Leslie Sharp

55 minutes ago, Paul Brancato said:

Leslie - who is Bergman? Also I did not know about Argentine shipments to Israel.

The Secret History of Israel's War Against Hitler's Scientists

BY RONEN BERGMAN ON 04/12/18 AT 11:21 AM EDT

(excerpt)

. . . On March 25, 1963, Ben-Gurion summoned [Mossad chief Isser] Harel to his office; the Mossad chief had carried out some of his media operations without the prime minister's approval and now his boss was upset. The prime minister reminded Harel that he was supposed to implement government policy, not set it. Offended by the rebuke, Harel offered his resignation, confident the Old Man, as Ben-Gurion was known, couldn't manage without him and would beg him to stay.

Ben-Gurion thought otherwise. He accepted the resignation on the spot. Harel's once brilliant career ended in a failed bluff and utter defeat. He was immediately replaced by Amit, the chief of AMAN.

But it was too late for Ben-Gurion, too. Harel's campaign had played into the hands of Begin, among others. Less than two months after replacing Harel, Ben-Gurion resigned, convinced he'd lost the support of his own party. He was replaced by Levi Eshkol.

56 Burglaries and 30,000 Documents

Amit, one of the IDF's brilliant young commanders, took over a Mossad in disarray. The agency was deeply demoralized. In the nine months since Egypt had announced its four missile tests, the Israelis had learned little about the program, and everything the Mossad and AMAN had tried had failed to even slow the project, let alone dismantle it. Pressuring Germany had made no difference.

Amit set about rebuilding the organization, reinforcing it with the best personnel he knew from AMAN. As soon as he took over, he ordered a halt to any matters that he considered extraneous, and a drastic reduction of the resources being devoted to the hunt for Nazi criminals, explaining, "We have to produce information about the enemies of the state of Israel nowadays." Amit knew that he needed a tactical reset, and that the Mossad had to rethink its approach to the problem of Egyptian missiles.

His first order, then, was for a shift away from targeted killing operations and for the vast majority of his resources to be focused instead on trying to understand what was going on inside the missile project. Secretly, however, with most of the top officials of the organization out of the loop, he prepared a targeted killing project of his own against the scientists. Operations personnel were trying to find ways to send parcel bombs from inside Egypt, significantly shortening the time between the sending and opening of the package. They tried out the method on a relatively easy target, the physician Eisele. On September 25, 1963, there was a blast in the post office in the upscale Cairo neighborhood of Maadi: A letter bomb that had been addressed to Dr. Carl Debouche, the false name Eisele was using, exploded and blinded a postal worker.

The failure of this operation convinced Amit that targeted killings should be used only sparingly. Nevertheless, he ordered the Mossad to prepare plans to shoot, blow up or poison the scientists in case nonviolent means proved ineffective.

Amit ordered the Mossad to step up break-ins at all the offices connected to the missile project in West Germany and Switzerland. These operations were enormously complex. The sites were well guarded—both by Egyptian intelligence and by the men under Vallentin, the German project's security chief—in the hearts of crowded European cities, in countries where the law was strictly enforced.

Mossad operatives burglarized the Egyptian embassies, the Egyptian purchasing mission in Cologne and the Intra office in Munich. They broke into the EgyptAir office in Frankfurt no fewer than 56 times between August 1964 and December 1966. The information they obtained (operatives photographed some 30,000 documents up to the end of 1964 alone) was important, but far from sufficient. The Mossad had to recruit someone on the inside of the missile project. This critical task was assigned to a division called Junction, which was responsible for bringing in the bulk of the organization's human intelligence.

Unlike in Hollywood movies, most of this information is not collected directly by Mossad employees darting about in the shadows. Rather, it is gleaned from foreign nationals in their home countries. The Mossad case officers responsible for recruiting and operating these sources are called "collection officers," and they are expert psychologists. They know how to persuade a person to betray everything and everyone he believes in: his friends and family, his organization, his nation.

But none had been able to work on anyone close to the Egyptian program. Recruiting agents in Arab countries became a long-term priority, but in the short run, Junction would have to look elsewhere.

'A Favorite of the Führer'

In April 1964, Amit sent Eitan to Paris, which served as the nerve center of Israeli intelligence, to run Junction's operations in Europe. Vallentin was becoming more of a problem, and Junction needed to take care of him.

Avraham Ahituv, Junction's coordinator in Bonn, had an idea, and he presented it to Eitan in Paris in May 1964. He'd identified a dubious character who'd sold arms and intelligence to the Nasser regime and also was close to the German scientists. "There is just one small problem," Ahituv said. "The man's name is Otto Skorzeny, and he was a high-ranking Wehrmacht officer, Hitler's special operations commander, and a favorite of the Führer."

"And you want to recruit this Otto?" Eitan asked sarcastically. "Wonderful."

In 1960, Ahituv told Eitan, Harel had ordered Amal, the unit that handled the hunt for Nazi war criminals, to gather as much information as possible about Skorzeny, with the goal of bringing him to justice or killing him. His file said he was an enthusiastic member of the Austrian Nazi Party, had enlisted in 1935 in a secret SS unit in Austria and had taken part in Kristallnacht. He rose rapidly in rank in the Waffen-SS, becoming head of its special operations units.

Skorzeny parachuted into Iran and trained local tribes to blow up oil pipelines serving the Allied armies, and he plotted to murder the Big Three—Winston Churchill, Josef Stalin and Franklin Roosevelt. He also had a plan for abducting and killing U.S. General Dwight Eisenhower. Skorzeny was even personally selected by Hitler to lead the Gran Sasso raid, which successfully extricated Benito Mussolini, the Führer's friend and ally, from the Alpine villa where he was being held prisoner by the Italian government.

Allied intelligence called Skorzeny "the most dangerous man in Europe." He was not, however, convicted of war crimes. He was acquitted by one tribunal, and after he was re-arrested on other charges, he escaped with the help of his SS friends. He took refuge in Francisco Franco's Spain, where he established profitable commercial relations with fascist regimes from around the world.

Skorzeny's acquaintance with the scientists in Egypt, and the fact that he'd been a superior officer to Vallentin during the war, was enough, in Eitan's view, to justify trying to recruit him, despite his Nazi past. Eitan felt that if it helped Israel, it was worth it.

Through a number of intermediaries, the Mossad established contact with Countess Ilse von Finckenstein—Skorzeny's wife. She would serve as the Mossad's entrée. The agency's file on the countess says that she was "a member of the aristocracy. She is a cousin of the German [prewar] Finance Minister Hjalmar Schacht.… She is 45, a fairly attractive woman, brimming over with energy."

"She was involved in everything," said Raphael "Raphi" Medan, the German-born Mossad operative who was assigned to the mission. "She sold titles of nobility, had ties with Vatican intelligence and sold arms as well." She and her husband also had liberal ideas about their relationship. "They didn't have children," Medan said, "and they maintained an open marriage. Ilse always looked stunning. Every two years she underwent hormonal treatment in Switzerland in order to preserve her youth."

