Paul Rigby

Utter Bosch? Paul

The issue is settled. Or rather, it soon will be. Definitively. Forever. Hugo is the real McCloy. We know this because Mr. Philip Agee is, according to The Gruaniad, Britain's dauntless "centre-left" daily, shortly to pronounce on Chavez's terrible ordeal at the hands of CIA coupsters. (You remember, the ones who didn't depose him, the swines.) Agee is to tell all - courtesy of peturbed CIA moralists/pinko State Dept whistle-blowers/the man in the Brooks Bros boiler suite at the corner of the bar (delete as applicable) - in a forthcoming tome of unspecified title: "...he remains as committed as ever, and busy on another book, this time about the CIA's activities in Venezuela over the years," (Duncan Campbell, "The spy who stayed out in the cold," The Guardian, G2, 11 January 2007, p.15). Mr. Agee the fearless 21st century chronicler of the CIA in Venezuela is no relation to Mr. Agee the fearless 20th century chronicler of the Agency in the broader region who, in the mid-1970s, told Claude Bourdet, in "The CIA Against Portugal," as found in JEAN PIERRE FAYE (Ed.). Portugal: The Revolution In The Labyrinth (Nottingham: Spokesman Books, 1976), p. 194, that "...the CIA is not a mysterious body with its own brand of politics: it is a tool in the hands of the President of the United States…" I am pleased to help dispel the confusion.

Interesting point. As it happens I was reading this book last night. The purpose was to look at his reaction to the JFK assassination. As you say, that part of the diary is missing. Very strange. The omission is more shocking than I can adequately feign. Yet let there be no doubt, Mr. Agee is indeed a genuine dissident, as the following makes clear: A point of view which is not to be confused with official pap such as… Much less truly outrageous subversive nonsense like…. Or patent insider flim-flam of this kind… Never mind manifest insider-drivel… And certainly not be confused with the authentic note of old-left dissent… Dissidence, US-style. Fearless stuff, no? Paul

I must remember to pinch that description of the great fraud: Plagiarism, the highest form of literary compliment. Couldn't agree more. In mitigation, those who've fallen for the deception have precious little else to hold on to, most obviously in America. It did - and still does - look that way to me. Going from memory, wasn't the Reagan-era esquadron de la muerte gang running this one? Now that lot aren't synonymous with the Agency. The grand clash, though admittedly not at the highest levels, between Agency and pro-Pentagon neo-cons was still to come: Iraq. Imagine the Agency's fate had that one gone to plan! Paul

Myra, Don't know for sure if Chavez is Agency, or merely a useful, if largely unwitting, tool. Ultimately, it makes little difference. Nevertheless, some reflections on the matter: 1) If he is Agency, he'd sure as hell undertake precisely the kind of action you accurately described, just as a Special Branch officer infiltrating, let us say, the Anti-Nazi League or the Socialist Workers'Party, would be sure to declaim his hatred of the SB/MI5 - before pouching the membership secretary's or treasurer's post! 2) His attribution of responsibility for 9/11 is, in my view, entirely justified. His recent decision to promote sales of the work of Noam Chomsky, the Agency's favourite "leftist" dissident, strongly suggests, however, a certain lack of lit crit rigour, and political consistency. Chomsky, is after all, the man who gave us the following pearl of Agency-serving nonsense:""One thing I would mention is that when it's a CIA operation, that means it's a White House operation. It's not CIA. They don't do things on their own…If it's a CIA operation it's because they were ordered to do it…" (Noam Chomsky. Class Warfare (London: Pluto Press, 1996), p. 92.) Very convincing. 2) On cue - very obliging of the chap, I must say - I note in my morning paper, under the headline "Chavez lays ground to socialism" (The Guardian, 8 January 2007, p.16) - that he is moving to occupy the vacuum left by the dying Fidel. 3) The Agency may yet decide to martyr him, but only if there's a suitable replacement in the wings. 4) A relatively unified Central and Southern American left offers rich scope for a Republican come-back after 4 to 8 years of Republican-lite government by the nominal opposition. (Buggins turn dictates some safe Democrat centrist is due for a spell in the White House.) In crude summary, think a re-run of the early/mid Reagan years. 5) All the while, Venezuelan oil money will be recycled on lots of essential infra-structure projects. They will benefit the countries concerned immensely, but prepare the country for integration with the US/North American trading bloc. Sorry to seem so cynical, but this is the way it strikes me. Paul

