Paul Rigby

Having a collection of books and thinking that Greer shot JFK in the head is like having money and not knowing how much each bill or coin is worth. And saying that because the assassination films don't show Greer actually shooting JFK, thus the films must be altered is like saying that all the $20 dollar bills in your possession were believed to be $100 bills, so someone must have altered them. Bill Miller Can't wait for the English translation. Will it be available soon?

Thomas E. Mahl. Desperate Deception: British Covert Operations in the United States, 1939-44 (Brassey’s, Inc., 1998), p. 103: The grassy knollers represent the continuation of the cover-up by other, "dissident" means. The objective, and the tactics employed, necessarily remain the same: stasis; and smear. Paul

One of them had the full weight of the CIA's thuggy legions behind him; the other had merely the law. No contest. But did he? See Lifton's essay Pig on a Leash for a very different truth! Great to see this important piece of work aired on the Forum. Well done. More, please! Paul

Murray was - still is? - white, Len: Paul

Murray was - still is? - white, Len: Paul

December 1963 – Number 49 (Volume 5, No 12) M.S.Arnoni, “The Assassination,” special one-page editorial insert between pp.12-13 February 1965 – Number 63 (Volume 7, No 2) J.R.Keisler, “From Readers’ Letters: An Assassin’s Motive,” p.22 Bernard Edwin Galitz, “From Readers’ Letters: The ‘Unfact’ of the Assassination,” p.22 March 1965 – Number 64 (Volume 7, No 3) Harold Feldman, “Fifty-one Witnesses: The Grassy Knoll,” pp.16-25 Lillian Castellano, “From Readers’ Letters: Oswald Censored,” p.30 April 1965 – Number 65 (Volume 7, No 4) Mark Lane, “Who is Jack Ruby?,” pp.8-11 May 1965 – Number 66 (Volume 7, No 5) Sylvia Meagher, “Readers’ Letters: Oswald – a Patsy?,” p.31 November 1965 – Number 72 (Volume 7, No 11) Thomas C. Fiddick, “What Ruby Did Not Tell,” pp.15-16 January 1967 – Number 86 (Volume 9, No 1) M.S.Arnoni, “A Dead Brother is No Brother,” p. E. Martin Schotz, Susan Schotz, Robert Flynn, Jane Flynn, Steven Kuromiya, Gerald Herdman, Julia Hodges, Carol Goldstein, “From Readers’ Letters: Who Killed Kennedy?,” pp.30-31 J.B. Gibson, “Governor Connally and Assassination Inquiry,” p.31 February 1967 – Number 87 (Volume 9, No 2) M.S.Arnoni, “Any Road That Leads to the White House (A tragicomic play in many acts by Robert F. Kennedy),” p.7 M.S.Arnoni, “Jack Ruby Cheats History,” p.8 D. Howard Ady, “From Readers’ Letters: Who Really Killed Kennedy – And Why?,” p.29 Margaret Juliano, “From Readers’ Letters: Robert Kennedy’s Intention,” p.30 March 1967 – Number 88 (Volume 9, No 3) Sylvia Meagher, “Post-Assassination Credibility Chasm,” pp.21-22 April 1967 – Number 89 (Volume 9, No 4) M.S.Arnoni, “An Assassination’s Retroactivity,” p.9 Lesley Woolf Hedley, “MacBird Flies Low,” p.26 Bernard Edwin Galitz, “From Readers’ Letters: Warren Skeptics Vindicated,” pp.28-29 Edward Schindeler, “From Readers’ Letters: The Kennedy Ethos,” p.29 Arnold S. Daniels, “From Readers’ Letters: Who Said That Jack Ruby Said?,” pp.29-30 May 1967 – Number 90 (Volume 9, No 5) Mrs. Lee Dresh, “From Readers’ Letters: LBJ’s Supporters,” p.29 June 1967 – Number 91 (Volume 9, No 6) Sylvia Meagher, “After the Battle, the Book,” pp.25-27 September 1967 – Number 94 (Volume 9, No 9) Sylvia Meagher, “From Readers’ Letters: BR and TMO,” p.31 October 1967 – Number 95 (Volume 9, No 10) M.S.Arnoni, “Garrison and Warren: Anything in Common?,” pp.11-12 November 1967 – Number 96 (Volume 9, No 11) Jim Garrison, “From Readers’ Letters: Jim Garrison Knows Himself to be Right,” pp.22-23 December 1967 – Number 97 (Volume 9, No 12) Connor Cruise O’Brien, “Veto by Assassination?,” pp.16-18 Harold Feldman, “From Readers’ Letters: Garrison and Warren – Anything in Common?,” p.29 Maggie Field, “From Readers’ Letters: Garrison and Warren – Anything in Common?,” p.29 Sylvia Meagher, “From Readers’ Letters: Garrison and Warren – Anything in Common?,” p.29 Penn Jones, Jr., “From Readers’ Letters: Garrison and Warren – Anything in Common?,” pp.29-30 Leo Sauvage, “From Readers’ Letters: Garrison and Warren – Anything in Common?,” p.30