Medan "had had a reputation, because of his European good looks, for being able to influence women," according to the Mossad report on the affair. They set a meeting for late July 1964 in Dublin. Medan introduced himself as an Israeli Defense Ministry employee on leave, looking for an opening in international tourism. He might be interested in taking part in a Bahamas development project that the countess was involved in, he said. The countess liked Medan, and when their business talk was over, she invited him to a party at her farm. This was the start of a series of meetings, including some wild partying in Europe.

According to a Mossad rumor that circulated for many years and was gently hinted at in the reports but not explicitly stated, Medan "sacrificed" himself for his country—and took advantage of the German couple's open marriage—by wooing the countess and eventually taking her to bed. Medan, however, simply said, "There are things that gentlemen do not speak about," and described their encounter, with a smile, as "good and even gratifying."

Yellowcake:
 

The story of the Argentine yellowcake sale to Israel has remained largely unknown in part because Israel has gone to great lengths to keep tight secrecy to this day about how and where it acquired raw materials for its nuclear program.

https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/israels-quest-for-yellowcake-the-secret-argentina-israel-connection-1963-1966
 

On 5/8/2024 at 11:48 AM, Paul Brancato said:

This may be because of secrets held by Israel regarding Angleton’s. According to a friend who is working through the latest unredacted files concerning Angleton’s closed door Senate testimony, Angleton was closely tied with Saudi Arabia, and generally with British interests which were largely pro Arab because of Oil. His close connections with Israeli Intelligence seems to be in the service of Anti-Soviet operations, and Nazi functionaries were Angleton’s go to interrogators. If both Mossad and CIA used an agent such as Otto Skorzeny, which appears true, then they had mutual checks on each other, since neither would want that kind of relationship public. 
In regards to the 1967 war and ensuing takeover of the West Bank and Golan Heights, you never hear Zionist supporters in the US mention this, and if they do of course they frame it as a necessary preemptive attack on Egypt and Syria. 

There seems to be a degree of controversy over when exactly Skorzeny agreed to cooperate with Mossad. Bergman insists it was not until July 1964 when Otto met with an Israeli conduit in Dublin.  Other versions suggest he was recruited as early as summer of 1963; still others argue an even earlier association.  I think there's little doubt that his concerns related to the possibility of his own extradition for war crimes were legitimate since Eichman's abduction, trial and execution. Suggesting he aligned philosophically with Jewish interests in the region is more than a stretch. 

I'm wondering why the Argentinian shipments of yellowcake to Israel in 1963 hasn't captured more interest than it has since the document drop in 2018.  Argentina had its own political upheaval from the Navy revolt September 1962 - April 1963; Peron was still in exile in Madrid socializing with both Otto and Ilse. What might either have known about that yellowcake?

18 hours ago, Evan Marshall said:

As I said before I never met Harlan Carter. Charley and I were both writers for a number of gun magazines. I never discussed JFK because Charly was an egomaniac and a murder! I was a Detroit copper whose assignment included SWAT and Homicide. I knew Charly when he was in southwest Asia and later. He was a most disagreeable person

 

 

Was he active military in Southwest Asia when you knew him? 

3 minutes ago, Evan Marshall said:

I knew Charley Askins rather well and disliked him and that isn't Charley!

. . . as I have noted previously on this forum, numerous times.

Did you know Askins while he worked at SwRi in San Antonio?

Did you encounter Harlon B. Carter over the years?

1 hour ago, James DiEugenio said:

To get back to Jeff's article, its pretty good I think as far as showing how dedicated Angleton was as a backer of Israel and how he helped them get the bomb.

But I am going to write a reply or rejoinder or whatever including the newest version of Angleton's testimony as secured by Aaron Good, plus how this policy clashed with Kennedy's policy.

 

I would ask why Otto Skorzeny's disputed history with Mossad, as controversial as it might be, isn't relevant to Jeff's article that includes a photo of the CI Chief and Meir Amit of Mossad who at one time solicited the help of the SS Commando . . . assuming the underlying purpose of this forum is to consider and debate facts related to the Kennedy assassination.

I would also note that Angleton's associations from the early 1950s, including those he enjoyed during his involvement in MKULTRA (highlighted by Jeff), contribute to further understanding of the complex character that was JJA – who appears in the records of Pierre Lafitte.

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Angleton “launched” the notorious MKULTRA mind control program. It has been updated to read that Angleton “helped launch” the program. – Jefferson Morley

The Security Research Staff (SRS), an Office of Security branch, directed by retired Brigadier General Paul F. Gaynor, was primarily responsible for detecting foreign attempts to penetrate the CIA, interrogating defectors and suspected spies, and operating several 'behavior modification' programs that were part of the CIA's top-secret BLUEBIRD and ARTICHOKE Projects which predated Project MKULTRA. –  A Terrible Mistake by H. P. Albarelli Jr., pg. 88

From its inception, as readers shall learn in greater detail, the tightly compartmentalized project was Col. Sheffield Edwards' baby.  Indeed, Edwards had selected the code-name "Bluebird" after an attendee at an early planning session made an offhand remark about creating a non-lethal arsenal for "making subjects sing like birds." – pg. 28 

Detailed BLUEBIRD reports, such as the one above, were circulated only to carefully selected individuals.  Those persons "who have been briefed on BLUEBIRD" included, by 1951: William King Harvey, J. H. Alberti, James Angleton, H. M. Chadwell, Cutler Clark, H. H. Cooper, Robert H. Cunningham, E. H. Cushing, James H. Drum, Allen Dulles, John Earman, Sheffield Edwards, Richard Helms, Lyman B.  Kirkpatrick, Frank Wisner, Dr. William Webster.  In October 1950, concurrently with implementation of BLUEBIRD, the CIA's chief of ultra-secret Staff D – which then included Richard Helms and James Angleton – requested that security director Edwards immediately contact former OSS officers who "experimented during 1945 and early 1946 with a drug known under the cryptonym SUGAR" . . . . Stanley Lovell urged the Agency to locate Geore Hunter White, a former OSS officer "with considerable experience with Project SUGAR."  – pg. 212 

The day before [Dr. Sidney] Gottlieb left New York, he and White met at the Narcotics Bureau office where White introduced Gottlieb to agents Arthur Giuliani and Vance Newman.  Also present was "special employee" LaChapelle, who was known at FBN by his real name, Pierre Lafitte.  As readers shall soon learn, Giuliani, Newman and Lafitte would, within a year, play prominent roles in the CIA's drug experiments at their Greenwich Village safe house in New York. . . . at the time, George White had already been vetted for Project BLUEBIRD by James Angleton. – pg. 223 

By August 16, 1951, Sheffield Edwards notified H. Marshall Chadwell that pursuant to his expressed security concerns, the new name for BLUEBIRD would be ARTICHOKE.  – pg. 221