Myra, Couldn't agree more - until the very end. They were simply additional patsies. My favourite quote on the related subjects of Mob and Cubans appeared in New Times in the late 1970s. Citing a New York Daily News piece - which I've never got round to hunting down, but would be delighted to learn details of - the author quoted unnamed "friends" of John Roselli to the effect that Oswald was a decoy while others ambushed Kennedy from closer range. Roselli shortly thereafter took up residence in a 55-gallon oil drum. (Source: Iona Antonov, “On the Trail of the President’s Killers: part 2,” New Times, 1977, pp.26-30) I think it fell into abeyance, briefly, but has never been truly severed. Why not? The Agency cares not a jot about the well-being of most Americans, so what chance some islanders ninety miles off shore? Paul

Myra,One snap-shot I have of Nelson Rockefeller's attitude to CIA post-assassination: Of course, Keating was spoonfed by the Agency - most likely by McCone himself, according to one author - precisely to embarrass Kennedy. Paul

Here's an earlier, CIA-serving attempt, from the same (Scripps-Howard) newspaper group, to rewrite history. Note the passage highlighted. It's demonstrable rubbish:

The Cuban angle was spiked along time before that! Paul

Ah, such wit. Er, no, do you? He wasn't certain where the shots came from? Quite sure?Mr. Belin: “Where did the shots sound like they came from?” Miller: “Well, the way it sounded like, it came from the, I would say right there in the car,” 6WCH225 Plainly, a man who had no firm opinion. So are you... Yep, you have that honour... This is what Thompson's table said on page 262 about Austin Miller's statement: No. of shots: 3 Bunching of shots: 2 & 3 Direction of sound/shots: --- Date of report: 11/22/63 Total time of shots: few seconds References: 6H223-227 19H485 24H217 Archives CD 205, p. 27 Remarks: Saw "smoke or steam" coming from a group of trees N. of Elm: saw shot hit street past car. Thanks for reviving that - vindication. In the column entitled "Direction of shot/sounds," hyper-reliable Thompson would have the reader believe Miller offered nothing on the subject. Oh yeah? You can't be serious? Happily, you are. Let's revisit Miller not offering a view on where the shots originated: Mr. Belin: “Where did the shots sound like they came from?” Miller: “Well, the way it sounded like, it came from the, I would say right there in the car,” 6WCH225 This the best you could do? C'mon gents, raise the old game. Paul

As I general rule, I bother to read my opponents and quote them fairly. You should try it some time. Oh, and Austin Miller? Mr. Belin: “Where did the shots sound like they came from?” Miller: “Well, the way it sounded like, it came from the, I would say right there in the car,” 6WCH225 Verily, a "bizarre" theory!

Now this I like! By the by, I thought parts of Tarpley's Synthetic Terror: Made In USA (Progressive Press, 205) the best things I've read in years. Paul

Intelligent response, Mark. So glad you can read. It gets better: Perhaps you'd care to share with us Austin Miller's response to where the shots originated? Or some of the other interesting testimony from observers on the overpass? So now we know: Sheep seldom differ. Paul

Mark: I could not agree more. Dawn Great minds think alike - or fools seldom differ? Either of you got an argument? Paul