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO110A.html "OSAMAGATE" by Michel Chossudovsky Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG), Montréal Posted at globalresearch.ca 9 October 2001 Confronted with mounting evidence, the US Administration can no longer deny its links to Osama. While the CIA admits that Osama bin Laden was an "intelligence asset" during the Cold War, the relationship is said to "go way back". Most news reports consider that these Osama-CIA links belong to the "bygone era" of the Soviet-Afghan war. They are invariably viewed as "irrelevant" to an understanding of present events. Lost in the barrage of recent history, the role of the CIA in supporting and developing international terrorist organisations during the Cold war and its aftermath is casually ignored or downplayed by the Western media. Yes, We did support Him, but "He Went Against Us" A blatant example of media distortion is the so-called "blowback" thesis: "intelligence assets" are said to "have gone against their sponsors"; "what we've created blows back in our face" (1). In a twisted logic, the US government and the CIA are portrayed as the ill-fated victims: The US media, nonetheless, concedes that "the Taliban's coming to power [in 1995] is partly the outcome of the U.S. support of the Mujahideen, the radical Islamic group, in the 1980s in the war against the Soviet Union"(3). But it also readily dismisses its own factual statements and concludes in chorus, that the CIA had been tricked by a deceitful Osama. It's like "a son going against his father". The "blowback" thesis is a fabrication. The evidence amply confirms that the CIA never severed its ties to the "Islamic Militant Network". Since the end of the Cold War, these covert intelligence links have not only been maintained, they have in become increasingly sophisticated. New undercover initiatives financed by the Golden Crescent drug trade were set in motion in Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Balkans. Pakistan's military and intelligence apparatus (controlled by the CIA) essentially "served as a catalyst for the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of six new Muslim republics in Central Asia" (4). Replicating the Iran Contragate Pattern Remember Ollie North and the Nicaraguan Contras under the Reagan Administration when weapons financed by the drug trade were channeled to "freedom fighters" in Washington's covert war against the Sandinista government. The same pattern was used in the Balkans to arm and equip the Mujahideen fighting in the ranks of the Bosnian Muslim army against the Armed Forces of the Yugoslav Federation. Throughout the 1990s, the Pakistan Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) was used by the CIA as a go-between -- to channel weapons and Mujahideen mercenaries to the Bosnian Muslim Army in the civil war in Yugoslavia. According to a report of the London based International Media Corporation: "From the Horse's Mouth" Ironically, the US Administration's undercover military-intelligence operations in Bosnia have been fully documented by the Republican Party. A lengthy Congressional report by the Republican Party Committee (RPC) published in 1997, largely confirms the International Media Corporation report quoted above. The RPC Congressional report accuses the Clinton administration of having "helped turn Bosnia into a militant Islamic base" leading to the recruitment through the so-called "Militant Islamic Network," of thousands of Mujahideen from the Muslim world: Complicity of the Clinton Administration In other words, the Republican Party Committee report confirms unequivocally the complicity of the Clinton Administration with several Islamic fundamentalist organisations including Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda. The Republicans wanted at the time to undermine the Clinton Administration. However, at a time when the entire country had its eyes riveted on the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the Republicans no doubt chose not to trigger an untimely "Iran-Bosniagate" affair, which might have unduly diverted public attention away from the Lewinsky scandal. The Republicans wanted to impeach Bill Clinton "for having lied to the American People" regarding his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. On the more substantive "foreign policy lies" regarding drug running and covert operations in the Balkans, Democrats and Republicans agreed in unison, no doubt pressured by the Pentagon and the CIA not to "spill the beans". From Bosnia to Kosovo The "Bosnian pattern" described in the 1997 Congressional RPC report was replicated in Kosovo. With the complicity of NATO and the US State Department. Mujahideen mercenaries from the Middle East and Central Asia were recruited to fight in the ranks of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in 1998-99, largely supporting NATO's war effort. Confirmed by British military sources, the task of arming and training of the KLA had been entrusted in 1998 to the US Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and Britain's Secret Intelligence Services MI6, together with "former and serving members of 22 SAS [britain's 22nd Special Air Services Regiment], as well as three British and American private security companies" (7). While British SAS Special Forces in bases in Northern Albania were training the KLA, military instructors from Turkey and Afghanistan financed by the "Islamic jihad" were collaborating in training the KLA in guerilla and diversion tactics (9): Congressional Testimonies on KLA-Osama links According to Frank Ciluffo of the Globalized Organised Crime Program, in a testimony presented to the House of Representatives Judicial Committee: According to Ralf Mutschke of Interpol's Criminal Intelligence division also in a testimony to the House Judicial Committee: Madeleine Albright Covets the KLA These KLA links to international terrorism and organised crime documented by the US Congress were totally ignored by the Clinton Administration. In fact, in the months preceding the bombing of Yugoslavia, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was busy building a "political legitimacy" for the KLA. The paramilitary army had --from one day to the next-- been elevated to the status of a bona fide "democratic" force in Kosovo. In turn, Madeleine Albright has forced the pace of international diplomacy: the KLA had been spearheaded into playing a central role in the failed "peace negotiations" at Rambouiillet in early 1999. The Senate and the House tacitly endorse State Terrorism While the various