Steve Thomas

Michael, Thank you. You're right. If you go to Google Maps and take a look at the street view south down Crawford between 9th and Jefferson, you can see that they turned 10th St. into a little alley running between Patton and at least as far as Storey. Maybe back in '63, 10th did run as far as Beckley. I'm not sure what that building is on the east side of 10th and Beckley looking east down 10th, but comparing that now to the City Directory in 1961; between expanding that Adamson High School grounds on 9th, it looks like they eliminated a bunch of apartment buildings too. The whole idea of eliminating three whole blocks of a paved street just kind of threw me there. Steve Thomas

I honestly don't know what's going on here. Hutson told the WC: Mr. HUTSON. I exited off Jefferson and went to the 400 block of East Jefferson Boulevard and began a search of the two-story house behind 10th Street where the officer had been shot. Mr. BELIN. All right. Mr. HUTSON. And after we searched this area, I got in the squad car with Officer Ray Hawkins, who was driving, and Officer Baggett was riding in the back seat. Mr. BELIN. Then what did you do? Mr. HUTSON. We proceeded west on 10th Street to Beckley, and we pulled into the Mobil gas station at Beckley and 10th Street. Mr. BELIN. That is a Mobil gas station? Mr. HUTSON. Yes. There was no Mobil gas station at 10th and Beckley, and you can't drive west on 10th from Patton. 10th St. dead ends at Patton, and doesn't pick up again until you get to Beckley. In the picture on the left, you are standing in the intersection of 10th and Patton looking west down 10th. It dead ends. The picture on the right shows this street layout. What in the world was Hutson talking about?

I searched through the 1961 Dallas City Directory, and it does not show a Mobil gas station at 10th and Beckley. According to the 1961 Dallas City Directory: 10th and Beckley is the dividing line numbering the streets running north and south, and streets running east and west. On the northwest corner of that intersection is the Cliff Temple Baptist Church Sunday School Bldg. The northeast corner of that intersection is now a parking lot. 103 N. Beckley Ave. = Walker's Texaco Service Station Walker, Reagan L. Walker. Walker's Texaco Service Station 103 N. Beckley Ave. 10th west from Beckley = 109 W. 10th is the Debrocque Appts. According to Google Maps, 109 W. 10th is now a bus station 121 – 126 W. 10th is the Cliff Temple Baptist Church and Annex 10th east from Beckley = 101 E. 10th is the YMCA Oak Cliff Branch 102 E. 10th was the Dunnigan H O Service Station Dunnigan, Howard O. Dunnigan H O Service Station 102 E. 10th. Spouse Thelma L. Thelma owned Thelma's Beauty Salon. home address and address of beauty shop: 2930 W. Jefferson Blvd. 102 E. 10th is now F&W Auto Sales tel. 946-5504 Used Car Sales. It appears run down and abandoned. This raises several possibilities: 1) Hutson's account of a stop at a Mobil gas station so Hawkins could make a phone call was totally fabricated. There is no reference to this phone call in the Dispatch tapes, nor do Baggett or Hawkins reference it in their after-action reports or in Hawkins' WC testimony; 2) Hutson mistook Walker's Texaco Station or Dunnigan's Service Station as a Mobil station; 3) The possible involvement of one or more people at either the Walker Texaco station or Dunnigan's Service Station that has never come to light, that Hutson tried to hide by mislabeling it as a Mobil station; 4) something that I haven't thought of. It's all very curious. Steve Thomas