John, Interesting post, to which I'll return at greater length when time permits. For the moment, I wanted to draw attention to JFK's familiarity with Smith and his testimony on U.S. support for Castro. Here's the only thing I could find readily to hand: MILTON S. EISENHOWER. The Wine Is Bitter: The United States and Latin America (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1963), p.54: "During the television debate on October 21, 1960, Senator Kennedy referred to testimony given before a Senate Committee by Ambassadors Arthur Gardner and Earl E.T. Smith, both of whom had been in Cuba during the Batista regime and were known to be friendly to Batista…Said candidate Kennedy: "[they] warned of Castro, [and] the Marxist influence around Castro…both of them have testified that, in spite of their warnings to the American Government, nothing was done." A few moments later, he said scornfully: "Most of the equipment and arms and resources for Castro came from the United States, flown out of Florida and other parts of the United States to Castro in the mountains." Paul

Smitty, I see the attractions of this line of thinking, and, in the absence of dispositive evidence, must continue to permit the possibility that Greer was indeed the executioner of last resort. But my problem is this: what if Greer had been hit inadvertently, perhaps, let us theorise, by a ricochet? The limo is stuck on Elm with a wounded President and a dead, or seriously impaired, driver. Numerous potential complications suggest themselves. Was such a risk - in fact, an abundance of risks - necessary or worth it? Now distraction noises or shots, aimed to create the illusion of ambush from distance, that's another matter. Paul

Erick, We can't assume anything of the sort, in fact, quite the contrary: we must proceed, on the basis of abundant evidence, that the film is a fake designed to hide key elements of truth, not least the entrance point on the left temple. The selection of Greer is a subject in itself. His son hints at a fairly pronounced dislike of Catholics, but, of course, there are very many other factors at work, not least in the minds of those who selected him. You've forgotten to factor in the limousine's swerve to the left, against the southern curb of Elm., where it came to rest. Insert that into the paradigm, and you have congruence. Otherwise, how to explain Hargis's left windscreen being hit with brain matter? The limo's swerve placed him to Kennedy's right rear. Paul

