing this with his good friend Michael Paine, son of one of the founders of the Trotskite Party in the USA.

I would say that Oswald was an Operative, who could be anybody he wanted, depending on the mission.

BK

Bill, you may remember in a previous thread I stated that, IMO, the only place Oswald was an agent was in his own head. In other words Oswald was "playing games" with himself. That's not to say of course that this trait was not exploited by others at a later date. But I do belive that most of LHO's life revolved around him PRETENDING to be a spy/agent. Which would account for the somewhat amateur and untrained even erratic way he went about it. Grant me a small favor Bill, humour me if you will and read this thread thru again but this time from my viewpoint. There's a good deal here that would seem to back that viewpoint up. Denis.

Edited by Denis Pointing
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Without having read the previous posts, though I will try to refresh myself of them,

I would have to say neither.

He professed to be a Trotskite, and talks about it during the radio debate and in his writings, but yet he there seems to be no record of him discussing this with his good friend Michael Paine, son of one of the founders of the Trotskite Party in the USA.

I would say that Oswald was an Operative, who could be anybody he wanted, depending on the mission.

BK

Bill, you may remember in a previous thread I stated that, IMO, the only place Oswald was an agent was in his own head. In other words Oswald was "playing games" with himself. That's not to say of course that this trait was not exploited by others at a later date. But I do belive that most of LHO's life revolved around him PRETENDING to be a spy/agent. Which would account for the somewhat amateur and untrained even erratic way he went about it. Grant me a small favor Bill, humour me if you will and read this thread thru again but this time from my viewpoint. There's a good deal here that would seem to back that viewpoint up. Denis.

Okay, I read the thread through and its clear that Oswald had developed philosophical concepts at an early age, was exposed to the idea of spies (Rosenbergs) and anti-Communist double-agents (I Led Three Lives), and had memorized his brother's USMC manual before he enlisted.

But what if he wasn't really pretending then? He actually did work for the Trujaque Inport/Export company on the docks of New Orleans, who was connected with the various Cuban and other intelligence networks.

Nor was he "untrained" and "erratic," as you describe him. While in the USMC, Oswald, David Bucknell and Kerry Thornley were called for a special briefing by a special Cuban ops officer looking to recruit operatives, which sets the stage for his interest in all things Cuban, his specialized training in codes, ciphers, resisting interrogation techniques, the Russian language and his defection to USSR.

Now where's the pretensions? When he was in Minsk and Moscow, running back and forth without any supervision, meeting haphazardly with visiting American tourists (Hyde) in Moscow and then being photographed with them in Minsk a few days later, a photo that ends up in CIA files, well that tells me that if Oswald was pretending, he was doing real good. Angleton would have loved to have an agent running around Russia like that, and guess what, he probably did have him, or somebody did.

The Crafts of Intelligence, as Dulles' book title calls them, are not crafts that you can teach youself, but like all master crafts, like the Big Con confidence games, they must be taught by someone who has also been taught by a master.

And it is quite clear from his writings and convesations with others that he did not like the Soviet system, and his sympathy for the Castro Cuban revolution put him in with the FPCC and the Trotskites.

If Mrs. Paine told an FBI agent that Oswald claimed to be a Trotski communist, then one must ask why Oswald and Michael Paine never had a conversation about Michael's father, and his historic Trotskite affiliations?

As someone pointed out in a previous post on his thread, Trotski was assassinated in Mexico City by Ramond Mercader, who was reared from birth to be a KGB agent and assassin, as were his two brothers. Their story is told in "Mind of the Assassin" by Issac Don Levine, the Time/Lifer who also bought the Zap film and Marina's story. IDL could easily penetrate the KGB assassin's fisade, but when it comes to Oswald, the network behind him dissinigrates and he's left alone nut case who was only a spy in his own mind.

And did anybody bother to check to see if Oswald, while in Mexico City, visited the apartment where Mercader attacked Trotski? I don't think so. When they decided to brand him a lone nut, they didn't want to find out any more about these other things.

More than one of the officers interrogating Oswald said that he was trained in interrogation techniques, and was really good, and he asks for the lawyer Apt who had previously defended Trotskites, and is mentioned, I believe, in the book version of Oswald's favorite TV program, "I Led Three Lives" (for the FBI), by Herbert Philbrick.