Congressional reports confirmed that the US government had been working hand in glove with Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda, this did not prevent the Clinton and later the Bush Administration from arming and equipping the KLA. The Congressional documents also confirm that members of the Senate and the House knew the relationship of the Administration to international terrorism. To quote the statement of Rep. John Kasich of the House Armed Services Committee: "We connected ourselves [in 1998-99] with the KLA, which was the staging point for bin Laden..." (13) In the wake of the tragic events of September 11, Republicans and Democrats in unison have given their full support to the President to "wage war on Osama". In 1999, Senator Jo Lieberman had stated authoritatively that "Fighting for the KLA is fighting for human rights and American values." In the hours following the October 7 missile attacks on Afghanistan, the same Jo Lieberman called for punitive air strikes against Iraq: "We're in a war against terrorism... We can't stop with bin Laden and the Taliban." Yet Senator Jo Lieberman, as member of the Armed Services Committee of the Senate had access to all the Congressional documents pertaining to "KLA-Osama" links. In making this statement, he was fully aware that that agencies of the US government as well as NATO were supporting international terrorism. The War in Macedonia In the wake of the 1999 war in Yugoslavia, the terrorist activities of the KLA were extended into Southern Serbia and Macedonia. Meanwhile, the KLA --renamed the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC)-- was elevated to United Nations status, implying the granting of "legitimate" sources of funding through United Nations as well as through bilateral channels, including direct US military aid. And barely two months after the official inauguration of the KPC under UN auspices (September 1999), KPC-KLA commanders - using UN resources and equipment - were already preparing the assaults into Macedonia, as a logical follow-up to their terrorist activities in Kosovo. According to the Skopje daily Dnevnik, the KPC had established a "sixth operation zone" in Southern Serbia and Macedonia: According to the BBC, "Western special forces were still training the guerrillas" meaning that they were assisting the KLA in opening up "a sixth operation zone" in Southern Serbia and Macedonia (15). "The Islamic Militant Network" and NATO join hands in Macedonia Among the foreign mercenaries now fighting in Macedonia (October 2001) in the ranks of self-proclaimed National Liberation Army (NLA), are Mujahideen from the Middle East and the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union. Also within the KLA's proxy force in Macedonia are senior US military advisers from a private mercenary outfit on contract to the Pentagon as well as "soldiers of fortune" from Britain, Holland and Germany. Some of these Western mercenaries had previously fought with the KLA and the Bosnian Muslim Army (16). Extensively documented by the Macedonian press and statements of the Macedonian authorities, the US government and the "Islamic Militant Network" are working hand in glove in supporting and financing the self-proclaimed National Liberation Army (NLA), involved in the terrorist attacks in Macedonia. The NLA is a proxy of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). In turn the KLA and the UN sponsored Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) are identical institutions with the same commanders and military personnel. KPC Commanders on UN salaries are fighting in the NLA together with the Mujahideen. In a bitter twist, while supported and financed by Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda, the KLA-NLA is also supported by NATO and the United Nations mission to Kosovo (UNMIK). In fact, the "Islamic Militant Network" --also using Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) as the CIA's go-between-- still constitutes an integral part of Washington's covert military-intelligence operations in Macedonia and Southern Serbia. The KLA-NLA terrorists are funded from US military aid, the United Nations peace-keeping budget as well as by several Islamic organisations including Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda. Drug money is also being used to finance the terrorists with the complicity of the US government. The recruitment of Mujahideen to fight in the ranks of the NLA in Macedonia is implemented through various Islamic groups. US military advisers mingle with Mujahideen within the same paramilitary force, Western mercenaries from NATO countries fight alongside Mujahideen recruited in the Middle East and Central Asia. And the US media calls this a "blowback" where so-called "intelligence assets" have gone against their sponsors! But this did not happen during the Cold war! It is happening right now in Macedonia. And it is confirmed by numerous press reports, eyewitness accounts, photographic evidence as well as official statements by the Macedonian Prime Minister, who has accused the Western military alliance of supporting the terrorists. Moreover, the official Macedonian New Agency (MIA) has pointed to the complicity between Washington's envoy Ambassador James Pardew and the NLA terrorists (17). In other words, the so-called "intelligence assets" are still serving the interests of their US sponsors. Pardew's background is revealing in this regard. He started his Balkans career in 1993 as a senior intelligence officer for the Joint Chiefs of Staff responsible for channeling US aid to the Bosnian Muslim Army. Colonel Pardew had been put in charge of arranging the "air-drops" of supplies to Bosnian forces. At the time, these "air drops" were tagged as "civilian aid". It later transpired --confirmed by the RPC Congressional report-- that the US had violated the arms embargo. And James Pardew played an important role as part of the team of intelligence officials working closely with the Chairman of the National Security Council Anthony Lake. Pardew was later involved in the Dayton negotiations (1995) on behalf of the US Defence Department. In 1999, prior to the bombing of Yugoslavia, he was appointed "Special Representative for Military Stabilisation and Kosovo Implementation" by President Clinton. One of his tasks was to channel support to the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which at the time was also being supported by Osama bin Laden. Pardew was in this regard instrumental in replicating the "Bosnian pattern" in Kosovo and subsequently in Macedonia... Justification for Waging War