1) Staff Special, “Dallas Man Films Movie of Shooting,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, (morning edition), November 23, 1963, section 1, p.10: Dallas, Nov. 22 – One of the very few – perhaps two – pictures of the President’s assassination here Friday was in the possession of a business man who was isolated with the FBI here Friday night. Abraham Zapruder, owner of a dress factory at the intersection near where the tragic shooting occurred, photographed the incident with his movie camera. Zapruder, who remained in communicado from shortly after the occurrence, had filmed the assassination attack from near the scene, persons close to him said. As far as the crush of reporters covering the tragedy knew, there was only one still photograph actually showing Kennedy slumped over, a Polaroid camera picture taken by a young woman. She allowed the print to be shown on a television account of the assassination. Zapruder's office told the Star-Telegram he was out of the office all afternoon with the FBI. His wife confirmed late Friday night that he was still with the agents. 2) “Photographer Sells Pictures of Assassination for $25,000,” Dallas Morning News, November 24, 1963, p.? President Kennedy flinches as the first shot strikes him. Mrs. Kennedy takes her husband in her arms. The second shot strikes the President in the side of his head, toward the back. His head becomes a blur. Mrs. Kennedy crawls out over the trunk compartment in the rear of the car trying to escape the line of fire. Her husband slumps to the floor. A Secret Service agent runs to aid Mrs. Kennedy. This historic picture of the assassination of President Kennedy is recorded on 8-millimeter color movie film shot by Abraham Zapruder, dress manufacturer of 3909 Marquette. Perched on a concrete pillar in a plaza a few feet away, Zapruder took perfect pictures of a terrible tragedy. Saturday, Dick Strobel of the Associated Press, Los Angeles; Jack Klinge of United Press International, Dallas, and Dick Strolle, Los Angeles representative of Life Magazine, negotiated with Zapruder for still picture rights to his film. Rights finally were sold to Life for more than $25,000, Zapruder told one of the other men who were bidding for the film. 3) Richard J. H. Johnston, “Movie Amateur Filmed Attack; Sequence Is Sold to Magazine” New York Times, November 24, 1963, p.5: An amateur movie camera enthusiast in Dallas recorded a 15-second close-up sequence showing the actual impact of the assassin’s fire on President Kennedy. The 8-millimeter film clip in color was sold by the photographer, Abraham Zapruder, for about $40,000 to Time-Life, Inc. Life magazine will publish the pictures in its issue dated Friday, Nov. 29. The issue will be on the streets next Tuesday. The editors said that time limitations did not permit reproduction in color. The pictures will be printed in black and white. Mr. Zapruder, president of Jennifer Juniors, Inc., a dress shop in downtown Dallas, declined yesterday in a telephone conversation, to discuss the film or the arrangement for its sale. A secretary to Mr. Zapruder, speaking from the offices of the dress shop, said that the Secret Service had sent agents to examine Mr. Zapruder’s film and had permitted him to keep or sell it. The film was developed Friday night. Time-Life editors said yesterday that it had been studied by their Dallas representatives, who were authorized to make the purchase. The film was sent by air to the Chicago laboratories of the magazine. From a description give by the Life representative in Dallas, the editors said, it appears that the pictures were taken with a telephoto lens. Mr. Zapruder’s secretary said that Mr. Zapruder was “one of hundreds” who were taking pictures of the Presidential motorcade. Life editors here said that they were unable last night to give precise details as to what the film showed, but that they were assured that it depicted the impact of the bullets that struck Mr. Kennedy. The photographic department of The Associated Press in New York acknowledged late yesterday that the AP had bid for the pictures but that Mr. Zapruder had sold the film to Time-Life, Inc. A spokesman said he understood the price was in the vicinity of $40,000. Mr. Zapruder’s secretary would neither confirm nor deny the figure, nor would Time-Life spokesmen discuss it. The AP spokesman, however, said the figure was “well over $25,000 and close to $40,000.” 4) AP, "Movie Film Depicts Shooting of Kennedy,” Milwaukee Journal, November 26, 1963, part 1, p.3 Dallas, Tex.