Nice company you keep. The Kane Republican from Kane, Pennsylvania · October 23, 1954 Page 5 https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/49853892/ “The idle Olean refinery of the Socony Vacuum Oil Co. at Olean will be dismantled and the property offered for sale soon. Announcement of the acquisition of the refinery machinery and property by C. J. Simpson of the C. J. Simpson Drilling Co. of Dallas, Texas, was made in New York. Mr. Simpson will remove some of the refining equipment and ship it to Cuba. ' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.J._Simpson_Drilling_Company The C. J. Simpson Drilling Company was an oil company active in the 1950s in the United States and Cuba. Its activities included buying a 7,150-barrel Olean, New York oil refinery from Socony-Vacuum Oil Company in 1954 and moving it to Cuba. In 1959 it signed a $10m contract with YPF of Argentina to drill 300 oil wells. C.J. Simpson Drilling Co. (Clarence J. Simpson) 1520 Life of America Bldg. Dallas, TX. Portal to Texas History Dallas City Directory. 1957 p. 1187 There is also a C.J. Trucking Co. listed under C.J. Simpson listed at 4224 W. Illinois in Dallas, Tx. (Is this his home address?) https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth806909/m1/1511/?q=Henry%20County%20Settlement From Mary Ferrell's Database: Record: ECHEVARRIA, HOMER (HOMERIO) SAMUEL VALDIVIA Born at Jatibonico, Camaguay, Cuba. Employed by C. J. Simpson Drilling Co., resided briefly in Dallas at 10353 Denton Drive. Fled Castro's Cuba. Approached Thomas Mosley in Chicago about buying machine guns. http://www.madcowprod.com/2013/11/22/barry-seal-the-dallas-get-away-plane-the-jfk-assassination/ "One clue to (Barry) Seal’s status is that, after having been caught illegally exporting 7 tons of C4 explosives, no one was in any hurry to bring him to trial. “I worked for the CJ Simpson de Cuba Drilling Company, which had three rotary drilling rigs operating in Cuba. Whether you or any of your associates are aware of the number of “implements of war” shipped by that company out of the United States as components of drilling equipment, I have no idea. But I advise you to find out! " Mobil was previously known as the as the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company https://www.revolvy.com/topic/Socony-Vacuum%20Oil%20Company&item_type=topic https://www.revolvy.com/topic/Vacuum%20Oil%20Company&item_type=topic Vacuum Oil Company "Vacuum Oil Company was an American oil company known for their Gargoyle 600-W Steam Cylinder Oil. Vacuum Oil merged with Standard Oil Co of New York, commonly known as Socony Oil to form Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, and is now a part of ExxonMobil. Vacuum Oil and Standard Oil of New York (Socony) merged in 1931, after the government gave up attempts to prevent it. At the time, the newly combined company made Socony-Vacuum Corp. the 3rd largest oil company, worldwide. Everest remained with the firm, and was given a salaried job as president. During World War II, the Tschechowitz I & II subcamps of Auschwitz in Czechowice-Dziedzice provided forced labor for Vacuum Oil Company facilities in Poland which were captured and operated by Nazi Germany. In 1955, the company became Socony Mobil Oil Company. In 1963 it was renamed Mobilgas then just Mobil. In 1887, founder Hiram Bond Everest and son Charles M. Everest were charged with conspiracy to destroy competitor Buffalo Lubricating Oil Co. It is said that they were attempting to destroy the buildings, preventing them from manufacturing petroleum products, as well as acquiring their skilled employees. One said employee included Albert A. Miller who was being bribed to construct defective machinery so that it would explode. Hiram Everest and Charles Everest were both found guilty. In 1907 the Vacuum Oil, Standard Oil, New York Central Railroad, and Pennsylvania Railroad were all indicted for violations in Inter-State Commerce laws. Vacuum Oil was charged for shipping 228 cars of petroleum and petroleum products to Standard Oil at unlawful rates via the New York Central RR and Pennsylvania RR." Nice guys. Steve Thomas

Dallas 1961 City Directory. This may be old hat to some, but I just ran across this. I don't know how many times in the past when I wished I had access to one. Thank you UNT Libraries ! https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth806907/ Steve Thomas

WC Testimony of Kenneth Croy: http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/croy.htm “Mr. CROY. I am in the real estate business. I have a Mobil service station. I am in the steel erection business. And I am a professional cowboy, and that is about it that I can think of right now. “ Intriguing possibility... Steve Thomas