In November 1952, Hunter White was summoned to share with Office of Scientific Intelligence the results of certain experiments that had a bearing on ARTICHOKE. Three weeks later, James Angleton and Gottlieb met with Hunter White in New York about the progress with search for a safe house and "they also discussed several projects for Lafitte" . . . . 'That evening White, Lafitte, Angleton and Gottlieb had dinner with Dr. Harold Abramson, and were joined by Robert Lashbrook, Col. Drum and Willis Gibbons, who had flown up from Washington.  Over dinner, Gibbons explained that White and Lafitte would jointly run experiments with drugs . . . ' pg. 240

' . . . At any rate, towards the end of 1950, almost three years before DCI Allen Dulles would approve the MKULTRA Program [1953], the CIA established an "informal agreement" with the SOD [Camp Detrick's Special Operations Division approved by Sec. James Forrestal, accelerated by the recommendation of the Ad Hoc Committee on Chemical and Biological Warfare) to pursue projects the Agency requested.' – pg. 65

Eleven years later, CI Chief James Angleton and "special employee" Pierre Lafitte in league with infamous SS Commando Otto Skorzeny based in Madrid and Co. Kildare, Ireland would engage in Lancelot Project, the plot to assassinate President John Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963. A thumbnail analysis of relevant entries found in the 1963 datebook maintained by Lafitte who along with his wife Rene had developed a personal friendship with Cicely and James Angleton as well as the Sheffield Edwards:

James Angleton                      May  10  26                               July  31      Aug  23                            Oct  17  25                                    Nov  22   26   27   28                 Dec   5

Sheffield Edwards                                                                         July 9                                                                                                                                                                        Dec 23                                           

Otto Skorzeny     April   30    May 20      June   20  25     July  27      Aug   11      Sept  26     Oct  1  18  22  23  24  25        Nov  5  15   25   28  30             Dec   1

14 minutes ago, Leslie Sharp said:

Heinz Krug: German rocket scientist, who had been a part of Von Braun's team at Peenemunde, and was to take a major part in Egypt's missile program, disappeared on September 11, 1962. There are two versions of his disappearance and death. In both versions, the Israeli Mossad orchestrated the deed. One version, put forward by Dr. Ronen Bergman in his book Rise and Kill First, says Krug was abducted by Israeli agents, taken to Israel, and interrogated and eventually killed there. The other version, put forward by Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman in their article "The Nazi Who Became A Mossad Hitman,” says he was lured to a forest outside Munich and murdered there by Skorzeny, on the orders of Skorzeny's Mossad handlers.
These conflicting versions may underscore the difficulty of understanding Skorzeny's personality and motives. Was he an unrepentant Nazi, an opportunistic mercenary, or a madman? Or perhaps all three?—Ran Daniel, researcher, writer and research associate of author H. P. Albarelli Jr.  – Notes: Chapter 1. WWII, Special Ops, and Assassinations. Coup in Dallas by H. P. Albarelli Jr. with Leslie Sharp and Alan Kent

Interesting to watch as Otto Skorzeny seeps deeper into the collective psyche. (Perhaps eventually his role in the JFK assassination will be accepted by "the community.")

https://www.timesofisrael.com/story-of-mossads-ties-with-high-ranking-nazi-to-become-tv-show/

Isser Harel submitted a letter of resignation, and to his shock, Ben-Gurion accepted it. The new Mossad director, commander of military intelligence Gen. Meir Amit, moved the agency away from chasing or intimidating Nazis.

Amit did activate Skorzeny at least once more, however. The spymaster wanted to explore the possibility of secret peace negotiations, so he asked Israel’s on-the-payroll Nazi to arrange a meeting with a senior Egyptian official. Nothing ever came of it.

Skorzeny never explained his precise reasons for helping Israel. His autobiography does not contain the word “Israel,” or even “Jew.” It is true that he sought and got the life insurance. The Mossad did not assassinate him. . . 
https://www.motl.org/the-strange-case-of-a-nazi-who-became-an-israeli-hitman/

22 hours ago, Kevin Balch said:

Is that really Meir Amit in the photo? Wasn’t Leslie Sharp claiming it was someone else?

I am reading a few books right now about Israel’s effort to obtain nuclear weapons, Israel and the Bomb by Avner Cohen and The Bomb in the Basement by Michael Karpin. I have previously read Stealing the Atom Bomb by former US Nuclear Regulatory Commission physicist Roger Mattson about the theft of highly enriched uranium from a US defense plant owned by devout Zionist Zalman Shapiro in the 1960s. I suspect that this material was used to construct a simple Hiroshima type nuclear weapon for use in the 1967 war.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/03/world/middleeast/1967-arab-israeli-war-nuclear-warning.html

I suspect that the Israelis knew or feared that the USS Liberty had intercepted communications regarding their nuclear bombs. At the time, Liberty was stationed offshore from the approximate location the bombs would have been deployed. The NYT article says the bombs were not deployed but that could be a cover to maintain Israel’s promise not to be the first nation to introduce nuclear weapons in the middle east.

The other reasons given for the attack on the USS Liberty do not make sense. Israel did not need US military assistance against Egypt. They already had complete air supremacy and totally dominated the theatre. US intervention would have complicated Israeli control of the region considering how the US forced Israel, France and the UK to withdraw from the Sinai in 1956. The other theory that the attack was to cover up Israeli executions of Egyptian POWs doesn’t make sense since those did not happen until the day after the attack.

I also wonder if the JFKA could have been a cooperative effort between Israel and Cuba. Israel supplying intelligence via Angleton and also helping with the setup and coverup with Cuba doing the actual wet work. In the early 1960s, Cuba and Israel had good relations. Both viewed JFK as existential threats. Israel because of JFK’s efforts to stop their nuclear program, Cuba because of the assassination and sabotage plots and the threat of US invasion. Cuba’s ambassador to Israel, Riccardo Wolf later moved to Israel and is buried there. Not much is known about him except that he endowed the Wolf Prizes similar to but less well known than the Nobels.

I am surprised no one has read Ronen Bergman’s Rise and Kill First about Israel’s assassination programs.

Heinz Krug: German rocket scientist, who had been a part of Von Braun's team at Peenemunde, and was to take a major part in Egypt's missile program, disappeared on September 11, 1962. There are two versions of his disappearance and death. In both versions, the Israeli Mossad orchestrated the deed. One version, put forward by Dr. Ronen Bergman in his book Rise and Kill First, says Krug was abducted by Israeli agents, taken to Israel, and interrogated and eventually killed there. The other version, put forward by Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman in their article "The Nazi Who Became A Mossad Hitman,” says he was lured to a forest outside Munich and murdered there by Skorzeny, on the orders of Skorzeny's Mossad handlers.
These conflicting versions may underscore the difficulty of understanding Skorzeny's personality and motives. Was he an unrepentant Nazi, an opportunistic mercenary, or a madman? Or perhaps all three?—Ran Daniel, researcher, writer and research associate of author H. P. Albarelli Jr.  – Notes: Chapter 1. WWII, Special Ops, and Assassinations. Coup in Dallas by H. P. Albarelli Jr. with Leslie Sharp and Alan Kent

Interesting to watch as Otto Skorzeny seeps deeper into the collective psyche. (Perhaps eventually his role in the JFK assassination will be accepted by "the community.")

https://www.timesofisrael.com/story-of-mossads-ties-with-high-ranking-nazi-to-become-tv-show/

23 hours ago, Kevin Balch said:

Is that really Meir Amit in the photo? Wasn’t Leslie Sharp claiming it was someone else?