-AP - A strip of color movie film graphically depicting the assassination of President Kennedy was made by a Dallas clothing manufacturer with an 8 millimeter camera. Several persons in Dallas who have seen the film, which lasts about 15 seconds, say it clearly shows how the president was hit in the head with shattering force by the second of two bullets fired by the assassin. Life magazine reportedly purchased still picture rights to the material for about $40,000. ("The film also was being distributed by United Press International Newsfilms to subscribing stations. WITI-TV in Milwaukee is a subscriber, but will reserve judgment on whether to show the film until after its officials have viewed it.") This is what the film by Abe Zapruder is reported to show: First the presidential limousine is coming toward the camera. As it comes abreast of the photographer, Mr. Kennedy is hit by the first bullet, apparently in the neck. He turns toward his wife Jacqueline, seated at his left, and she quickly begins to put her hands around his head. At the same time, Texas Gov. John Connally, riding directly in front of the president, turns around to see what has happened. Then Mr. Kennedy is hit on the upper right side of the back of his head with violent force. His head goes forward and then snaps back, and he slumps down on the seat. At this time, Gov. Connolly is wounded and drops forward on his seat. Mrs. Kennedy then jumps up and crawls across the back deck of the limousine, apparently seeking the aid of a secret service man who has been trotting behind the slowly moving vehicle. He jumps onto the car and shoves Mrs. Kennedy back into the seat. Then he orders the driver to speed to the hospital where the president died. The elapsed time from the moment when Mr. Kennedy is first struck until the car disappears in an underpass is about five seconds." 5) AP (Dallas), “Amateur captures death shot,” The Province (Vancouver, BC), 26 November 1963, p.1: A strip of color movie film showing the assassination of President Kennedy was made by a Dallas clothing manufacturer with an eight millimetre camera. Several persons in Dallas who have seen the film sat it clearly shows how the president was hit in the head with shattering force by the second of two bullets fired by the assassin. Life magazine is reported to have purchased still picture rights to the material for about $40,000. The film, made by Abe Zapruder, is reported to show how, as the presidential limousine comes abreast of the photographer, Kennedy is hit by the first bullet, apparently in the neck. Then Kennedy is hit on the upper right side of the back of his head with violent force. 6) Express Staff Reporter (New York, Monday), “The Man Who Got the Historic Pictures,” Daily Express, Tuesday, 26 November 1963, p.10: Amateur photographer Abraham Zapruder, owner of a Dallas dress manufacturing business, took the assassination pictures in 8mm colour with a normal lens. When Mr. Zapruder went to work on Friday he had no intention of watching President Kennedy drive through Dallas. So he left at home his new camera. But his secretary urged Mr. Zapruder to go out and take movies. Position He was not very keen, but she pressed him and he drove home to collect his camera. He returned to the route and took up a position overlooking the road standing on a concrete parapet eight feet above the pavement. When the procession came into sight he began filming. Just before the President’s car got to him he heard the rifle shots and saw that Kennedy was hit. Shock Zapruder said that he stood absolutely transfixed. He knew what was happening and yet he continued to go on filming. He remembers screaming: “My God! He’s dead!” Zapruder was in a state of complete shock. He remembers going back to the office, but for a while he was not really aware of what he had recorded. But when the film was hurriedly processed and when he had screened it on Friday evening, he realised its importance and value. The secret service sent agents to examine the film and permitted him to keep it. C 1963 Life Magazine Time Incorporated. All rights reserved. On same page, 4 stills from Z-film; on opposite, a further 7. 7) UPI (Dallas), “Movie Film Shows Murder of President,” Philadelphia Daily News, Tuesday, 26 November 1963, p.3 (4 star edition): An amateur photographer shot an 8-MM movie film that clearly shows, step-by-step, the assassination of President Kennedy. The film was made by Abraham Zapruder, a Dallas dress manufacturer. He is selling rights to the film privately. It has been seen by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service and representatives of the news media. It is seven feet long, 35 seconds in colour, a bit jumpy but clear. It opens as the Kennedy motorcade rounds the corner from Houston Street and turns into Elm Street. Then it picks up the President’s car and follows it down toward the underpass. Suddenly, in the