“The trial of the C4 Seven” http://www.madcowprod.com/2013/11/22/barry-seal-the-dallas-get-away-plane-the-jfk-assassination/ "One clue to (Barry) Seal’s status is that, after having been caught illegally exporting 7 tons of C4 explosives, no one was in any hurry to bring him to trial. But when they did, an extraordinary document surfaced, which clearly shows that Barry Seal viewed his participation in the Kennedy assassination as a bargaining chip, a laminated "get out of jail" card to be for the rest of his life. Both the prosecutor and the judge received an anonymous (though the envelope bearing the letter is clearly in Barry Seal’s handwriting) letter threatening that unless the charges were dismissed, the sender would blow the cover off matters pertaining to “national security.” The heading reads “CJ Simpson de Cuba.” “I worked for the CJ Simpson de Cuba Drilling Company, which had three rotary drilling rigs operating in Cuba. Whether you or any of your associates are aware of the number of “implements of war” shipped by that company out of the United States as components of drilling equipment, I have no idea. But I advise you to find out! " I'm just sayin... Steve Thomas

Larry, I had been going on the assumption that Raul Castro and Juan Quintana were double agents, sent to Mexico ostensibly to train as crop dusters and then told to defect to the U.S. and infiltrate the anti-Castro Cuban exile community. They talked the talk, and went to anti-Castro rallies. Attended the Stevenson rally where he got bonked on the head. Bought a John Birch Society bumper sticker for their car that read, “Kan the Kennedy Klan” that they changed to “Kill the Kennedy Klan”.They were discovered by the exiles as Castro agents however, and the Rambler that Raoul Castro owned had a part to play in the JFK assassination, and they became patsies to blame the murder on Castro? Your comments now have me speculating on the possibility that as false defectors, they had been discovered and had beed turned by the FBI. It's like that old Mad Magazine, Spy vs. Spy series isn't it? Steve Thomas

Jim, No. That's why I used the word "supposedly". You don't travel eight hours or so in the wrong direction to get a letter translated. "Supposedly" (again), when the three guys showed up at Sylvia's door, they were looking for Sarita. I've often wondered if Sarita was working with either Manuel Rodriguez Orcarberro or this "George Parrell) ala Frank Ellsworth's information. This "George Parrell" and Sarita were both students at the Dallas City College. (See page three of this SS Agent Rowley's April, 1964 memo: http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=11250#relPageId=2&tab=page Frank Ellsworth told the Secret Service that John Thomas Masen had told him (Ellsworth) that Manuel Rodriguuez Orcarberro had tried to buy bazookas, machine guns, and other heavy equipment from him (Masen). The word, "bazookas" picqued my interest. Wasn't Veciana involved in a failed bazooka attack on Castro that led him to hide out on the Odio farm? In my mind anyway, bazookas are a step up from the "small arms" that Juan Martin was supposedly trying to sell. Steve Thomas

Larry,, I spent some time a while back assembling notes about the men being sent from Cuba to Mexico to be trained as "crop duster pilots", who later defected to the U.S. Raul Castro and Juan Quintana, SNFE/Alpha 66 officers of the Dallas Chapter were two of those. You are more, um, generous of Odio than I am. I think she had more of an interest in gun running than people have given her credit for. Commission Document 946 - SS Aragon Report of 5 May 1964 re: Sylvia Odio, Rogelio Cisneros Diaz page 3 https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=11342&search=%22Juan_Martin%22#relPageId=4&tab=page On May 4, 1964 in an interview in his home with SS Agent Ernest I. Aragon, Cisneros told Aragon that: Rogelio Cisneros, a JURE member in Miami, went to Dallas alone, by plane in June, 1963 for the specific purpose of meeting Sylvia Odio who was supposed to introduce Cisneros to a Uruguayan named Juan Martin, who was interested in selling small arms to JURE. The JURE office in Dallas was already in operation, having been established in May, 1963. He only contacted Sylvia Odio once. Cisneros is interested in buying guns. Juan or Johnny Martin is interested in selling guns. They use Sylvia Odio as the middle man - or middle woman. The three guys who came to visit Sylvia Odio supposedly came to get a letter translated so they could raise money to buy guns. So that's two men, or groups of men who were interested in buying or selling guns who go to Sylvia Odio. Makes me go, hmmm. Steve Thomas