Philbrick "infiltrated" civil organizations and Massachusetts city governments posing as a communist, instigating radicals and then informing the FBI on them and testifying against them at trial, after indictment under the Smith Act - attempting to take over the US government. While Apt had defended some of those accused under the Smith Act, Philbrick is reported to have expressed foreknowledge of the assassination.

Since I don't believe Oswald was the man with the rifle in the Sixth Floor window anyway, its only a matter of speculation as to the motives and philosophy of the designated patsy.

He was a player in the Great Game, albet a pawn.

And that's why he wasn't playing by himself.

For a pawn to be able to take out a king, a lot of maneuvering must take place, and to go beyond checkmate - Pawn takes King - then the pawn must be able to get close enough to be able to use his limited capabilities.

So, no, Oswald wasn't pretending, and neither were those who were playing with him.

You don't carry a gun when you're pretending.

As the first chief counsel to the HSCA Richard Sprague said, "I'm not going to invetigate whether Oswald was breast fed, my approach to evidence is more direct."

I say it doesn't matter whether Oswald was a Communist or Socialist or Trotskite, if you take the most realistic viewpoint that was an operative.

BK

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Without having read the previous posts, though I will try to refresh myself of them,

I would have to say neither.

He professed to be a Trotskite, and talks about it during the radio debate and in his writings, but yet he there seems to be no record of him discussing this with his good friend Michael Paine, son of one of the founders of the Trotskite Party in the USA.

I would say that Oswald was an Operative, who could be anybody he wanted, depending on the mission.

BK

Bill, you may remember in a previous thread I stated that, IMO, the only place Oswald was an agent was in his own head. In other words Oswald was "playing games" with himself. That's not to say of course that this trait was not exploited by others at a later date. But I do belive that most of LHO's life revolved around him PRETENDING to be a spy/agent. Which would account for the somewhat amateur and untrained even erratic way he went about it. Grant me a small favor Bill, humour me if you will and read this thread thru again but this time from my viewpoint. There's a good deal here that would seem to back that viewpoint up. Denis.

Okay, I read the thread through and its clear that Oswald had developed philosophical concepts at an early age, was exposed to the idea of spies (Rosenbergs) and anti-Communist double-agents (I Led Three Lives), and had memorized his brother's USMC manual before he enlisted.

But what if he wasn't really pretending then? He actually did work for the Trujaque Inport/Export company on the docks of New Orleans, who was connected with the various Cuban and other intelligence networks.

Nor was he "untrained" and "erratic," as you describe him. While in the USMC, Oswald, David Bucknell and Kerry Thornley were called for a special briefing by a special Cuban ops officer looking to recruit operatives, which sets the stage for his interest in all things Cuban, his specialized training in codes, ciphers, resisting interrogation techniques, the Russian language and his defection to USSR.

Now where's the pretensions? When he was in Minsk and Moscow, running back and forth without any supervision, meeting haphazardly with visiting American tourists (Hyde) in Moscow and then being photographed with them in Minsk a few days later, a photo that ends up in CIA files, well that tells me that if Oswald was pretending, he was doing real good. Angleton would have loved to have an agent running around Russia like that, and guess what, he probably did have him, or somebody did.

The Crafts of Intelligence, as Dulles' book title calls them, are not crafts that you can teach youself, but like all master crafts, like the Big Con confidence games, they must be taught by someone who has also been taught by a master.

And it is quite clear from his writings and convesations with others that he did not like the Soviet system, and his sympathy for the Castro Cuban revolution put him in with the FPCC and the Trotskites.

If Mrs. Paine told an FBI agent that Oswald claimed to be a Trotski communist, then one must ask why Oswald and Michael Paine never had a conversation about Michael's father, and his historic Trotskite affiliations?

As someone pointed out in a previous post on his thread, Trotski was assassinated in Mexico City by Ramond Mercader, who was reared from birth to be a KGB agent and assassin, as were his two brothers. Their story is told in "Mind of the Assassin" by Issac Don Levine, the Time/Lifer who also bought the Zap film and Marina's story. IDL could easily penetrate the KGB assassin's fisade, but when it comes to Oswald, the network behind him dissinigrates and he's left alone nut case who was only a spy in his own mind.