film, Kennedy is seen to jerk. It is the first shot. Mrs. Kennedy turns, puts her arms around him. A second later, the second shot. The President’s head becomes a blur on the film, lunged forward and up. The second bullet has torn into the back of his head. He rolls towards Mrs. Kennedy and disappears from sight. Mrs. Kennedy lurches onto the flat trunk deck of the Presidential car as a Secret Service man races to their aid. She is on her hands and knees. She reaches for him. He leaps up on the bumper. She pulls him up on the bumper or he pushes her back as the film ends. Other films show the car never stopped, but raced to the Parkland Memorial Hospital with Mrs. Kennedy cradling the President. NB: UPI (Dallas), “Movie Film Shows Murder of President,” Philadelphia Daily News, Tuesday, 26 November 1963, p.3 (4 star edition): On page 1, under the headline “Man Who Came to See JFK Makes Tragic Movie,” there is the following blurb above 4 stills: “These dramatic pictures are from an 8mm ‘home movie’ reel, shot by Dallas dressmaker Abraham Zapruder who went to see President Kennedy ride through cheering throngs in Texas city. His camera recorded one of the most tragic moments in American history. Story page 3.” Below are 4 stills from…the Muchmore film! 8) Arthur J. Snider (Chicago Daily News Service), “Movies Reconstruct Tragedy,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, (Evening edition), November 27, 1963, section 2, p.1: Chicago, Nov. 27 – With the aid of movies taken by an amateur, it is possible to reconstruct to some extent the horrifying moments in the assassination of President Kennedy. As the fateful car rounded the turn and moved into the curving parkway, the President rolled his head to the right, smiling and waving. At that instant, about 12:30 p.m., the sniper, peering through a four-power telescope sight, fired his cheap rifle. The 6.5 mm bullet – about .25 caliber – pierced the President’s neck just below the Adam’s apple. It took a downward course. “If you were wearing a bow tie, the position is just about where the knot is,” said a Dallas neurosurgeon who saw the wound. The President clutched his throat for a bewildered instant, then began to sag. A second blast from the high-powered rifle ripped into the right rear of his head at about a 4 o 'clock position. It was a violent wound. As a motorcycle officer described it: “It just seemed as if his head opened up.” The President swerved to his left and collapsed into the arms of his wife. Mrs. Kennedy climbed onto the trunk to beseech aid from a Secret Service man. The President slumped against her leg, bloodying her skirt and stocking. Meanwhile, Gov. John Connally had turned to see what happened. A third shot rang out. It struck the governor in the back. The bullet was deflected to his right wrist and lodged in his left thigh. A fragment of rib, fractured by the bullet, punctured a lung. Sequence pictures of the tragedy were taken by an amateur Dallas photographer and were purchased by Life Magazine. They were published in this week’s Life. They serve to deny a rumor that the President may have sustained the throat wound from a shot fired at ground level. They also indicate the President was shot first. It had been conjectured by some that Connally was the prime target. Identification of two points of entry, the throat and the skull, was made by Dr. Kemp Clark, neurosurgeon, and Dr. Tom Shires, chief of surgery at Parkland Hospital. They said neither bullet was recovered in the hospital emergency room. One bullet was said to have emerged from the left temple. If any bullets were lodged in the body, they would have been removed at an autopsy in the Bethesda Navy Hospital, where the President’s body was taken immediately on the return to Washington. White House Assistant Press Secretary, asked if an autopsy had been performed, said: “The question has been deferred for reply later.” Officials at Bethesda Naval Hospital declined to comment. Medical personnel at Parkland Hospital said, however, that a post-mortem examination was performed at Bethesda but no report had yet been received there. Pathologists in Chicago also expressed the “virtual certainty” that an autopsy was performed. “It would have been necessary for medical-legal reasons,” one said. “In a trial for murder, it is necessary to state in court how death came about, whether by massive haemorrhage , cell destruction, or whatever.” “Permission from the family is not needed, although in this case it might have been sought.” 