Larry, I can't speak to the question of a memo, but Patterson's account of his conversation with Hosty appears on page 18 of his (Patterson's) testimony before the Church Committee on 11/21/1975. see here: http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1431&search="William_Patterson"#relPageId=18&tab=page One thing I have never been able to satisfactorily answer for myself is whether Hosty told Patterson that Oswald had been seen with two "subversives", or two "subversive agents". In his testimony, Patterson said that Hosty was on the "Subversive Desk", and then immediately goes on to say, "He (Hosty) stated that Oswald had contacted two known subversive agents about 15 days before the shooting, but the entire information was top secret and he couldn't tell me any more..." Did Hosty mean that Oswald had contacted two known subversives, or that he had contacted two agents on the "Subvesrive Desk"? This would have been right around the time of the destroyed "Hosty note." Steve Thomas

Paul, Here are just some random notes that I've taken: http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/raigorod.htm Mr. RAIGORODSKY. Then, I lived in Houston until about 1949 or 1950 and I got sick with my back. You know, I have a very bad back. They wanted to operate on me there but Jake Hamon here, a friend of mine, told me that he wouldn't speak to me unless I come to Dallas, so believe or not, they brought me to Dallas. Mr. RAIGORODSKY. Well, let's say that I met George De Mohrenschildt in Dallas, I'll say 15 or 17 years ago, somewhere in that neighborhood. Mr. JENNER. Had you heard of him prior to that time? Mr. RAIGORODSKY. Yes; I heard of him through Jake Hamon. Mr. JENNER. Through Mr. Hamon? Mr. RAIGORODSKY. Hamon, H-a-m-o-n [spelling]--Jake .Mr. JENNER. Who is he? Mr. RAIGORODSKY. He is an oilman friend of mine here, quite well known, and he told me there was a Russian here do I know him, and I said, "No; I hadn't heard about him." That's how I met him--at a party. Mr. JENNER. You are talking about George De Mohrenschildt? Mr. RAIGORODSKY. Yes. Mr. RAIGORODSKY. He was a consultant to the Yugoslavian Government. In fact, he was sent to Yugoslavian Government with the blessing of our Government, maybe---I don't know under what protocol that we were helping the Yugoslavians, and he went over there but peculiarly, in order to receive the appointment he had to have recommendations of some man known in the industry, and he didn't come to me---I can say this--I don't brag, but if he came to me that would have meant something to him because I was with the Government on a couple or two or three times, but instead of that he goes to Jake Hamon, a close friend of mine, and asked him for a recommendation on that job. Jake said he would not give him a recommendation unless he consults me. That surprised me that he wouldn't ask me right off the bat, but he went around about way. What could I do? Of course I said, technically on the job he is perfectly all right, I mean, he is a good engineer--good petroleum engineer. Mr. RAIGORODSKY. George has been friends with many, many influential people in many cities. Mr. DAVIS. In all of them, I imagine. Mr. RAIGORODSKY. Yes. Mr. JENNER. Is he a namedropper--is he a man who seeks to be friends of important people? Mr. RAIGORODSKY. No--he was my friend, I was his friend--he was Jake Hamon's friend and Jake Hamon was his friend. Between Two Worlds, by Peter Applebome. https://books.google.com/books?id=SCsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA107&lpg=PA107&dq="Jake+Hamon"&source=bl&ots=92o5DJpss6&sig=CaLj2-EcG8m_-3jlFldJrvMm3FQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj5uaPxrprUAhWZ2YMKHQzSCOkQ6AEIWzAN#v=onepage&q=%22Jake%20Hamon%22&f=false pp. 106+ Jake L. (Louis) Hamon, multi-millionaire. Worth 200 million. Gin rummy partner of H.L. Hunt. A director of American Petroleum Institute. Youngest man ever to have served s its Chairman. (p. 107). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_L._Hamon,_Jr. Jake L. (Louis) Hamon was a personal friend of former US President George H.W. Bush.[4] Hamon and his wife visited the Bushes in China when Bush served as Envoy to China in March 1975.[4] Bush, George W. (2014). 41: A Portrait of My Father. London: Ebury Publishing. p. 114. ISBN 9780553447781. OCLC 883645289 Hamon died in 1985 while he was on vacation in Amsterdam Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities Book 22 p. 10333. https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=145153&relPageId=145&search=Hamon Jake Hamon of 4738 Shadywood Lane, Dallas, TX appears in Rosemary Woods list of Nixon's 1972 contributors for $25,000. (Howard Hughes appears for $16,666.66 *smile*) March 5, 1964 FBI Interview of Jake Hamon, 500 Vaughn Building. Interview conducted by SA Richard L. Wiehl CD 555. p. 43. https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=10954&relPageId=44&search=Hamon First met George DeMohrenschildt in 1847 in Rangely, CO. Said DeMohrenschildt was an inferior geologist. Said Demohrenschildt's closest associate was Paul Raigorodsky. Hamon said that DeMohrenschildt was a “good looking nothing”, and that if he could take him or leave him, he would leave him”. DEEP POLITICSDOCTOBER 24, 2013 RUSS BAKER BUSH AND THE JFK HIT, PART 6: THE COLD WAR COMES TO DALLAS https://whowhatwhy.org/2013/10/24/bush-and-the-jfk-hit-part-6-the-cold-war-comes-to-dallas/ “(Jack) Crichton, who had been hired soon after leaving the military in 1946 by oil industry wunderkind Everett (Lee) DeGolyer, quickly became a go-to guy for numerous powerful interests seeking a foothold in the energy arena. In a 2001 oral history, Crichton volunteered that he was a friend of George de Mohrenschildt’s: “I liked George. He was a nice guy.”” See vol 9 of the WC Hearings – the testimony of Paul M. Raigorodsky. http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/raigorod.htm Mr. RAIGORODSKY. “I was asked to come to Washington to organize the Department of Natural Gas and Natural Gasoline Industries for the United States, which I did, and then I had to open--I worked under DeGolyer.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everette_Lee_DeGolyer “During World War II, Everette Lee DeGolyer served as director of conservation with the Office of the Coordinator for National Defense from 1941 to 1942. He was assistant deputy of the Petroleum Administration for War in 1942-43, and was in charge of the Petroleum Reserves Corporation mission to the Middle East in 1943-44 He was president of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers in 1927, and was a director of the American Petroleum Institute for twenty years. In 1946, working on behalf of the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency, DeGolyer recruited Jack Crichton of Dallas, to operate a group of companies which frequently were given new names, presumably to make it more difficult to trace their operations. Crichton became a prominent oil and gas industrialist...” Steve Thomas