I am reading a few books right now about Israel’s effort to obtain nuclear weapons, Israel and the Bomb by Avner Cohen and The Bomb in the Basement by Michael Karpin. I have previously read Stealing the Atom Bomb by former US Nuclear Regulatory Commission physicist Roger Mattson about the theft of highly enriched uranium from a US defense plant owned by devout Zionist Zalman Shapiro in the 1960s. I suspect that this material was used to construct a simple Hiroshima type nuclear weapon for use in the 1967 war.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/03/world/middleeast/1967-arab-israeli-war-nuclear-warning.html

I suspect that the Israelis knew or feared that the USS Liberty had intercepted communications regarding their nuclear bombs. At the time, Liberty was stationed offshore from the approximate location the bombs would have been deployed. The NYT article says the bombs were not deployed but that could be a cover to maintain Israel’s promise not to be the first nation to introduce nuclear weapons in the middle east.

The other reasons given for the attack on the USS Liberty do not make sense. Israel did not need US military assistance against Egypt. They already had complete air supremacy and totally dominated the theatre. US intervention would have complicated Israeli control of the region considering how the US forced Israel, France and the UK to withdraw from the Sinai in 1956. The other theory that the attack was to cover up Israeli executions of Egyptian POWs doesn’t make sense since those did not happen until the day after the attack.

I also wonder if the JFKA could have been a cooperative effort between Israel and Cuba. Israel supplying intelligence via Angleton and also helping with the setup and coverup with Cuba doing the actual wet work. In the early 1960s, Cuba and Israel had good relations. Both viewed JFK as existential threats. Israel because of JFK’s efforts to stop their nuclear program, Cuba because of the assassination and sabotage plots and the threat of US invasion. Cuba’s ambassador to Israel, Riccardo Wolf later moved to Israel and is buried there. Not much is known about him except that he endowed the Wolf Prizes similar to but less well known than the Nobels.

I am surprised no one has read Ronen Bergman’s Rise and Kill First about Israel’s assassination programs.

The photo (without caption) was called to my attention in context of our investigation into Col. Charles Askins who appears in the 1963 datebook maintained by Pierre Lafitte. Athough there are physical similarities, the likelihood Askins would be photographed with Angleton was slim.  There are several additional photos of Meir in Tucson with JJA.

 I (perhaps naively) asked an Israeli research colleague whether Amit was a Zionist:

Of course he was. Every Israeli, except Arabs, extreme left and Ultraorthodox may be considered Zionist in some sense . An Army General like Amit would certainly be considered Zionist, which , in itself, doesn't imply any extremism . 

I thought you indicated he was moderate. I'm reviewing Permindex and trying to distinguish those who believed in a strong Israel vs. the slander hurled at "Zionists". For instance, as you know, Edgar Bronfman is referred to in the derogatory, A ZIONIST.

Perhaps it's hard to explain. A person who lives in Israel and makes himself part of the nation-building effort of the country is perforce a Zionist, which doesn't in any way make him an extremist, although of course there are Zionist Exrtremists, such as Meir Kahane and some parts of the Likkud party. Not all Zionists are extremists, unless one regards Zionism itself as extremist, and Israel itself as an illegitimate entity. If Bronfman was affiliated with the "Stern Gang" or Etzel, out of which the Likkud developed, he would be more extreme than someone affiliated with the "Hagganah", which had its roots in the Labour party. But it's a matter of degree and different perspectives. Sorry about the longish lecture. 

4 hours ago, John Kowalski said:

Do not know. The source document is a book that only lists the names of directors and executives and companies they are associated with. 

I found very little on the Browns and Newall.

I'm interested in all things ARAMCO. Another significant Texas thread.

11 hours ago, John Kowalski said:

Bloomfield was a director of New Continental Oil Company of Canada and Israel Continental Oil Co. and secretary of British Controlled Oilfields.

Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Red Sea?

3 minutes ago, Robert Montenegro said:

 

Be careful Leslie, you are utilizing logic to fight a straw-man conclusion.

 

You know the marching call around here is the battle-cry of Sgt. Schultz:

 

 

LOLOLOL. I Know N.u.t.h.t.h.i.n.g!!

2 hours ago, Tom Gram said:

Disappeared? I thought his source material was all available in the ARC, and either online or open at NARA.

I’d have to check the chapter endnotes but I don’t recall seeing anything on Cobb without a RIF. I haven’t opened the book in over a year though so I definitely could be wrong. 

Newman has told others that his office was broken into and his Cobb file(s?) was stolen; apparently he had filed one particular document or group of documents in another area and planned to release them to the public at some point.  To my knowledge that has yet to happen.

Also, my understanding is that June handed over those files to John with the understanding they would be returned; for some reason she failed to make photocopies so the originals were invaluable.  He never returned the originals to June.

Why would anyone break into John's office and not steal additional research, or did they? Are we to understand the break-in was specific to June's files?  If so, why wasn't Albarelli's place broken into as well?

On 1/17/2024 at 4:47 PM, Bill Simpich said:

Leslie,

I haven't studied Trettin extensively, especially re his role as deputy CI - but check out the Cuban Operations Group that deserves more study:

 

Cuban Operations Group

 

Paul Oberst COG/CA 63

Carl Trettin Deputy COG, CI 63

Margaret Forsyth, COG, 63

 

For a bigger picture background:

 

Special Affairs Staff (formerly Task Force W)

 

William Harvey, chief, 62 (TFW)                                                                                     

Desmond Fitzgerald, chief, 63-67 (SAS)       

    C/PW Seymour Bolten/Trouchard? (actually, Trouchard may be Kent) (62-63)    (64 - SAS/SO/SB)
    C/PW George Joannides/Newby (63-64)

                            

Victor Wallen  C/TFW/CI 62
Hal Swenson, C/SAS/CI  63-65

 

Richard Tansing -  C/SAS/CI/OPS, the originator of this 9/10/63 memo about recruiting Azcue.  Sforza was at TFW in 62,

                                                                                                                                                                                     SAS/FI and  AMOT c/o in 63

AA Maloney C/SAS/MOB 63                 

Edward Marelius, C/SAS/EOB 62-63

John Tilton DC/SAS/MOB 63                 

DC/SAS/EOB ? (Brings Vicente to Cuba)

Paul Maggio C/SAS/MOB/FI 63

                      C/WH/SA/MOB/FI. 64

 

                                                                      

                                                                                    SAS/CI Nestor Sanchez

SAS/SO Henry Hecksher

(high level, Ult Sac 39)

   aka Henry Boysen

                                                                                 

Austin Horn, SAS/CI liaison with FBI, 62

SAS/SO Charles Anderson III                                       (SAS/CI L. Demos signs his routing slip on 10/8/63)

former phone tap expert in Mexico City

                                                                              