9) John Herbers, “Kennedy Struck by Two Bullets, Doctor Who Attended Him Says,” New York Times, November 27, 1963, p.20: “…The known facts about the bullets, and the position of the assassin, suggested that he started shooting as the President’s car was coming toward him, swung his rifle in an arc of almost 180 degrees and fired at least twice more. A rifle like the one that killed President Kennedy might be able to fire three shots in two seconds, a gun expert indicated after tests. A strip of color movie film taken by a Dallas clothing manufacturer with an 8-mm camera tends to support this sequence of events. The film covers about a 15-second period. As the President’s car come abreast of the photographer, the President was struck in the front of the neck. The President turned toward Mrs. Kennedy as she began to put her hands around his head. Connally Turns Around At the same time, Governor Connally, riding in front of the President, turned round to see what had happened. Then the President was struck on the head. His head went forward, then snapped back, as he slumped in his seat. At that time, Governor Connally was wounded. The elapsed time from the moment Mr. Kennedy was first struck until the car disappeared in an underpass was five seconds.” 10) Rick Freedman, “Pictures of Assassination Fall to Amateurs on Street,” Editor & Publisher, November 30, 1963, pp.16 & 17: $40,000 Film Clip “…It was an amateur movie camera enthusiast in Dallas who recorded a 25-second close-up sequence showing the actual impact of the assassin’s fire on President Kennedy. Abraham Zapruder, president of a dress shop in Dallas, sold the 8-millimeter color film clip to Time-Life Inc. for about $40,000. Life editors said that deadline limitations did not permit reproduction in color and the pictures were printed in black and white. Harry McCormick, police reporter of the Dallas Morning News, rushed to the scene of the assassination. He found Abe Zapruder , who said he had taken movies. Seeing a Secret Serviceman he knew, McCormick tried to get the films confiscated, hoping thus they might become public property. Zapruder refused to give them up, and with the S.S. man and McCormick went to the Eastman Kodak plant were the films were processed. Others by now had heard about the film. Spirited bidding for the rights started McCormick went up to $1,000 for one of the still frames. It showed that terrible second when the bullet hit the President’s head. Time outbid everyone and gained rights to the film. ‘In Zapruder’s room he has a placard on the wall with “Think” but that word is marked out by “Scheme,”’ McCormick said. ‘I’m going to get me one like it,’ the reported remarked. The picture sequence ran as a four-page spread in Life’s Nov. 29 issue, which came out Nov.26. Taken from about 40 feet away with a normal lens, according to Life, most of the sequence is slightly dark and out-of-focus. But it does show in dramatic fashion the entire fatal few seconds – the President and Mrs. Kennedy riding in the car, the President getting hit, Governor Connally getting hit, Mrs. Kennedy cradling the fallen Chief Executive in her arms, and Mrs. Kennedy jumping up to help a Secret Service man into the President’s limousine.” Later in the same piece, we find the following description of an untitled/unattributed film shown presumably on Tuesday, 26 November: “By Tuesday, numerous pictures, both still and movie, were being offered to news media. At least one television station was besieged with protests after it had shown scenes of the President’s motorcade at the moment of the shooting. Many viewers considered them to be too gruesome.” 11) “The Man Who Killed Kennedy,” Time, December 6, 1963, p.29: The Murder “…At 12:31 the President’s Lincoln limousine passed by at a speed of 12 to 15 m.p.h. In the car, Texas Governor Connally, who was seated directly in front of Kennedy, heard a shot. ‘I turned to my right,’ he recalled later, from his hospital bed. ‘The President had slumped…Then I was hit, and I knew I’d been hit badly. I thought, my God, they’re going to kill us all.’ What actually happened was made horrifyingly clear in color films taken by Abraham Zapruder, a Dallas clothing manufacturer and an amateur movieman. The strip runs for about 20 seconds – an eternity of history. Kennedy was waving to a friendly crowd. Then came the first shot, and he clutched at his throat with both hands. Connally turned around, raised his right hand toward the President, then fell backward into his wife’s lap as the second shot struck him. The third shot, all too literally, exploded in Kennedy’s head. In less than an instant, Jackie was up, climbing back over the trunk of the car, seeking help. She reached out her right hand, caught the hand of a Secret Service man who was running to catch up, and in one desperate tug pulled him aboard. Then, in less time than it takes to tell it, she was back cradling her husband’s head in her lap.”