The Bush Administration has stated that it has proof that Osama bin Laden is behind the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon. In the words of British Prime Minister Tony Blair: "I have seen absolutely powerful and incontrovertible evidence of his [Osama] link to the events of the 11th of September" (18). What Tony Blair fails to mention is that agencies of the US government including the CIA continue to "harbor" Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda. A major war supposedly "against international terrorism" has been launched by a government which is harboring international terrorism as part of its foreign policy agenda. In other words, the main justification for waging war has been totally fabricated. The American people have been deliberately and consciously misled by their government into supporting a major military adventure which affects our collective future. This decision to mislead the American people was taken barely a few hours after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre. Without supporting evidence, Osama had already been tagged as the "prime suspect." Two days later on Thursday the 13th of September --while the FBI investigations had barely commenced-- President Bush pledged to "lead the world to victory". The Administration confirmed its intention to embark on "a sustained military campaign rather than a single dramatic action" directed against Osama bin Laden (19). In addition to Afghanistan, a number of countries in the Middle East were mentioned as possible targets including Iraq, Iran, Libya and the Sudan. And several prominent US political figures and media pundits have demanded that the air strikes be extended to other countries "which harbour international terrorism." According to intelligence sources, Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda has operations in some 50 to 60 countries providing ample pretext to intervene in several "rogue states" in the Middle East and Central Asia. Moreover, the entire US Legislature --with only one honest and courageous dissenting voice in the House of Representatives-- has tacitly endorsed the Administration's decision to go war. Members of the House and the Senate have access through the various committees to official confidential reports and intelligence documents which prove beyond doubt that agencies of the US government have ties to international terrorism. They cannot say "we did not know". In fact, most of this evidence is in the public domain. Under the historical resolution of the US Congress adopted by both the House and the Senate on the 14th of September: Whereas there is no evidence that agencies of the US government "aided the terrorist attacks" on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, there is ample and detailed evidence that agencies of the US government as well as NATO, have since the end of the Cold War continued to "harbor such organizations". Patriotism cannot be based on a falsehood, particularly when it constitutes a pretext for waging war and killing innocent civilians. Ironically, the text of the Congressional resolution also constitutes a "blowback" against the US sponsors of international terrorism. The resolution does not exclude the conduct of an "Osamagate" inquiry, as well as appropriate actions against agencies and/or individuals of the US government, who may have collaborated with Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda. And the evidence indelibly points directly to the Bush Administration. Endnotes (1) United Press International (UPI), 15 September 2001. (2) The Guardian, London, 15 September 2001. (3) UPI, op cit. (4) For further details see Michel Chossudovsky, Who is Osama bin Laden, Centre for Research on Globalisation, 12 September 2001, http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO109C.html. (5) International Media Corporation Defense and Strategy Policy, US Commits Forces, Weapons to Bosnia, London, 31 October 1994. (6) Congressional Press Release, Republican Party Committee (RPC), US Congress, Clinton-Approved Iranian Arms Transfers Help Turn Bosnia into Militant Islamic Base, 16 January 1997, available on the website of the Centre of Research on Globalisation (CRG) at http://globalresearch.ca/articles/DCH109A.html. The original document is on the website of the US Senate Republican Party Committee (Senator Larry Craig), at http://www.senate.gov/~rpc/releases/1997/iran.htm) (7) The Scotsman, Glasgow, 29 August 1999. (8) Ibid. (9) Truth in Media, Kosovo in Crisis, Phoenix, Arizona, 2 April 1999. (10) Sunday Times, London, 29 November 1998. (11) US Congress, Testimony of Frank J. Cilluffo , Deputy Director, Global Organized Crime, Program director to the House Judiciary Committee, 13 December 2000. (12) US Congress, Testimony of Ralf Mutschke of Interpol's Criminal Intelligence Division, to the House Judicial Committee, 13 December 2000. (13) US Congress, Transcripts of the House Armed Services Committee, 5 October 1999. (14) Macedonian Information Centre Newsletter, Skopje, 21 March 2000, published by BBC Summary of World Broadcast, 24 March 2000. (15) BBC, 29 January 2001, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/eur...00/1142478.stm) (16) Scotland on Sunday, Glasgow, 15 June 2001 at http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/text_only.cfm?id=SS01025960, see also UPI, 9 July 2001. For further details see Michel Chossudovsky, Washington behind Terrorist Assaults in Macedonia, Centre for Research on Globalisation, August 2001, at http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO108B.html.) (17) Macedonian Information Agency (MIA), 26 September 2001, available at the Centre for Research on Globalisation at http://globalresearch.ca/articles/MNA110A.html (18) Quoted in The Daily Telegraph, London, 1 October 2001. (19) Statement by official following the speech by President George Bush on 14 September 2001 quoted in the International Herald Tribune, Paris, 14 September 2001. The URL of this article is: http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO110A.html Copyright, Michel Chossudovsky, Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG), October 2001. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to post this text on non-commercial community internet sites, provided the source and the URL are indicated, the essay remains intact and the copyright note is displayed. To publish this text in printed and/or other forms, including commercial Internet sites and excerpts, contact the Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG) at editor@globalresearch.ca, fax 1-514-4256224.