And did anybody bother to check to see if Oswald, while in Mexico City, visited the apartment where Mercader attacked Trotski? I don't think so. When they decided to brand him a lone nut, they didn't want to find out any more about these other things.

More than one of the officers interrogating Oswald said that he was trained in interrogation techniques, and was really good, and he asks for the lawyer Apt who had previously defended Trotskites, and is mentioned, I believe, in the book version of Oswald's favorite TV program, "I Led Three Lives" (for the FBI), by Herbert Philbrick.

Philbrick "infiltrated" civil organizations and Massachusetts city governments posing as a communist, instigating radicals and then informing the FBI on them and testifying against them at trial, after indictment under the Smith Act - attempting to take over the US government. While Apt had defended some of those accused under the Smith Act, Philbrick is reported to have expressed foreknowledge of the assassination.

Since I don't believe Oswald was the man with the rifle in the Sixth Floor window anyway, its only a matter of speculation as to the motives and philosophy of the designated patsy.

He was a player in the Great Game, albet a pawn.

And that's why he wasn't playing by himself.

For a pawn to be able to take out a king, a lot of maneuvering must take place, and to go beyond checkmate - Pawn takes King - then the pawn must be able to get close enough to be able to use his limited capabilities.

So, no, Oswald wasn't pretending, and neither were those who were playing with him.

You don't carry a gun when you're pretending.

As the first chief counsel to the HSCA Richard Sprague said, "I'm not going to invetigate whether Oswald was breast fed, my approach to evidence is more direct."

I say it doesn't matter whether Oswald was a Communist or Socialist or Trotskite, if you take the most realistic viewpoint that was an operative.

BK

Hi, BK

Oswald, a willing Intelligence recruit who had cast off all former so-called political convictions, even before finding this calling.

Harry

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  • 1 year later...

In his excellent recent article Bill Simpich points out that the CIA and the FBI took a close interest in the formation of the FPCC:

http://www.counterpunch.org/simpich07242009.html

Antiwar and solidarity activists came together to protect the Cuban revolution during the era of 1960-1963 - the era of the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban missile crisis, and the JFK assassination - in significant part due to organizations such as the Fair Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC). Professor (and CISPES activist) Van Gosse has done groundbreaking research to make a good argument that this period really was the birth of the New Left.

The release in the last few years of thousands of CIA and FBI files reveals that this resistance was central in preventing a successful invasion of Cuba. Like most activist organizations, the FPCC had approximately a three-year life cycle - after that period, many of the core activists had returned to Cuba or have moved on to other pressing causes. In the period from 1960-1963, recently released documents show the powerful conflict between the forces of agitation (the FPCC and its allies) and the forces of provocation (the CIA, FBI and military). This conflict ended with a political landscape that made any future US invasion of Cuba impossible. This story is not founded on a theory about who killed JFK, but rather examines an overlooked conflict.

The story below is largely set in New York City, the headquarters of the FPCC, and the revelation here of a key informant’s identity explains how different threads of this drama weave together. As the Church Committee said in the seventies, informants are used to “raise controversial issues” and “to take advantage of ideological splits in an organization.” Many of the documents are hidden to protect the identity of the informants, while the world is deprived of the history of how these informants were used to protect the US national security state.

The founder and first leader of the FPCC was Robert Taber, a CBS newsman who was befriended by the Santos Buch family when they learned that Taber was interested in telling the rebels' side of the story about Castro and his followers. With the help of the Santos Buch family, Taber obtained a rare exclusive interview with Fidel Castro while he was up in the mountains fighting in 1957. This interview became the basis of the CBS Special Report “Rebels of the Sierra Maestra: The Story of Cuba’s Jungle Fighters and his renowned book on the rebels: “M-26: Biography of a Revolution”. “M-26" refers to the aforementioned storming of Moncada on July 26, 1953.

Working with CBS newsman Richard Gibson, they decided to run a full page ad in the New York times in order to make a statement on the importance of the Cuban revolution. Taber and Santos-Busch went so far as to raise the money for the ad by obtaining a big donation from the Cuban government with the assistance of Raulito Roa, the son of Cuban UN foreign minister Raul Roa.