Ron, Thank you. I've brushed up against Brzezinski's book, but haven't read it yet. Central Asia is the Grand Chessboard; or the "Great Game" as it was called once upon a time. My gut is telling me... Steve Thomas

If there was a conspiracy to assassinate John F. Kennedy, I have been mulling over the question lately as to who paid for it. There would have been a lot of things to finance: the weapons, the assassins, food, lodging, transportation, fake id's, fake passports, etc. It seems like it is not enough to just say that JFK's assassination was a classic military-style ambush with triangulation of fire. The assassination attempt against Charles DeGaulle at Petit-Clamart in 1962 involved military people too, and look at how amateurish that was with people blasting away with tommy submachine guns to no avail. JFK researchers spend a lot of time talking about the trajectory of shots, and film alteration, and who had the most compelling motive, but I don't see much of how the hit was paid for. There's the old adage of “follow the money”, but in this case I don't think you are going to find a lot of cancelled checks lying around. You have to kind of reverse engineer the whole question, and ask, who had that kind of money to spend. For what it's woth, I'll toss this out: My money (if you'll excuse the pun) is on those people interested in exploiting the natural resources (particularly oil and natural gas) of the Central Asian land mass that forms the bridge between the Middle East and China; more colloquially known as Eurasia. I have read three things lately that are shaping my thinking right now: 1) Peter Dale Scott COPA Conference 11/24/2010 http://archive.politicalassassinations.net/2010/11/peter-dale-scott-the-jfk-assassination-as-an-engineered-provocation-deception-plot/ “(Jack) Crichton, an oil engineer and corporation executive, also doubled as a member of the Dallas overworld. Although his 488th intelligence unit consisted almost 50 percent of Dallas policemen, Crichton also used it as a venue in the late 1950s to conduct “a study of Soviet oil fields;” and in the 1990s Crichton would himself explore the oil and gas reserves in the former Soviet Union. Also interested in Soviet oil reserves at this time were Ilya Mamantov’s employers and personal friends, the wealthy Pew family in Dallas who were owners of Sunoco. By 2009 the second largest source of crude for Sunoco (after Western Africa) was Central Asia, supplying 86,000 barrels of crude a day.” 2) https://www.corbettreport.com/episode-298-gladio-b-and-the-battle-for-eurasia/ “But more important even than its location and strategic value are the region’s vast, largely untapped resources. The oil and gas fields of the Caspian Sea region are particularly sought after, containing the third-largest reserves of any fields on the planet. Azerbaijan in the Caucasus and Kazakhstan in Central Asia both have direct access to Caspian Sea oil, with Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan providing ample gas reserves. The dream of a Trans-Caspian pipeline has been in the works for years now to transport Central Asian reserves across to the Southern Caucasus and the so-called “BTC” pipeline funneling the energy through Azerbaijan and Georgia to Turkey has been equally prized as a way for Europe to find an alternative to Russia’s increasingly-threatening stranglehold over energy known as Gazprom. The region also contains strategically important deposits of uranium as well as industrially useful minerals including copper, manganese, turngsten and zinc. As one example of this interest, I present to you the U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce, an organization that sounds about as important to global geopolitics as the Groningen Chamber of Commerce. But look at its list of current and former advisors, chairmen and directors: former Vice President Dick Cheney, Bush family advisor James Baker III and his son James Baker IV, Henry Kissinger, Brent Scowcroft, Richard Armitage and, of course, former National Security Advisor and perennial Washington insider Zbigniew Brzezinski. This Chamber of Commerce boasts some of the most influential figures in US foreign policy in the past half century amongst its ranks. What is it they see that the general public doesn’t? In 1904 the Geographical Journal published an article that articulated the reason that these great powers were engaged in the struggle for this piece of the globe. The article was called “The Geographical Pivot of History” and was written by Sir Halford John Mackinder PC, the Director of the London School of Economics... The Geographical Pivot of History” is the document that is often said to be the founding document of geopolitics and constitutes the first formulation of what would come to be called the “Heartland Theory.” “Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland; Who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island; Who rules the World-Island commands the World.” Looking at the map of what Mackinder had in mind for the Heartland it’s apparent that the “heart” of this Heartland is indeed the Central Asia-Caucasus region.” 3) https://theintercept.com/2017/07/22/donald-trump-and-the-coming-fall-of-american-empire/ In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of US Global Power Paperback– September 15, 2017 by Alfred W. MCCoy (Author) “One of the key things that I think very few people understand, after World War II, the United States became the first world power, the first empire in a 1000 years to control both ends of the vast Eurasian continent. Now Eurasia, that enormous landmass, is the epicenter of world power. It’s got the resources, the people, the civilizations that—you’ve got to control that to control the world. And the United States, through the NATO alliance in Western Europe and a string of alliances along the Pacific littoral with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Australia, controlled the axial ends of the Eurasian landmass.” By the end of the Cold War we have about 800 overseas military bases. Most of those were arrayed around the Eurasian landmass.” I would encourage everyone to read numbers 2 and 3. They were a real eye opener for me anyway. I think JFK was killed because he believed in self determination, and allowing smaller nation states to have control over their own natural resources. The powers that be couldn't allow that. Steve Thomas