They were eyewitnesses? Is there something you're not telling us, Len? Andy Boehm, "Late for work: The Mysterious Massacre at the CIA," Prevailing Winds, Premiere Issue, (undated, but circa 1993), pp.15-27. Try p. 27 for a sceptical BATF agent: "Which brings us back to David Fischer, the gun dealer who identified Kansi...Fischer had shown the BATF agent...federal and state gun purchase documents which Kansi had signed with his correct name. Yet Fischer says that the underwhelmed agent 'blew me away.' Why? Because, said the Post [Washington], Fischer claimed the agent wanted to find 'records that would show that Michael Murray, a Vienna man accused of painting anti-CIA graffitti on streets there, had purchased a gun.'" NB:Boehm promised a follow-up piece in the next edition of Prevailing Winds, one designed to "wrap up 20 or 30 loose ends." If I have it, I'm damned if I can find it. Glad to have assisted in your quest for another sceptic. Paul

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO109C.html Who Is Osama Bin Laden? by Michel Chossudovsky Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa Centre for Research on Globalisation (CRG), Montréal Posted at globalresearch.ca 12 September 2001 Prime suspect in the New York and Washington terrorists attacks, branded by the FBI as an "international terrorist" for his role in the African US embassy bombings, Saudi born Osama bin Laden was recruited during the Soviet-Afghan war "ironically under the auspices of the CIA, to fight Soviet invaders" (1). In 1979 "the largest covert operation in the history of the CIA" was launched in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in support of the pro-Communist government of Babrak Kamal (2): The Islamic "jihad" was supported by the United States and Saudi Arabia with a significant part of the funding generated from the Golden Crescent drug trade: The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) using Pakistan's military Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) played a key role in training the Mujahideen. In turn, the CIA sponsored guerrilla training was integrated with the teachings of Islam: Pakistan's Intelligence Apparatus Pakistan's ISI was used as a "go-between". The CIA covert support to the "jihad" operated indirectly through the Pakistani ISI, --i.e. the CIA did not channel its support directly to the Mujahideen. In other words, for these covert operations to be "successful", Washington was careful not to reveal the ultimate objective of the "jihad", which consisted in destroying the Soviet Union. In the words of CIA's Milton Beardman "We didn't train Arabs". Yet according to Abdel Monam Saidali, of the Al-aram Center for Strategic Studies in Cairo, bin Laden and the "Afghan Arabs" had been imparted "with very sophisticated types of training that was allowed to them by the CIA" (6). CIA's Beardman confirmed, in this regard, that Osama bin Laden was not aware of the role he was playing on behalf of Washington. In the words of bin Laden (quoted by Beardman): "neither I, nor my brothers saw evidence of American help"(7). Motivated by nationalism and religious fervor, the Islamic warriors were unaware that they were fighting the Soviet Army on behalf of Uncle Sam. While there were contacts at the upper levels of the intelligence hierarchy, Islamic rebel leaders in theatre had no contacts with Washington or the CIA. With CIA backing and the funneling of massive amounts of US military aid, the Pakistani ISI had developed into a "parallel structure wielding enormous power over all aspects of government" (8). The ISI had a staff composed of military and intelligence officers, bureaucrats, undercover agents and informers, estimated at 150,000 (9). Meanwhile, CIA operations had also reinforced the Pakistani military regime led by General Zia Ul Haq: The Golden Crescent Drug Triangle The history of the drug trade in Central Asia is intimately related to the CIA's covert operations. Prior to the Soviet-Afghan war, opium production in Afghanistan and Pakistan was directed to small regional markets. There was no local production of heroin (11). In this regard, Alfred McCoy's study confirms that within two years of the onslaught of the CIA operation in Afghanistan, "the Pakistan-Afghanistan borderlands became the world's top heroin producer, supplying 60 percent of U.S. demand. In Pakistan, the heroin-addict population went from near zero in 1979... to 1.2 million by 1985 -- a much steeper rise than in any other nation" (12). In the Wake of the Cold War In the wake of the Cold War, the Central Asian region is not only strategic for its extensive oil reserves, it also produces three quarters of the World's opium representing multibillion dollar revenues to business syndicates, financial institutions, intelligence agencies and organized crime. The annual proceeds of the Golden Crescent drug trade (between 100 and 200 billion dollars) represents approximately one third of the Worldwide annual turnover of narcotics, estimated by the United Nations to be of the order of $500 billion (14). With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, a new surge in opium production has unfolded. (According to UN estimates, the production of opium in Afghanistan in 1998-99 -- coinciding with the build up of armed insurgencies in the former Soviet republics-- reached a record high of 4600 metric tons (15). Powerful business syndicates in the former Soviet Union allied with organized crime are competing for the strategic control over the heroin routes. The ISI's extensive intelligence military-network was not dismantled in the wake of the Cold War. The CIA continued to support the Islamic "jihad" out of Pakistan. New undercover initiatives were set in motion in Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Balkans. Pakistan's military and intelligence apparatus essentially "served as a catalyst for the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of six new Muslim republics in Central Asia” (16). Meanwhile, Islamic missionaries of the Wahhabi sect from Saudi Arabia had established themselves in the Muslim republics as well as within the Russian federation encroaching upon the institutions of the secular State. Despite its anti-American ideology, Islamic fundamentalism was largely serving Washington's strategic interests in the former Soviet Union. Following the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, the civil war in Afghanistan continued unabated. The Taliban were being supported by the Pakistani Deobandis and their political party the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI). In 1993, JUI entered the government coalition of Prime Minister Benazzir Bhutto. Ties between JUI, the Army and ISI were established. In 1995, with the downfall of the Hezb-I-Islami Hektmatyar government in Kabul, the Taliban not only instated a hardline Islamic government, they also "handed control of training camps in Afghanistan over to JUI factions..." (17). And the JUI with the support of the Saudi Wahhabi movements played a key role in recruiting volunteers to fight in the Balkans and the former Soviet Union. Jane Defense Weekly confirms in this regard that "half of Taliban manpower and equipment originate[d] in Pakistan under the ISI" (18). In fact, it would appear that following the Soviet withdrawal both sides in the Afghan civil war continued to receive covert support through Pakistan's ISI (19). In other words, backed by Pakistan's military intelligence (ISI) which in turn was controlled by the CIA, the Taliban Islamic State was largely serving American geopolitical interests. The Golden Crescent drug trade was also being used to finance and equip the Bosnian Muslim Army (starting in the early 1990s) and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). In last few months there is evidence that Mujahideen mercenaries are fighting in the ranks of KLA-NLA terrorists in their assaults into Macedonia. No doubt, this explains why Washington has closed its eyes on the reign of terror imposed by the Taliban including the blatant derogation of women's rights, the closing down of schools for girls, the dismissal of women employees from government offices and the enforcement of "the Sharia laws of punishment" (20). The War in Chechnya With regard to Chechnya, the main rebel leaders Shamil Basayev and Al Khattab were trained and indoctrinated in CIA sponsored camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to Yossef Bodansky, director of the U.S. Congress's Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, the war in Chechnya had been planned during a secret summit of HizbAllah International held in 1996 in Mogadishu, Somalia (21). The summit, was attended by Osama bin Laden and high-ranking Iranian and Pakistani intelligence officers. In this regard, the involvement of Pakistan's ISI in Chechnya "goes far beyond supplying the Chechens with weapons and expertise: the ISI and its radical Islamic proxies are actually calling the shots in this war" (22). Russia's main pipeline route transits through Chechnya and Dagestan. Despite Washington's perfunctory condemnation of Islamic terrorism, the indirect beneficiaries of the Chechen war are the Anglo-American oil conglomerates which are vying for control over oil resources and pipeline corridors out of the Caspian Sea basin. The two main Chechen rebel armies (respectively led by Commander Shamil Basayev and Emir Khattab) estimated at 35,000 strong were supported by Pakistan's ISI, which also played a key role in organizing and training the Chechen rebel army: Following his training and indoctrination stint, Basayev was assigned to lead the assault against Russian federal troops in the first Chechen war in 1995. His organization had also developed extensive links to criminal syndicates in Moscow as well as ties to Albanian organized crime and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). In 1997-98, according to Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) "Chechen warlords started buying up real estate in Kosovo... through several real estate firms registered as a cover in Yugoslavia" (24). Basayev's organisation has also been involved in a number of rackets including narcotics, illegal tapping and sabotage of Russia's oil pipelines, kidnapping, prostitution, trade in counterfeit dollars and the smuggling of nuclear materials (See Mafia linked to Albania's collapsed pyramids (25)). Alongside the extensive laundering of drug money, the proceeds of various illicit activities have been funneled towards the recruitment of mercenaries and the purchase of weapons. During his training in Afghanistan, Shamil Basayev linked up with Saudi born veteran Mujahideen Commander "Al Khattab" who had fought as a volunteer in Afghanistan. Barely a few months after Basayev's return to Grozny, Khattab was invited (early 1995) to set up an army base in Chechnya for the training of Mujahideen fighters. According to the BBC, Khattab's posting to Chechnya had been "arranged through the Saudi-Arabian based [international] Islamic Relief Organisation, a militant religious organisation, funded by mosques and rich individuals which channeled funds into Chechnya" (26). Concluding Remarks Since the Cold War era, Washington has consciously supported Osama bin Laden, while at same time placing him on the FBI's "most wanted list" as the World's foremost terrorist. While the Mujahideen are busy fighting America's war in the Balkans and the former Soviet Union, the FBI --operating as a US based Police Force- is waging a domestic war against terrorism, operating in some respects independently of the CIA which has --since the Soviet-Afghan war-- supported international terrorism through its covert operations. In a cruel irony, while the Islamic jihad --featured by the Bush Adminstration as "a threat to America"-- is blamed for the terrorist assaults on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, these same Islamic organisations constitute a key instrument of US military-intelligence operations in the Balkans and the former Soviet Union. In the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the truth must prevail to prevent the Bush Adminstration together with its NATO partners from embarking upon a military adventure which threatens the future of humanity.