The advertisement caused a minor sensation in a number of different circles. The authors were flooded with more than a thousand letters of people ready to take action. Besides the timeliness of the appeal, it was signed by other leading lights in the literary community: Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, Norman Mailer, Dan Wakefield, even Truman Capote. African Americans were prominent in the call - besides newsman Richard Gibson of CBS, it was also signed by the historian John Henrik Clarke, novelists James Baldwin, Julian Mayfield and John O. Killens, and the soon-to-be-famous Southern activist Robert F. Williams. Other supporters in this period included Linus Pauling and Allen Ginsberg.

The ad also caught the attention of the CIA's Cuban affairs head William Harvey, whose love of alcohol and firearms caused many to ask if he was the role model for Ian Fleming's James Bond. Two days after the ad ran, William Harvey bragged to FBI counterintelligence chief Sam Papich. “For your information, this Agency has derogatory information on all individuals listed in the attached advertisement.”

Harvey was the head of Task Force W, a brigade of 2000 Cubans, a navy of speedboats, and 400 Americans based at CIA headquarters and the JM/WAVE station in Miami. JM/WAVE may have been the largest CIA base in history. Huge quantities of arms and munitions passed through its gates. The JM/WAVE station directed a wide range of operations against Cuban shipping, aircraft and industrial sites.

In his article Bill makes it clear that the FBI decided to infiltrate the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. Its main spy was Victor Thomas Vicente (T-3245-S), who became the head of the Social Committee for the FPCC. In May, 1961, Vicente supplied the FBI with the FPCC mailing list. Released documents suggest that the FBI was concentrating on FPCC operatives in Dallas, Tampa and Miami.

The FPCC's two founders, Robert Taber and Richard Gibson, also appear to have become CIA informants. Bill also points out that in April, 1961, Dr. Enrique Lorenzo Luaces told Army Intelligence that Robert Taber introduced him to “Lt. Harvey Oswald, an arms expert” while having drinks at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Havana. Tony Varona later testified that he believed Lee Harvey Oswald was in Cuba during 1961.

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In his excellent recent article Bill Simpich points out that the CIA and the FBI took a close interest in the formation of the FPCC:

http://www.counterpunch.org/simpich07242009.html

Antiwar and solidarity activists came together to protect the Cuban revolution during the era of 1960-1963 - the era of the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban missile crisis, and the JFK assassination - in significant part due to organizations such as the Fair Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC). Professor (and CISPES activist) Van Gosse has done groundbreaking research to make a good argument that this period really was the birth of the New Left.

The release in the last few years of thousands of CIA and FBI files reveals that this resistance was central in preventing a successful invasion of Cuba. Like most activist organizations, the FPCC had approximately a three-year life cycle - after that period, many of the core activists had returned to Cuba or have moved on to other pressing causes. In the period from 1960-1963, recently released documents show the powerful conflict between the forces of agitation (the FPCC and its allies) and the forces of provocation (the CIA, FBI and military). This conflict ended with a political landscape that made any future US invasion of Cuba impossible. This story is not founded on a theory about who killed JFK, but rather examines an overlooked conflict.

The story below is largely set in New York City, the headquarters of the FPCC, and the revelation here of a key informant’s identity explains how different threads of this drama weave together. As the Church Committee said in the seventies, informants are used to “raise controversial issues” and “to take advantage of ideological splits in an organization.” Many of the documents are hidden to protect the identity of the informants, while the world is deprived of the history of how these informants were used to protect the US national security state.

The founder and first leader of the FPCC was Robert Taber, a CBS newsman who was befriended by the Santos Buch family when they learned that Taber was interested in telling the rebels' side of the story about Castro and his followers. With the help of the Santos Buch family, Taber obtained a rare exclusive interview with Fidel Castro while he was up in the mountains fighting in 1957. This interview became the basis of the CBS Special Report “Rebels of the Sierra Maestra: The Story of Cuba’s Jungle Fighters and his renowned book on the rebels: “M-26: Biography of a Revolution”. “M-26" refers to the aforementioned storming of Moncada on July 26, 1953.

Working with CBS newsman Richard Gibson, they decided to run a full page ad in the New York times in order to make a statement on the importance of the Cuban revolution. Taber and Santos-Busch went so far as to raise the money for the ad by obtaining a big donation from the Cuban government with the assistance of Raulito Roa, the son of Cuban UN foreign minister Raul Roa.

I'm curious as to why New Jersey developer, Robert Sagner misses out on being mentioned. The formation of the FPCC was his idea, said to be inspired by the CBS Special Report.