Lately, I've also been mulling over the idea of "resentment as motive", and tying that to individuals who were demoted and shipped off to Europe to get them out of the way. Wasn't Bill Harvey demoted and sent off to be Station Chief in Rome? Although Dulles wasn't transferred when he was fired, his connections to the OSS in Bern during WWII would qualify him to be included in this mix I think. NATO’s Secret Armies. Operation GLADIO and the Strategy of Tension Interview with Dr. Daniele Ganser http://themillenniumreport.com/2017/04/natos-secret-armies-operation-gladio-and-the-strategy-of-tension/ "JC: Returning to Lemnitzer, he’s in charge of the group that suggests this, (Operation Northwoods) and then he becomes Head of NATO around the same time when these stay-behind armies start to morph into something much more hideous. DG: Yes, that’s right, and we must thank JFK that when he learned of Operation Northwoods, he rejected it. However, he then had the problem of what to do with this top general Lemnitzer, who was clearly nuts (in the sense that he planned terrorism in the US). Kennedy now suspected that the military-industrial-complex was more dangerous than he had realised, so he judged that he needed to move Lemnitzer sideways to another high position (maybe slightly lower) so that it wouldn’t look like a demotion. He came up with the idea of NATO Commander in Europe. A year later, in 1963, Kennedy was assassinated. Although it’s still unclear who killed him, we do know that he tried to confront what Eisenhower, in his farewell address, called the military-industrial-complex. (It’s no hoax, as some people think; the military-industrial-complex exists, and the documents of Operation Northwoods prove that it plans fabricated terrorist attacks.)" So, in this sense, was the JFK assassination a foreign-born conspiracy? Steve Thomas

Larry, I had a conversation with Jim DiEugenio recently about the idea that JFK was killed because of his belief in self-determination and allowing smaller States to control their own natural resources. I think I know where JFK would have stood with respect to Iran and its own oil. I had a conversation with Paul Brancato I think it was, about the role that Russian oil in the Central Asian "Stan" states played when looking at people like Jack Crichton and Everett Lee DeGoyler. Like you said, the Caucasus is with us, even today. Steve Thomas

Larry, I only skimmed through these papers briefly, but you're right about the situation being "nuanced". I read with some amusement about the concern of Iran falling into Russia's sphere of influence. We can see that playing out even today. There was concern about Iran becoming a Russian puppet state. Gee, I wonder how the Iranians felt about that idea? :-) I also read with a certain curiosity that not everyone was thrilled with propping up the British. Not everyone was an Anglophile. Now, the loss of Iranian oil - that everyone could agree on. It was interesting to see the worry about the "communist takeover domino affect" playing out in peoples' minds with respect to the Middle East as well as Southeast Asia should Iran fall. They just couldn't get the Shah to get off the pot could they? Steve Thomas

US quietly publishes once-expunged papers on 1953 Iran coup By JON GAMBRELL Today https://apnews.com/5111167bcaf84892b01eea93eea4bc01/US-quietly-publishes-once-expunged-papers-on-1953-Iran-coup The 1,007-page report , https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1951-54Iran comprised of letters and diplomatic cables, shows U.S. officials discussing a coup up to a year before it took place. While America worried about Soviet influence in Iran, the British remained focused on resolving a dispute over the nationalization of the country’s oil refinery at Abadan, at the time one of the world’s largest. Many also feared further instability following the 1951 assassination of Premier Ali Razmara. “Nationalization of the oil industry possibly combined with further assassinations of top Iran officials, including even the shah, could easily lead to a complete breakdown of the Iran government and social order, from which a pro-Soviet regime might well emerge leaving Iran as a satellite state,” one undated CIA analysis from the report warned. Out of that fear grew TPAJAX, the CIA codename for the coup plot. Papers show the CIA at one point “stockpiled enough arms and demolition material to support a 10,000-man guerrilla organization for six months,” and paid out $5.3 million for bribes and other costs, which would be equivalent to $48 million today. One CIA document casually refers to the fact that “several leading members of these (Iranian) security services are paid agents of this organization.” Steve Thomas