L. Demos, July 63 re Azcue

                                                         

SAS/CE Anita Potocki 63

 

                                                         

SAS/CI Tansing - supervisor to Barney Hidalgo (Blunt source)

                                                         

SAS/CI Richard Tansing was "SAS 8"

                                                        

may be OS related, does "facilitation", a SSD function (security support)

 

 

Other SAS/CI, or TFW/CI:  Barney Hidalgo, Wilmer Kerbe, Vivian Petrowski, Lois Frederickson, Paul Maggio 62  Pauline Miller

                                     

 

JMWAVE

C/JMWAVE (Shackley)

Shackley's 2nd in command, exec officer, David Morales

   Ops Officer - Deputy COS  - August 61
   Frederick Inghurst - deputy COS (re Joannides personnel file) - field contracting officer

    Shackley's chief of operations

AMOT Military Matters chief

C/JMWAVE/FI Frank Belsito,

Answers to Sforza, "AMOT case officer" 63 and FI

 

Raymond L. Pochron (?) was C/CI/JMWAVE during 1962 

 

Winfred Jimerson (Sforza?) was C/CI/JMWAVE from late 1962 to mid-1963

 

CI officers Lewis Nicklas, George Watts,  

 

    Here's the CIA flowchart for JMWAVE:   COS and DCOS, w/secretaries and communicators
  Branches:  Support, Ops Branch of FI and Special Ops, CA Branch, External Ops Branch, Reports Section, Technical Services Section

C/Miami field office, Justin Gleichauf

    C/Miami, chief of operations, Morales (Ult Sac, p. 57)

 

Cuban Operations Group

 

Paul Oberst COG/CA 63

Carl Trettin Deputy COG, CI 63

Margaret Forsyth, COG, 63

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

 

Mexico City Station

 

Win Scott, Chief

 

Alan White, Deputy Chief               David Phillips, Cuban ops     Paul Manell, Soviet desk  Anne Goodpasture, operations officer
                                                                                                                                            

Jeremy Niarcos/Tom Keenan

                                                   

Robert Shaw  Cuban            

Barbara Manell, "                     case officer

                                                                                                                                           

Arnold Arehart/Charles Flick
                                                                                                                                            tapes technician     
 

                                                                                                                                           

Bill Bright - transport of  

                                                                                                                                      tapes/transcripts/photos

                                                                                                                                            Sept. 63
                                                                                                                                             collected tapes/transcripts with Niarcos/Keenan

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Western Hemisphere

 

Chief, J. C. King                                                                       

C/WH/OPS (William Hood)                                                                                             C/WH/R (L.N. Gallary)
 

 

WH/3 Central America             WH/4 Cuba                                    Mexico City Station           

 

Paul Oberst                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

WH/C/CA (covert action chief 61) 

John Whitten                           

Jake Esterline                               

Win Scott                                                     

                                                                                                                                         

David Phillips " 63

C/WH/3/CI ?                          

C/WH/4/CI (A.C. Davies) 63            

CI capacity?                         

C/WH/CA

                                              

WH/4/CI Jean Pierson 61               

 

Biggest Staff D station

WH/3/Mexico                          

C/WH/4/Prop (D. Phillips) 61                                                                                               

Charlotte Bustos                     

                                             

Margaret Forsyth 61 WH/4/PA-PROP

                                             

John Tilton 62 WH/4/PA-PROP

                                                                                                 

                                             

Joseph Langan, C/WH/4/Security

                                             

William E. Eisemann, C/WH/4/Support

Bill, do you read anything into his recruitment of Augustin Guitart in context of the Odio incident? Pure coincidence?

On 1/11/2024 at 5:54 PM, Tom Gram said:

Was Trettin ever deposed by the Rockefeller Commission and/or Church Committee, etc.? I did a quick search and couldn’t find anything. 

I've never seen evidence that he was.  He was reposted to Cordoba Argentina in I believe late '64/ early '65.  He passed away only recently.  https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/readingeagle/name/carl-trettin-obituary?id=54013075
 

On 4/2/2024 at 7:57 AM, John Kowalski said:

Yes that would make sense, Bloomfield probably provided legal advice to the Bronfman family.

Why are you interested in Bloomfield's relationship with the Bronfman family?

6 hours ago, John Kowalski said:

Leslie:

Did not find any Bronfman documents in my Bloomfield file, however when I was researching him I was focused on Permindex not the Bronfman family. Bloomfield was a well-connected lawyer and business man and am sure he knew them. His files are available online. If you want to review them I can show you how you can access them.

Found a letter in my files that was sent to Allen Dulles regarding a resume received from Bronfman's daughter, Mindy. Found this letter in Dulles' papers that are available online.

https://archive.org/details/dulles-bronfman

 

Thanks, John.

I'm sensitive to the fact that a number of sources claiming Louis Mortimer Bloomfield was attorney to the Bronfman dynasty are controversial, e.g. the Torbitt Doc, EIR, and (for some) Mae Brussell so I just pulled together several benign links to establish that 1) Bloomfield was in law practice with the Montreal-based Phillips & Vineberg from 1930-1970, and 2) the firm's founding partner Philip Vineberg was both a friend and attorney for the patriarch Sam Bronfman as well as a number of members of the family according to additional sources. 

TITLE:
Louis M. Bloomfield fonds [textual record, graphic material]

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
5.87 m of textual records.
14 photographs : b&w.

DATES:
1883-1984.

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY/BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Louis M. Bloomfield, born in Montreal in 1906, received his B.A. from McGill University in 1927 and his L.L.M. from the University of Montreal in 1930. He was admitted to the Quebec Bar in 1930 and created a K.C. in 1948.

Bloomfield practised international law with Phillips, Bloomfield, Vineberg and Goodman, 1930-1970.

I am still surprised that Father, surrounded as he was by the ablest accountants and lawyers, could have embarked on such a poorly structured venture. The reason, of course, was that it was very difficult to tell Sam Bronfman that he was wrong. No one ever wanted to be on the receiving end of his violent, epithet-laden outbursts. Even Philip Vineberg, a brilliant lawyer whom Father trusted and respected, was a little afraid of him. "If your father wants to do it this way, who's gonna say no?" he asked me. — "Good Spirits: The Making of a Businessman" by EDGAR M. BRONFMAN G. P. Putnam's Sons (C) 1998 Edgar M. Bronfman All rights reserved. ISBN: 0-399-14374-2

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/bronfman-spirits.html

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Vineberg-70

In 1971, Leo Kolber was appointed after Sam’s death, along with Philip Vineberg, who had become the Bronfman’s chief legal adviser. — "From Shirtsleeves to Shirtless”: The Bronfman Dynasty and the Seagram Empire, Graham D. Taylor, Prof History, Trent University

https://thebhc.org/sites/default/files/taylor_0.pdf

Setting aside controversial representations — some of which are flagrantly antisemitic — can we agree that from these innocuous citations it's reasonable to conclude Bloomfield also provided legal services to the Bronfman empire on behalf of his firm, even if only occasionally?