The advertisement caused a minor sensation in a number of different circles. The authors were flooded with more than a thousand letters of people ready to take action. Besides the timeliness of the appeal, it was signed by other leading lights in the literary community: Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, Norman Mailer, Dan Wakefield, even Truman Capote.

Those "names" were pressed into signing by Santos Busch to lend credibility and draw in those "thousands of letters" of support. Most of those "names" were never actually members. Capote and possibly others later expressed regret at signing when it was alleged Cuba had paid for the ad.

African Americans were prominent in the call - besides newsman Richard Gibson of CBS, it was also signed by the historian John Henrik Clarke, novelists James Baldwin, Julian Mayfield and John O. Killens, and the soon-to-be-famous Southern activist Robert F. Williams. Other supporters in this period included Linus Pauling and Allen Ginsberg.

The ad also caught the attention of the CIA's Cuban affairs head William Harvey, whose love of alcohol and firearms caused many to ask if he was the role model for Ian Fleming's James Bond. Two days after the ad ran, William Harvey bragged to FBI counterintelligence chief Sam Papich. “For your information, this Agency has derogatory information on all individuals listed in the attached advertisement.”

Harvey was the head of Task Force W, a brigade of 2000 Cubans, a navy of speedboats, and 400 Americans based at CIA headquarters and the JM/WAVE station in Miami. JM/WAVE may have been the largest CIA base in history. Huge quantities of arms and munitions passed through its gates. The JM/WAVE station directed a wide range of operations against Cuban shipping, aircraft and industrial sites.

In his article Bill makes it clear that the FBI decided to infiltrate the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. Its main spy was Victor Thomas Vicente (T-3245-S), who became the head of the Social Committee for the FPCC. In May, 1961, Vicente supplied the FBI with the FPCC mailing list. Released documents suggest that the FBI was concentrating on FPCC operatives in Dallas, Tampa and Miami.

The FPCC's two founders, Robert Taber and Richard Gibson, also appear to have become CIA informants.

Gibson was suspected (for very good reasons) of doing CIA dirty work in France prior to this. His reward seems to have been the CBS job.

see: http://reopenkennedycase.weebly.com/parker-1.html

Bill also points out that in April, 1961, Dr. Enrique Lorenzo Luaces told Army Intelligence that Robert Taber introduced him to “Lt. Harvey Oswald, an arms expert” while having drinks at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Havana. Tony Varona later testified that he believed Lee Harvey Oswald was in Cuba during 1961.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Tom Scully
In his excellent recent article Bill Simpich points out that the CIA and the FBI took a close interest in the formation of the FPCC:

http://www.counterpunch.org/simpich07242009.html

Antiwar and solidarity activists came together to protect the Cuban revolution during the era of 1960-1963 - the era of the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban missile crisis, and the JFK assassination - in significant part due to organizations such as the Fair Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC). Professor (and CISPES activist) Van Gosse has done groundbreaking research to make a good argument that this period really was the birth of the New Left.

The release in the last few years of thousands of CIA and FBI files reveals that this resistance was central in preventing a successful invasion of Cuba. Like most activist organizations, the FPCC had approximately a three-year life cycle - after that period, many of the core activists had returned to Cuba or have moved on to other pressing causes. In the period from 1960-1963, recently released documents show the powerful conflict between the forces of agitation (the FPCC and its allies) and the forces of provocation (the CIA, FBI and military). This conflict ended with a political landscape that made any future US invasion of Cuba impossible. This story is not founded on a theory about who killed JFK, but rather examines an overlooked conflict.....

.....In his article Bill makes it clear that the FBI decided to infiltrate the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. Its main spy was Victor Thomas Vicente (T-3245-S), who became the head of the Social Committee for the FPCC. In May, 1961, Vicente supplied the FBI with the FPCC mailing list. Released documents suggest that the FBI was concentrating on FPCC operatives in Dallas, Tampa and Miami.

The FPCC's two founders, Robert Taber and Richard Gibson, also appear to have become CIA informants. Bill also points out that in April, 1961, Dr. Enrique Lorenzo Luaces told Army Intelligence that Robert Taber introduced him to “Lt. Harvey Oswald, an arms expert” while having drinks at Sloppy Joe's Bar in Havana. Tony Varona later testified that he believed Lee Harvey Oswald was in Cuba during 1961.