By happy coincidence, I took receipt yesterday of the editions of The Minority of One which more or less complete my collection. (Ah, the wonders of ebay...) Flicking through them late last night I came across the following letter from a Chicago-based gentleman named Harry Zitzler. Shrewd guy, Harry: Harry Zitzler, “From Readers Letters: The Conforming Dissidents,” The Minority of One, May 1962, (Vol 4, No 5 [30]), p.15:

Reliable evidence? Your choice of term is interesting: eyewitness testimony is "lightweight supposition"? I'm leaving the satire to the opposition on this thread. They're doing a great job. Paul

I can assure you, Mark, I had precisely the same reaction when I first began kicking this solution around. But force of logic compelled. Let me offer you another important reason why. In no other scenario do we find this advantage - the gunman controlled the speed of his prey. I put it to you that this is no small advantage. I'll try and dig out something that addresses directly Connally's post-Dallas attitude to the SS. Not seen any reliable evidence for this. By all mean produce for consideration. But I can offer you this: And, in fairness, the reader will also find this within the same footnote: Mrs. Kennedy later sent William R. Greer, the driver of the Presidential limousine, a handwritten note. It said, “For Bill Greer, whom the President loved, and who was with him until the very end. Thank you.” (New York Times, July 2, 1966, p. 10.) Paul