8 hours ago, John Kowalski said:

Robert:

What evidence do you have of his connection to Kennedy's assassination?

John, if I can step in here to ask if you could clarify whether Bloomfield provided legal services to the Bronfman Dynasty regarding either their vast business investments or their personal affairs or both?

2 hours ago, Ron Bulman said:

Reading through this, I've wondered about the possibility before myself.  Pretty much everybody on the forum knows Dulles, Cabbell, Bissell and Walker were forcibly retired not too long before, by JFK.  All still useful in some respects with lots of contacts. 

But, it seems like there was at least one more relevant upper-level CIA person who retired less than a year before the assassination.  I can't remember the name or position, first thought Barnes, no.  You say Lansdale, Edwards, etc.  Any idea who I might be thinking about?  Anyone else? 

Are you thinking of Admiral Arleigh Burke, or maybe General Georg Decker?

@Robert Reeves RR, thanks for reminding us of Mae's deep dive into Sheffield Edwards. Her prescience is virtually unmatched and I think had elements within the community not maligned her work, we would've been further down the road in a significantly different direction much earlier. She was the embodiment of "a beautiful mind" imv.

And thanks for clarification of the date of Sheffield's "retirement." I agree with you. It's puzzling those records were withheld for decades. To what end?

When I read September I thought it was less relevant, but June 29 comports with a very brief note in a record maintained by Pierre Lafitte on July 9 indicating his wife was unhappy followed by the name Katie*, and the name Sheffield.  Hank Albarelli was informed by Mrs. Lafitte that the Edwards and she and Pierre had developed a close friendship as confirmed by another entry on December 23, "dinner with the Edwards." We can only speculate that she had spoken with Sheffield's wife in early July and was 'unhappy' — perhaps at the news or perhaps that Sheff's wife was upset?

*Sheffield's wife was Sarita Barber Edwards, not "Katie". We've yet to determine why the name appears with Sheffield, but for now we speculate it was a nickname. 

Notes about the relationship between Sheffield Edwards, Office of Security, and Pierre Lafitte — the elusive "special employee" of several three-letter agencies throughout the Cold War:

In June 1952, according to a letter by George White, the CIA officially recruited Lafitte as a “special employee” after he was summoned to Washington, D.C. to meet with CIA officials, Dr. Sidney Gottlieb and James Jesus Angleton. Wrote White: “Expecting to be at CIA only a day, Lafitte was held over for a few days. I hope to hell they know what they are in for. I suspect even to that crew that he’s one of a kind.” While at CIA headquarters, Lafitte also met Agency Security Chief, Sheffield Edwards, Frank Wisner, and Richard Helms. Subsequently, Lafitte undertook a number of covert domestic and international assignments for the CIA, including a trip to the Republic of Congo in December 1960, which, as noted, coincided with the January 1961 CIA-assisted assassination of Patrice Lumumba. Lafitte’s work for the CIA lasted until about 1978.
    Longtime CIA MK/ULTRA czar Dr. Gottlieb was more guarded about his words on Pierre Lafitte. “I’m not even sure he exists in the epistemology of the CIA,” said Gottlieb. “He gives whole new meaning to the label ‘spook.’” Gottlieb continued:
It’s widely known that he worked with George [White] in New York and San Francisco. That’s no secret at all today. But… he did… he did a lot more than that. He traveled extensively for the Agency… I would encounter him in unexpected places, completely… I’d see him but I wasn’t privy to what he was doing. Often I would ignore his presence as he would mine. 
. . . These activities—and the personnel involved in them—were carefully vetted by CIA Counterintelligence head Jim Angleton. White became a “CIA consultant,” and Gottlieb was soon informed that Angleton and CIA Deputy Director of Plans Frank Wisner were very interested in retaining the services of Pierre Lafitte, for “special projects.” Lafitte’s unique skill set was understandably intriguing to these men, and soon Lafitte was engaging in meetings with officers at the top echelon of the Agency. On the evening of June 23, 1952, Lafitte’s wife Rene telephoned White at home and informed him that Pierre was being held overnight in Washington D.C. for meetings with Wisner, Office of Security head Sheffield Edwards, and Wisner’s Chief of Operations Richard Helms.
    Thus began Lafitte’s long-term relationship with operatives at the core of CIA’s clandestine operations. There would be dinners with Angleton who would become a close friend, coded communications, and Agency-assisted passports issued to Lafitte in the coming years. 
. . . The letters WIN indicate the broad program cryptonym, and often individuals were given numbers after these three letters. For example: QJ/WIN-1, QJ/WIN-2, QJ/WIN-3 and on. 
An October 1976 CIA memorandum concerning a “review of the ZR/RIFLE file” reveals the following: 
In 1959, [Harold Meltzer] furnished information to our QJ/WIN California office but has not since cooperated with us. N.B. he has the background and talent for the matter we discussed but it is not known whether he would be receptive.’ [This the review took from a December 1960 CIA document.] YAZBECK lived in Beirut and worked for QJ/WIN’s office intermittently during the past 10 years (dates not given-possibly during 51-61.) YAZBECK’s chief bodyguard from 50-58 (not named) was a convicted murderer. The bodyguard was murdered. States that YAZBECK has an available pool of assassins.
Harold Meltzer first came to the attention of the CIA after mobster Johnny Rosselli had a conversation about him in 1959 with Agency Security Office chief Sheffield Edwards. Earlier the same year, according to a letter from FBN supervisory agent and CIA contractor George Hunter White to Garland Williams, also a FBN supervisor and a close friend to White, White and Charles Siragusa had discussed Meltzer with Rosselli during a meeting in Miami. It appears that Meltzer was not initially recruited by the CIA to perform assassinations, but instead was slated to help spot and recruit potential candidates for the Agency’s ZR/RIFLE and QJ/WIN programs. 
However, Meltzer’s skills as a hitman for Rosselli were notorious in mob circles. 
    That the CIA, as exposed in the above quoted memorandum, maintained a “QJ/WIN California office” is intriguing and, of course, summons up all sorts of theories about the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. 

Regarding Robert Maheu's service to the agency, this document refers to "Office of Security" without naming Edwards specifically.  It's significant in context of Lafitte because as early as 1957, Maheu was involved with Allen Hughes and John Joseph Frank in selling a quantity of electronic and X-ray detection equipment to the Dominicans in 1955-56. Frank would be charged with failure to register as a foreign agent.  The names Hughes - Frank - Murphy (Gerald Murphy who was also named in the Frank indictment in context of the murder of a Columbia University prof purported but never confirmed to have been carried out by Trujillo's own diplomat Porfirio Rubirosa - who met with Giancana in Paris in June 1963) appear in Lafitte's January 4, 1963 datebook entry indicating that regardless of prior problems with the US government, they were still 'in play' in some capacity.

Since Herbert Itkins — de Mohrenschildt's rep and known for his influence and lucrative dealings in both Haiti and the DR at the time — also appears frequently in the Lafitte datebook, we can guess Hughes-Frank-Murphy were not far behind? https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/157-10005-10159.pdf

1 hour ago, Robert Reeves said:

Rip Robertson & John O'Hare 

Some of these pics are the familiar faces in dealey plaza, well known. but a few I found.