So, who was Dr. Enrique Lorenzo Luaces and how reliable a source was he? A man claiming to be his grandson wrote in 2007 that his family believed Dr. Luaces, who suddenly abandoned his family in Queens, NY forever, was affiliated with the CIA.

http://books.google.com/books?um=1&q=M...nG=Search+Books

Chemical week‎ - Page 416

Business & Economics - 1936

Births Mr. and Mrs. EL Luaces announce the arrival of a daughter. Mr. Luaces is

well-known in the activated carbon field as a consultant. ...

I am speculating the reason Dr. Luaces "told Army intelligence", was because Dr. Luaces was an intelligence agent. Intelligence agents are not known for volunteering the truth, at least not publicly!

http://books.google.com/books?um=1&q=a...nG=Search+Books

Chemical & metallurgical engineering‎ - Page 161

edited by Eugene Franz Roeber, Howard Coon Parmelee - Science - 1943

...From 1936 to the date present affiliation with Tube Mr. Smith was employed by

Car- linois Steel Co. at Chicago in icity of field metallurgist.

Prior he was plant metallurgist for »rnational Harvester Co. at Fort and Chicago

plants. [AM L.LTTACES, CAC(AA) was • transferred from Camp Davis, :( Fort Eusted, Va. and ordered to the Army Intelligence School i-lancl.

Lieutenant Luaces is on ! vice president of Research and development Corp., Wilmington, Del.

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&so...sa=N&tab=wp

Chemical week‎ - Page 272

Chemical industry - 1935

EL Luaces, consultant, specializing in activated carbon processes, sailed for

Cuba ......

Official gazette of the United States Patent Office‎ - Page xix

by United States. Patent Office - Law - 1945

Luaces, Enrique L.. Woodhaven. NY, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Research

and Development Corporation, Wilmington. Del. Recovery oC carbon bisulphide. ...

A link to a graphic segment of the relevant article where Lt. Luaces was reported "ordered to Army Intelligence School" in 1943:

http://books.google.com/books?id=hisnAAAAM...O_XA&edge=1

The graphic segment linked above, actually reads:

...Lieutenant Luaces is on leave as vice president of Research and development Corp., Wilmington, Del.

Dr. Luaces wrote a book on the processing of Sugar. His grandmother was a descendant of an American, Henry Waring, who fought in the American revolution. His grandfather fought in the 1870's to liberate Cuba from Spain. Dr. Luaces and his brother were listed in a 1943 Sons of the Revolution publication as residents of Dayton, OH.

In 1944, Dr. Luaces is described as president of the Chemical Development Corp. He seems to have been an expert about the chemical substance, dextran.

In 1946, Luaces is also described as directot and general manager of a Dayton, OH if a general research laboratory and engineering firm:

http://books.google.com/books?id=vDcrAAAAY...ent&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?q=chemical%2...sa=N&tab=np

Chemical engineering‎ - Page 242

Computers - 1947

EL Luaces, president and a director of Research and Development Corp., Dayton,

has resigned to devote his time to private consulting practice in chemical ...

So much effort on the part of US government linked operatives to plant anecdotes about Oswald that just don't seem all that reliable and seems to conflict with the official, "lone gunman" conclusion of the WC.

Edited by Tom Scully
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  • 8 months later...

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Communist/Socialist/Marxist/Trotskyist/Leninist

Perhaps it's a bit bewildering making sense of these terms but as they are labels used in the context it's important to explore their meaning.

They are words used by many different groupings on the political spectrum.

Communist to a communist can mean different to that used by a JBS member for example, and then there is the proper definition which may be subtly but importantly different again.

Oswald said "I am not a Communist, I am a Marxist."

Communism is a social structure that has never existed. The proper name for the Soviet Union is Union of Socialist Soviet Republics. Socialist, not communist.

Through a period of struggle with capitalism a socialist forms workers groupings called soviets. These are connected to other soviets. Nationally they take a republican model. Globally they unite.

USSR CCCP

At some point capitalism is defeated globally. Socialism then sets about the transformation towards Communism.