Smitty, Isn't that just the genius of the entire scheme - the sheer, breathtaking effrontery of it? You're also quite right about the explanatory power of the Greer-did model: so much falls into place. If you wanted proof of its potency, watch the lies, smears and evasions to follow! Have a great New Year, Paul Cant wait! lol! Thanks, and the same to you and yours. -smitty Mr. Griggs' most honest and coherent contribution to the subject yet, x2. Keep up the good work.

Paul, what evidence do you have that the CIA aranged for Powers' plane to be downed? Len, Nothing less than a signed confession from Dulles. He was generous like that. As soon as the tippex is dry, I'll scan it and post. Paul

Day late, for which apologies: Never let anyone tell you that mainstream US journalism of the early 1960s was worthless; or confine your searchings to the CIA's NYT.

- Paul RigbyPaul, I think it may have been John Simkin who, some time ago, put forward a similar view on Castro (I hope he'll correct me if I'm wrong). I was a little sceptical at the time, but my research on the Gaitan assassination started to make me wonder if it may not be true. One of the conclusions I reached in the Bogota Ripples thread was that John Spiritto organised the hit, and that Raphael Del Pino, who was with Castro, had helped ignite the ensuing riots with the aim of blaming the whole thing on Communists. Del Pino was a US citizen, and a member of the CIO affiliated anti-Communist Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. Post Cuban revolution, he was sentenced to 30 years for "counter-revolutionary" activities. Spiritto, on the other hand, got off lightly by comparison, despite confessing to organising the hit on Gaitan. Greg, Magnificent research, as ever - respect! Paul

Smitty, Isn't that just the genius of the entire scheme - the sheer, breathtaking effrontery of it? You're also quite right about the explanatory power of the Greer-did model: so much falls into place. If you wanted proof of its potency, watch the lies, smears and evasions to follow! Have a great New Year, Paul

All figments of the imagination? Nope, just never implemented because real power had other plans. The Cuban market was simply traded for control of the rest of the region. Economic significance of Argentina, Brazil et al v. Cuba? Hugo Chavez now fulfils the role of ostensible regional bogeyman, and US plots against him will almost certainly fail precisely as the elaborate paper exercises did in the case of Castro. The dirty secret in contemporary Venezuela's case is that Chavez is working for the economic integration of the region, an integration long earnestly desired by big capital in Washington and New York, but unachievable under overt US command. Hence Chavez's survival. The Guardian recently ran an unusually good piece arguing just this. One final point: I ain't pushing anything with Mr Gray. On the subject of the medical evidence, I'm essentially on your side. Ashton and I will doubtless cross swords on that topic in due course. I meant what I said: I thought the exchanges between you and Ashton on the subject of Cuba were, and are, vitally important. And I thought Ashton bang on the money here. Stay sober and virtuous, Paul

Hugh Betzner, Jr. made explicit reference to doing just that. At least one other well-placed eyewitness described guns in the hands of Kennedy's detail before he was shot. Three further points. The murder took place at the motorcade's fag-end, at the least populated part of the route. Second, can you be sure that witnesses were expressly asked the question by statement-takers? Third, how would you react to seeing a presidential bodyguard shoot a man in broad daylight? Would you not be intimidated by what you saw? On the day of his death in June 1993, a close friend of Connally's was asked on a local Houston, Texas, radio station, why it was that Connolly had been the only presidential candidate ever to refuse Secret Service protection when he ran against Ronald Reagan in the 1980 primaries. He replied: "Well, John always said that having the Secret Service around was a good way to get yourself killed." But not if the car was slowed to walking pace or stationary. The list of witnesses who said the presidential limo stopped is, as I'm sure you're aware, formidable. Besides, is a rifle shot from 15 to 100 yards away easier than that from a hand-held weapon fired from under 10 feet? It is not self-evident to me that it is. Or simply landed on the grassy southern curb of Elm, assuming the presidential limo swerved to the left as Greer concentrated on things other than driving. Interestingly, witnesses from the front, rear and side of the Lincoln stated that the limo did indeed veer into the southernmost curbside lane of Elm; and there is a close-up sequence of a suited gent pocketing a discharged case from the grassy south curb. Fair point, if hardly dispositive. According to the Parkland doctors, the fatal head shot did indeed enter the left temple. McClelland wrote exactly that, while a surprisingly large number of his colleagues raised the question of a left-front headwound in their testimony before the Warren Commission. Remove the blinkers, Erick, and have a good, long, honest look at what was actually said and written, not what the grassy knollers have fruitlessly parroted for the past 5 decades. By the way, I think Cooper either a nut or a disinformationist. He was beaten to the punch on the Greer-did-it scenario by twenty years. Newcomb and Adams' Murder From Within remains indispensable reading. Paul