Ron, You might also consider Lyman Lemnitzer. http://www.progressivepress.com/blog-entry/50-years-after-jfk-murder-finger-finally-points-pentagon-chief-lemnitzer Steve Thomas

George, I don't know if you have a specific person in mind with your post, but if there was a military presence in a coup or a plot, it would have to be someone who could assure the others that the army would have command and control of the civilian population in the event of a domestic upheaval. A while back I was reading about the Cloverleaf Exercises that were conducted in the 1950's and 60's. Control of the civilian population in the event of a large scale emergency like a nuclear attack was a component of those military exercises. If there was a conspiracy to assassinate JFK, and that conspiracy was domestic in nature, should that ever get out, you can rest assured that the civilian population would be pretty upset. Intertwined with this would be the Continuity of Government (COG) studies done by Peter Dale Scott, et.al. This is an interesting article: http://www.globalresearch.ca/state-of-emergency-and-continuity-of-government-what-is-the-real-reason-the-government-is-spying-on-americans/5338508 My two cents. Steve Thomas

David, Qui peut dire. Who can say. But I bet they know the National Front well enough. PS: I like the way their home page works html-wise (except for that epilepsy-inducing thingy at the bottom though). Steve Thomas

The more things change, the more they stay the same. ‘I thought they were going to gun us down’: White nationalists disrupt Florida racial justice seminar A goup of white supremacists barged into a racial justice training course in south Florida on Saturday, frightening organizers and attendees — who believed they were about to get shot in a Dylann Roof-style assault. http://www.rawstory.com/2017/06/i-thought-they-were-going-to-gun-us-down-white-nationalists-disrupt-florida-racial-justice-seminar/ I don't regret anything is, of course, is the song made famous by Edith Piaf. Not only is it hauntingly beautiful, but it makes a good marching song. Is that a two-four beat? I don't know. Maybe a music major can say. ""Non, je ne regrette rien" meaning "No, I regret nothing") is a French song composed byCharles Dumont, with lyrics by Michel Vaucaire. It was written in 1956, and is best known through Édith Piaf's 1959 recording, which spent seven weeks atop the French Singles & Airplay Reviews chart Piaf dedicated her recording of the song to the French Foreign Legion. At the time of the recording, France was engaged in a military conflict, the Algerian War (1954–1962), and the 1st REP (1st Foreign Parachute Regiment) — which backed the failed 1961 putsch against president Charles de Gaulle and the civilian leadership of Algeria – adopted the song when their resistance was broken. The leadership of the Regiment was arrested and tried but the non-commissioned officers, corporals and Legionnaires were assigned to other Foreign Legion formations. They left the barracks singing the song, which has now become part of the French Foreign Legion heritage and is sung when they are on parade." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non,_je_ne_regrette_rien As part of their surrender agreement following the April, 1961 putsch, the Legionnaires were allowed to march out of their barracks under arms, or allowed to keep their weapons, although I imagine that when they were shipped back France they had to surrender their guns. Edith Piaf Non, Je ne regrette rien https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFtGfyruroU Some of the Legionnaires of the 1st Parachute Regiment went on to join the OAS, which became an ultra-rightest organization. Many of those OAS members, in turn, joined the ranks of the ultra-rightest National Front political party. Tough he was not a Foreign Legionnaire, one such person who went from the OAS to the National Front party was Jean-Rene Souetre. The founder of the National Front Party, Jean-Marie Le Pen, was sent to Algeria in 1956, where he served in the French Foreign Legion as an intelligence officer. His daughter, Marine Le Pen, just ran for the Presidency of France under the banner of the National Front Party. I don't know if the “Identity Europa” group cited above is an effort to establish some kind of trans-national white supremacist movement linking white supremacist groups “across the pond” as it were. Maybe it's already here and I've just been too dense to know about it. The more things change... Steve Thomas

Michael, I see this Mystery Man as more as an observer than a shooter - making sure everything went as planned. Steve Thomas

Okay, I think that's what I wanted. Steve Thomas

Hmmmmmm... looks like I've forgotten how to insert an image in a post and then preview a topic before I before I post it. Steve Thomas