A very brief history of the internationals

Marx started what is called the first international. He had trouble with swiss guilds and the second international came into being. this second international disintegrated into what now forms the back bone of the modern Labor parties of the west. Lenin and Leon Trotsky's Bolsheviks (majority) as opposed to the Mencheviks (minority) formed the third international after the 1917 revolution. Following the revolution came a counter revolution, on the one hand, the capitalist supported white army and on the other the Trotsky led reds.

The reds won, Lenin died, famine came. Stalin. Massive across the board purges of the old Bolcheviks of whom Trotsky as the formulator of 'the permanent revolution' theory as the transition towards communism became central. Stalin went the opposite way. 'socialism in one country'.

The fourth international founded by the exiled and later assassinated Trotsky.

The word Trotsky became synonymous with traitor in the third international. This is the Russia that Oswald went to. Very unwise to call one self a Trotskyist (no Trotskyist calls him/herself trotskyITE, its an insult used by opponents or those who dont realise that context).

If one is a well read marxist then one would call oneself a socialist. Lenin and others, notably Trotsky developed the practical aspects of marxism so to call oneself a Marxist Leninist is correct. There is argument that Lenin and Trotsky were far closer than Lenin and Stalin. so its not unreasonable to associate a Marxist Leninist with Trotskyism. Just unwise to go to the USSR as a Trotskyist.

When the shine had gone off Uncle Joe the stalinists in the west started to suffer from their inner contradictions.

By the time of 1963 in Dallas, for Oswald to say he is not a Communist but a Marxist Leninist but not a Trotskyist smacks of opportunism, not principled dedication as one might expect to find from someone presenting himself as he tried to do. However also to call himself a Marxist and not a Communist is correct in the sense that a socialist works towards communism as a marxist and it would be presumptuous to take the title of communist. This label perhaps has been forced on the socialist by the opponents in the west seeking to demonise socialism.

This is perhaps a 'purist' interpretation that's a result of involvement with the Socialist Workers Party, but as this was one of the organisations that Oswald was connected to it might be relevant to see things from such a perspective. (Personally there are things about Oswald that would make me say "Naah that guys no marxist, what game's he playing?")

This guy seemed to drift untouched from one end of the spectrum to the other. Why??

Because he was insignificant? because he was controlled, the meat in a sandwich, a patsy? because he was a brilliant actor?

Not quite as simple as it might seem. The words he and others used to describe him are open to interpretation. the different interpretation gives different meaning to events.

to not derail the H.D. Dean topic...

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Oswald was neither a communist or a Marxist. He was a fanatical anti-communist and a disciple of Herbert Philbrick, who also convinced his family and friends that he was a red. Oswald's first "unpatriotic" act was his refusal to salute the American flag in school. That happened less than three weeks following the premier of "I Led Three Lives" - a TV series based on Philbrick's undercover battle against commies in the Boston area.

and

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Oswald was neither a communist or a Marxist. He was a fanatical anti-communist and a disciple of Herbert Philbrick, who also convinced his family and friends that he was a red. Oswald's first "unpatriotic" act was his refusal to salute the American flag in school. That happened less than three weeks following the premier of "I Led Three Lives" - a TV series based on Philbrick's undercover battle against commies in the Boston area.

and

There should also be tons of documents that record Phillbrick's undercover role in exposing the communsits takeover of the local school board and their threats to the Constitution of the USA. Not only was Philbrick an inspiration to a young LHO, he also expressed foreknowledge of the assassination (See: Jean Hill) and is a classic example of the types of operatives we are trying to study - Oswald, Harry Dean, et al.

BK

Edited by William Kelly
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see H Philbrick docs at :

http://mdah.state.ms.us/arrec/digital_archives/sovcom/

enter initial and last name

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  • 3 months later...
Without having read the previous posts, though I will try to refresh myself of them,

I would have to say neither.

He professed to be a Trotskite, and talks about it during the radio debate and in his writings, but yet he there seems to be no record of him discussing this with his good friend Michael Paine, son of one of the founders of the Trotskite Party in the USA.

I would say that Oswald was an Operative, who could be anybody he wanted, depending on the mission.

BK

Bill, you may remember in a previous thread I stated that, IMO, the only place Oswald was an agent was in his own head. In other words Oswald was "playing games" with himself. That's not to say of course that this trait was not exploited by others at a later date. But I do belive that most of LHO's life revolved around him PRETENDING to be a spy/agent. Which would account for the somewhat amateur and untrained even erratic way he went about it. Grant me a small favor Bill, humour me if you will and read this thread thru again but this time from my viewpoint. There's a good deal here that would seem to back that viewpoint up. Denis.