 

The infamous salute of the alleged Rip Robertson

The same person photographed on the corner is on the grass headed towards the steps at the bottom of the knoll a few moments after the shooting has ended.

And both men are photographed at near to the steps on Elm, below Murray 5 photograph

Both have removed their hats.

Notice their proximity to Sheriff Buddy Walthers, who is about to cross Elm and collect the .45 slug. 

Walthers blue circled, below

And just behind them at the steps over Rip's shoulder is an Alfredo Duran lookalike

I found the same two also photographed outside the Dal-Tax

24/11/64, Rip Robertson is photographed with his Cuban crew just before taking part in a CIA operation in the Congo. below

So who is the man holding the umbrella? I followed John O'Hare's son on twitter, Thomas O’Hare. He randomly posted that the man holding the umbrella in this photo was Rip Robertson. He has since deleted his twitter profile. There is some controversy as to if Rip Robertson is actually the 4th person from the left. But I saw John O'Hare's son say it was Rip Robertson. A person that looks like Rip Robertson was photographed about 25 feet from where the Umbrella Man was stood - and just a year and 2 days after JFK was murdered the picture above shows the Rip Robertson headed a mission in the Congo with an Umbrella Man seemingly celebrating. O'Hare's son alleges Rip Robertson is the guy holding an umbrella and swigging booze. Check the bottle in his left hand. Thomas O'Hare wrote a book about the 1964 CIA mission in Congo and other missions https://www.therougescarf.com/the_rouge_scarf-chapters_1_and_2.pdf

John O'Hare and his son Thomas were featured in August 5, 1966, Life Magazine. The article related how O'Hare was training troops bound for Vietnam. His son Thomas, 15,  was portrayed involved in live fire exercises at his father's training compound. John O'Hare was involved with the Civil Air Patrol. On October 22, 1963, he voluntarily resigned from the printing company Viking Distributors. O'Hare was listed an an employee of Viking Distributors until Oct 22nd 1963.

Interesting, CIA operative and Dulles buddy Sheffield Edwards quits the CIA 30th Sept, 63, Lansdale quits the CIA 1st November 63. O'Hare quits his job 22nd Oct 63. Would be interesting to see who else within the CIA had quit in 1963.

John O'Hare 'up and died' in 1975. This thorough report by private investigator Kennard Smith into O'Hares' militia training camp probably hastened his demise.  https://gregwagnersite.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/ken-smith-report-1975.pdf Especially as the Rockefeller Commission was in play.

 

 

Great contribution, RR.  

Can you readily put your hands on the record that indicates Sheffield Edwards quit the agency September 30? His obit indicates 1963, but I'm curious about the specific date.  

Before Roger Stone's "LBJ Did It" consumes this thread entirely — and with the indulgence of Robert Montenegro who has generously provided the most comprehensive database of its kind to date — the influence of Clark Mollenhoff's reporting warrants review from a broader perspective than has been promoted thus far:

. . . Sy Hersh notes that Clark Mollenhoff’s reporting included reference to Delaware Senator Williams’ access to an account of [Ellen] Rometsch’s life in D.C. over a period of more than two years, and that having been born in East Germany, she still had relatives on “the other side of the iron curtain.” Mollenhoff had added, either parenthetically or based on information provided him by his sources within the government, “The possibility that her activity might be connected with espionage is of some concern for security investigators because of the high rank of her male companions.” Thus, Mollenhoff revealed to the public that in July, the FBI had started investigating the possibility that Ellen was a Soviet spy, and that “with less than a week’s notice, she and her husband were sent back to Germany . . . at the request of the State Department.” 

Hersh observes that Mollenhoff, who had covered labor corruption during the 1950s, had been an enthusiastic supporter of Bobby Kennedy’s work as general counsel of the Senate Rackets Committee. Writes Hersh, “The two men had grown apart—the specifics of their dispute could not be learned for this book—and the increasingly conservative [emphasis added] Mollenhoff had begun to write extensively, and critically, of the Kennedy administration’s decision in late 1962 to bypass Boeing and award the TFX contract to General Dynamics. Writes Hersh, Mollenhoff’s reporting “was taken most seriously by Bobby Kennedy.”

Indeed, reporter Mollenhoff’s conservative leaning was apparent in public settings when in October of 1962 when he participated on a panel, “Washington Cover-Up” at Georgetown University alongside the president of the Ukraine Congress Committee of America (UCCA) and Georgetown economics professor Lev Dobriansky, evidenced in a photo in The Ukraine Weekly, and in ensuing years Mollenhoff was not shy about his commitment to anti-communism. A brief mention in an article dated Saturday, April 20, 1974 in The Ukraine Weekly, under the headline, “Anti-communist League Holds 7th Conference In Washington,” provides a window into his public support of the World Anti-communist League (WACL). 

Hosted in D.C. by the American Council for World Freedom (ACWF), the conference boasted some twenty-five speakers representing both free nations and countries under Communist suppression, including autocrat General Anastazio Somoza of Nicaragua and the Hon. Jaroslav Stetsko, former Prime Minister of Ukraine and head of the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations (ABN) since its inception as well as leader of the Organization of Ukranian Nationalists (OUN). The US affiliate of Stetsko’s ABN, The American Friends of Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations is infamous among Kennedy researchers for its leading member Spas Raikin being tapped to meet Lee Harvey Oswald and his Russian wife Marina as they arrived from the USSR. 

Among the US speakers at the 1974 WACL conference were prominent Republicans including future congressman John McCain, conservative journalist William F. Buckley, and Prof. Dobriansky. The lengthy article in The Ukraine Weekly continues to describe the events, “The first reception, hosted by three members of the American press, John Chamberlain, King Features Syndicate columnist, Robert Hurleigh, Mutual Broadcasting System columnist, and Clark Mollenhoff, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and Washington Bureau Chief of the "Des Moines Register and Star" was held at the National Press Club.”

Of interest to researchers in pursuit of significant domestic and foreign intrigues in the decades following the assassination implicating yet another web of ideologically aligned forces, at the time of the 1974 WACL conference attended by Mollehnhoff and Dobriansky, the Cowles Communication / Des Moines Register board included Ret. General George Olmsted, close friend to Rear Admiral Arleigh Burke who resigned from the navy before President Kennedy had served a full year as president to join Texaco, one of four Rockefeller concerns to secure exclusive drilling rights in Saudi Arabia. Olmsted was the force behind the financial empire that within the decade would be caught up in the BANK OF CREDIT AND COMMERCE (BCCI) scandal. 

Later in this investigation, the network of WACL and Stetsko’s ABN, tied to the assassination of Ukranian Stepan Bandera who led the OUN said to be most closely aligned with Mussolini’s fascism before his assassination, and their affiliation with General Charles Willoughby and General Edwin A. Walker — both named frequently by Lafitte — will assume greater significance.