Understood. But please enter a plea on my behalf to the researcher concerned to give serious consideration to offering his findings publicly. This is a subject long overdue revisiting. True; and a pity. I am reminded of something from Wordsworth: "Apostacy from ancient faith brought but conversion to a higher creed." Noted, with appreciation. Paul

Nat, There aren't many of us; and of the few I've come across, I can think of none who reject the entire film as a fabrication. But most do posit some degree of alteration. It is a question of degree, ranging from simple frame removal, to, as in Fred Newcomb's case, something much more elaborate. Paul This is not accurate. Originally I thought like Newcomb that the alteration was mostly frame removal plus alteration of frame 313. After considerable more study and expert opinions, I now believe that Zapruder did not shoot the extant film but was a witting accomplice in a hoax which is not fully understood, but involves a very quick rough cut followed by a more detailed sophisticated version which is a fabrication based on a guide film combined with actual images of the assassination... essentially an ANIMATION. Others who endorse some version of this besides me are John Costella, David Healy, David Mantik, David Lifton and Jim Fetzer. So do not include us in your "most who posit some degree of alteration", because we believe it was FABRICATION, not ALTERATION. There is considerable significant evidence that Zapruder did not take the extant film. Jack Jack, You have the wrong end of the stick. Nat asked me specifically about advocates of an in-car shooting, not pro-alterationsists per se. And, no, to anticipate a possible future objection, I do not claim now, nor have I the slightest interest in claiming in future, that pro-alterationists are crypto-in-car-shootists. The evidence is abundant, and unequivocal - they aren't. More's the pity. Paul

And what, Jack, are these witnesses saying? Moving on... To the contrary, it's audacious, certainly, but infinitely more logical than relying on an external assassin, firing from a greater distance, at a car whose speed the conspirators cannot control, in a motorcade teaming with potential obstacles, not least motorcycle outriders, and the general public. Now that really would make nonsense of all the other pieces of careful planning. Not so. Once the conspirators decided upon a public execution, everything possible had to be done to minimise the risks of failure. A loyal chauffeur-cum-bodyguard, a la De Gaulle in August '62 at Petit-Clamart, could not be permitted. Jack, that's forty+ years of tired, fruitless, and, for the most part, unexamined, orthodoxy speaking. You've never hoved to the easy, safe consensus on the photographic record, and I urge you to take that same invaluable spirit of critical enquiry into the province of the mechanics of the assassination. Paul

Yes: but worth reminding ourselves of the duration of those films. They're not exactly of epic length. Nix himself claimed his film had been tampered with; Zapruder was manifestly confused before the Presidential Commission when confronted by what purported to be "his" film. His descriptions of his own film do not match the film we have today. Even more bizarrely, Moorman reportedly told the FBI she hadn't taken any film of the assassination. And so on and so forth. Do we know this for sure? How do we know what was said in private by the limousine occupants? Do we have a full picture of what private pressures to conform were exerted? I must put it to you that we have scant knowledge of these matters. A fair conclusion; and, yes, I believe he was. There can be no doubt, surely, that Kellerman was part of the cover-up? Oh, but I can suggest - two of the profoundest reasons of all - politics and fear. Yes; and saving their country from potential tumult. Fair point: I make no bones about it, I would like more. But again, this is hardly dispositive since a) none of the alternatives are significantly better; and we have abundant proof of widespread tampering with statements. How many eyewitnesses were asked the relevant straight questions? I admit nothing of the sort: I have. What you're really saying is that you don't agree. That's a different matter all together. Paul

Thank you, Paul. FYI, one of the most respected and brilliant of the so-called second generation researchers shares your belief regarding the back wound. I'd be fascinated to see his (?) argument. Any chance of posting it? Paul

Two, Tim.

Nat, There aren't many of us; and of the few I've come across, I can think of none who reject the entire film as a fabrication. But most do posit some degree of alteration. It is a question of degree, ranging from simple frame removal, to, as in Fred Newcomb's case, something much more elaborate. Paul

Sadly, I and a couple of friends have, too. Wherever you are, Fred, best wishes & thank you.

Charles, I believe two shots were fired at Kennedy from within the presidential limousine. The first hit him in the throat, struck his spine, and lodged in a lung. The second entered the left temple and exited from the right rear of his skull. I believe the wound in his back was a post-mortem fabrication. Ditto the entrance wound in the rear of his head. Hope that clarifies. Paul

Tim, Your decision to start this thread seems to me an intelligent and constructive response to my suggestion. I wish the thread every success - anti-alterationists, put your best foot forward, and let newcomers - and any other interested parties - see why you believe what you believe. I intend to read it avidly; and sincerely hope to profit from it. But, true to my part of the bargain, I'll refrain from any critiques. I urge fellow pro-alterationists to do the same. Again, good luck, and well done. Paul