Okay, I read the thread through and its clear that Oswald had developed philosophical concepts at an early age, was exposed to the idea of spies (Rosenbergs) and anti-Communist double-agents (I Led Three Lives), and had memorized his brother's USMC manual before he enlisted.

But what if he wasn't really pretending then? He actually did work for the Trujaque Inport/Export company on the docks of New Orleans, who was connected with the various Cuban and other intelligence networks.

Nor was he "untrained" and "erratic," as you describe him. While in the USMC, Oswald, David Bucknell and Kerry Thornley were called for a special briefing by a special Cuban ops officer looking to recruit operatives, which sets the stage for his interest in all things Cuban, his specialized training in codes, ciphers, resisting interrogation techniques, the Russian language and his defection to USSR.

Now where's the pretensions? When he was in Minsk and Moscow, running back and forth without any supervision, meeting haphazardly with visiting American tourists (Hyde) in Moscow and then being photographed with them in Minsk a few days later, a photo that ends up in CIA files, well that tells me that if Oswald was pretending, he was doing real good. Angleton would have loved to have an agent running around Russia like that, and guess what, he probably did have him, or somebody did.

The Crafts of Intelligence, as Dulles' book title calls them, are not crafts that you can teach youself, but like all master crafts, like the Big Con confidence games, they must be taught by someone who has also been taught by a master.

And it is quite clear from his writings and convesations with others that he did not like the Soviet system, and his sympathy for the Castro Cuban revolution put him in with the FPCC and the Trotskites.

If Mrs. Paine told an FBI agent that Oswald claimed to be a Trotski communist, then one must ask why Oswald and Michael Paine never had a conversation about Michael's father, and his historic Trotskite affiliations?

As someone pointed out in a previous post on his thread, Trotski was assassinated in Mexico City by Ramond Mercader, who was reared from birth to be a KGB agent and assassin, as were his two brothers. Their story is told in "Mind of the Assassin" by Issac Don Levine, the Time/Lifer who also bought the Zap film and Marina's story. IDL could easily penetrate the KGB assassin's fisade, but when it comes to Oswald, the network behind him dissinigrates and he's left alone nut case who was only a spy in his own mind.

And did anybody bother to check to see if Oswald, while in Mexico City, visited the apartment where Mercader attacked Trotski? I don't think so. When they decided to brand him a lone nut, they didn't want to find out any more about these other things.

More than one of the officers interrogating Oswald said that he was trained in interrogation techniques, and was really good, and he asks for the lawyer Apt who had previously defended Trotskites, and is mentioned, I believe, in the book version of Oswald's favorite TV program, "I Led Three Lives" (for the FBI), by Herbert Philbrick.

Philbrick "infiltrated" civil organizations and Massachusetts city governments posing as a communist, instigating radicals and then informing the FBI on them and testifying against them at trial, after indictment under the Smith Act - attempting to take over the US government. While Apt had defended some of those accused under the Smith Act, Philbrick is reported to have expressed foreknowledge of the assassination.

Since I don't believe Oswald was the man with the rifle in the Sixth Floor window anyway, its only a matter of speculation as to the motives and philosophy of the designated patsy.

He was a player in the Great Game, albet a pawn.

And that's why he wasn't playing by himself.

For a pawn to be able to take out a king, a lot of maneuvering must take place, and to go beyond checkmate - Pawn takes King - then the pawn must be able to get close enough to be able to use his limited capabilities.

So, no, Oswald wasn't pretending, and neither were those who were playing with him.

You don't carry a gun when you're pretending.

As the first chief counsel to the HSCA Richard Sprague said, "I'm not going to invetigate whether Oswald was breast fed, my approach to evidence is more direct."

I say it doesn't matter whether Oswald was a Communist or Socialist or Trotskite, if you take the most realistic viewpoint that was an operative.

BK

Hi, BK

Oswald, a willing Intelligence recruit who had cast off all former so-called political convictions, even before finding this calling.

Harry

I'd like to know if Denis or anyone else still believes that Oswald was only pretending to be a covert operative but really wasn't one?

BK

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