Your choice, Dennis. It ain't mine. Paul

The purpose of this thread is to furnish a one-stop shop for those commencing their exploration of the issue: It isn’t to provide yet another pretext for the renewal of old hostilities. To that end, I urge the anti-alterationists to establish an equivalent thread. Here’s the deal – we respect each others threads, and keep them purely for reading lists, suggested links, extracts etc. The ultimate goal, upon which both sides should surely be able to agree, is to relocate the debate on the most informed and rational ground we can. That means giving newcomers the widest range of information and options possible – on both sides of the argument. There is no party line. I happen to be an unrepentent in-car shootist - but I neither seek nor desire to limit contributions to the like-minded. All I do insist upon is a commitment to the rational exposition of the case for alteration. Fair enough? To kick-start the thread, I begin, appropriately enough, with the very first sustained written assault on the Z-film’s veracity. It’s only part of the chapter concerned, and contains much with which I profoundly disagree. Yet I remain deeply in its debt. So, too, do many others, as we shall see in future postings: (1) Abraham Zapruder, “Testimony of Abraham Zapruder [dated July 22, 1964],” in Hearings, v. 7, p. 570. (2) Lyndal L. Shaneyfelt, “Testimony of Lyndal L. Shaneyfelt [dated June 4, 1964],” in Hearings, v. 5, p. 139. (3) Calculation by photo triangulation. (4) “…the Secret Service agent…must be able to hit the target under any and all conditions…” (C.B. Colby, Secret Service: History, Duties and Equipment, p. 20.) According to Merriman Smith, “All [agents on the White House Detail of the Secret Service] are crack shots with either hand. Their pistol marksmanship is tested on one of the toughest ranges in the country. The bull’s-eye of their target is about half the size of the one ordinarily used on police and Army ranges. They must qualify with an unusually high score every thirty days, and if any one of them – or any of the White House police, which falls under Secret Service jurisdiction – falls below a certain marksmanship standard, they are transferred. Agents must also qualify periodically firing from moving vehicles. This accounts for the requirement to shoot well with either hand. A right-handed agent might be clinging to a speeding car with that hand and have to shoot with the left.” (Timothy G. Smith (ed.), op. cit., p. 226.) In his testimony, Greer claimed he “…made a quick glance and back again,” over his right shoulder, at the time of the second shot. He stated, “My eyes [turned] slightly [to the right] more than my head. My eyes went more than my head around. I had a vision real quick of it.” (Greer, op. cit., v. 2, p. 118.) One study (1971) of the Zapruder film approximated the direction, clockwise, that the occupants faced in the limousine. In orientation, noon was the front of the car, 6 o’clock was on the trunk, 9 o’clock was the mid-point on the left, and 3 o’clock that on the right of the limousine. Greer was judged to be looking to the right and rear twice. He was in the 4:30 position from frames 282-290, the sequence when Connally is shot; in the 3:30-5 position from frames 303-316, the sequence with the fatal shot. Another study (1967), made without the film and working only from the frames, estimated Greer to be 40 degrees to his right beginning at frame 240 and extending to 80 degrees from frame 270 through frame 309 (309 was the last frame available to the researcher). (Ronald Christensen, “A Preliminary Analysis of the Pictures of the Kennedy Assassination,” p. 69.) (5) Shaneyfelt, loc. cit. (6) Zapruder film, “Commission Exhibit No. 885. ‘Album of black and white photographs of frames from the Zapruder, Nix and Muchmore films,’” in Hearings, v. 18, pp. 1-80. According to FBI Director Hoover, in a letter of Dec. 14, 1965, frames 314 and 315 were transposed in printing. Visually, it appears to reverse the direction of the head movement. (7) In a few of the more sophisticated available copies, splice marks were retouched out. A 16 mm version contained evidence of only one splice. (8) In a few of the more sophisticated copies, color change was consistent throughout the film A 16 mm version, in the Life magazine photo library, is of excellent quality, containing consistent color throughout. This copy, however, does contain evidence of a splice between frames 156-157. (9) Nix film. Muchmore film. (10) Dan Rather, loc. cit. (11) She stated, “And just as I turned and looked at him, I could see a piece of his skull sort of wedge-shaped like that, and I remember it was flesh colored with little ridges at the top. I remember thinking he just looked as if he had a slight headache. And I just remember seeing that. No blood or anything. And then he sort of did that, put his hand to his forehead and fell in my lap.” (President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, Report of Proceedings, v. 48, June 5, 1964, p. 6814.) (12) Especially in Life magazine’s 4 x 5 transparency of this frame. (13) John Connally, op. cit., v. 4, p. 133. Nellie Connally, op. cit., v. 4, p. 147. Commission Document No. 188, p. 6. Kellerman, op. cit., v. 2, pp. 74, 78. In an interview with William R. Greer, Greer said, “…my back was covered with it.” (14) This area also displays optical enlargement, especially between frames 317 and 318 (magnification jumps from 1 to 1.3). (15) Dan Rather, loc. cit. (16) Modern Cinematographer, June 1969, pp. 566, 567, 568. Note: Connally testified, “I had seem what purported to be a copy of the film when I was in hospital in Dallas.” (Connally, op. cit., v. 4, p. 145.) (17) Abraham Zapruder, Commission Document No. 7 [dated Dec. 4, 1963],” p. 12. (18) Dan Rather, loc. cit. (19) Zapruder, op. cit., v. 7, p. 751. (20) Dan Rather, loc. cit. (21) Zapruder film, “Commission Exhibit No. 885,” op. cit., v. 18, p. 19. Note: Life magazine later accepted the blame for this. It said that four frames “…had been accidentally destroyed by its photo lab technicians.” (New York Times, Jan. 30, 1967, p. 22.) (22) Commission Document No. 87, p. 434.

Dupe, deleted.