For now, in light of the Ellen Rometsch scandal widely exposed by Mollenhoff who was first to compare it to the Profumo Affair and the possibility that more than blackmail was in play, it is important to draw attention to several Lafitte entries:

NYC Rest guide ad.
Talk of Ella R. photographs
. . . in NY at Previews
—Lafitte datebook, September 17, 1963

Meet with Willoughby at
(Ella R) others at
49 East 53rd St.
NYC
—Lafitte datebook, October 15, 1963

13 minutes ago, Leslie Sharp said:

@Roger Odisio I was just today reviewing the June 12, 1963  murder of NAACP's Medgar Evers and wondering once again why his death is seldom mentioned in context of the assassinations of the period. His assassin, Byron de la Backwith of KKK and Indignate White Citizens Council was visited in jail by Gen. Edwin A. Walker whose "Operation Alert" with evangelist Billy Hargis set a standard for Gen. Michael Flynn's ReAwken America Tour

From there, a quick glance at most recent coverage of Gen. Walker provides a segue to your astute insistence that the assassination of Kennedy is perhaps more relevant than ever (particularly the forthcoming  'do or die for democracy' election cycle) and should be permitted on all JFK assassination related threads.

Unless we understand fully (and call them out vociferously) the ideological forces driving the animus against Kennedy and Johnson's civil rights agenda — an animus we see today only thinly veiled in the backlash against The 1619 Project and similar — we'll continue to slouch toward all out civil war.  Kennedy's assassination and cover-up reverberates within every element of the MAGA movement.


March 7, 2024

OPINION: AN OLD FRIEND REVEALS A TRUTH

By WYATT EMMERICH

The Email from Chris Gordon stated: “Wyatt, I just picked up Peter Adams from the airport. He's speaking tomorrow for History Is Lunch about his new book on Gen. Edwin Walker. 
' . . . There were so many bizarre interconnections between unlikely events involving [General Edwin A.] Walker and many other historical figures of that time. Give yourself a treat. Google History is Lunch Mississippi and listen to Peter Adams’ 40-minute talk. . . Fear and paranoia from rapid social and cultural change has now merged with the perfect vehicle to promote crazy conspiracy theories. This will not end well.'   
https://www.grenadastar.com/columns-local-content-opinion-state/opinion-old-friend-reveals-truth-65ea0a4228933


Peter Adams’s The Insurrectionist is the first comprehensive biography of Major General Edwin A. Walker, a figure who, in the 1950s and 1960s, became a leader of a far-right political movement known for its elaborate conspiracy theories, authoritarianism, and uncompromising white supremacy. Sixty years before the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Edwin Walker was charged with insurrection and seditious conspiracy. He was arrested on orders from the attorney general after leading a deadly riot against federal marshals as they protected the first African American student attempting to register at the University of Mississippi. Those who flocked to Walker’s side believed an invisible government working with coconspirators in the Kremlin and United Nations would soon enslave America under a one-world dictatorship. Walker’s deep state conspiracy theory has echoed through American political culture into the age of QAnon, finding a new home among today’s far-right extremists.  
https://lsupress.org/9780807179925/the-insurrectionist/

3 hours ago, Roger Odisio said:

You were there, Kirk, as was I.  It's difficult to believe you don't know what I mean by a seismic shift in politics from the 60s.

The JFKA was quickly followed by the political murders of Malcolm, King, Bobby, Fred Hampton that were designed to decimate left opposition to the ascendant war mongers. There has been a steady stream of wars since. There is now a uniparty consensus in Washington for war and trillion dollar "defense" budgets, when you include the cost of "intelligence".  Name a politician today who opposes that.  

Name a national politician today who can be called antiwar.  Name anyone who could give JFK's peace speech or even dare contemplate out loud ways to achieve peace, as JFK was trying to work out with the SU.  While explaining there was little reason to hate and fear the Russians, but instead it was necessary to work with them, while acknowledging our differences. "We all breathe the same air."  Where is that guy today?

I'm just scratching the surface.  This is a very different country in a lot of ways from what it was like when Kennedy was murdered. His murder is one of the reasons why.

 

 

@Roger Odisio I was just today reviewing the June 12, 1963  murder of NAACP's Medgar Evers and wondering once again why his death is seldom mentioned in context of the assassinations of the period. His assassin, Byron de la Backwith of KKK and Indignate White Citizens Council was visited in jail by Gen. Edwin A. Walker whose "Operation Alert" with evangelist Billy Hargis set a standard for Gen. Michael Flynn's ReAwken America Tour

From there, a quick glance at most recent coverage of Gen. Walker provides a segue to your astute insistence that the assassination of Kennedy is perhaps more relevant than ever (particularly the forthcoming  'do or die for democracy' election cycle) and should be permitted on all JFK assassination related threads.

Unless we understand fully (and call them out vociferously) the ideological forces driving the animus against Kennedy and Johnson's civil rights agenda — an animus we see today only thinly veiled in the backlash against The 1619 Project and similar — we'll continue to slouch toward all out civil war.  Kennedy's assassination and cover-up reverberates within every element of the MAGA movement.


March 7, 2024

OPINION: AN OLD FRIEND REVEALS A TRUTH

By WYATT EMMERICH

The Email from Chris Gordon stated: “Wyatt, I just picked up Peter Adams from the airport. He's speaking tomorrow for History Is Lunch about his new book on Gen. Edwin Walker. 
' . . . There were so many bizarre interconnections between unlikely events involving [General Edwin A.] Walker and many other historical figures of that time. Give yourself a treat. Google History is Lunch Mississippi and listen to Peter Adams’ 40-minute talk. . . Fear and paranoia from rapid social and cultural change has now merged with the perfect vehicle to promote crazy conspiracy theories. This will not end well.'   
https://www.grenadastar.com/columns-local-content-opinion-state/opinion-old-friend-reveals-truth-65ea0a4228933


Peter Adams’s The Insurrectionist is the first comprehensive biography of Major General Edwin A. Walker, a figure who, in the 1950s and 1960s, became a leader of a far-right political movement known for its elaborate conspiracy theories, authoritarianism, and uncompromising white supremacy. Sixty years before the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Edwin Walker was charged with insurrection and seditious conspiracy. He was arrested on orders from the attorney general after leading a deadly riot against federal marshals as they protected the first African American student attempting to register at the University of Mississippi. Those who flocked to Walker’s side believed an invisible government working with coconspirators in the Kremlin and United Nations would soon enslave America under a one-world dictatorship. Walker’s deep state conspiracy theory has echoed through American political culture into the age of QAnon, finding a new home among today’s far-right extremists.  
https://lsupress.org/9780807179925/the-insurrectionist/

This highly impressive database — evidence of Robert Montenegro’s superior skills and commitment in a similar spirit of Daniel Brandt’s Herculean effort some decades ago —  is invaluable as a tool for moving beyond three-letter acronyms to identify individuals active within the Military-Industrial Complex pre & immediately-post the coup in Dallas. 

However, making the leap that all on the list are “responsible for the murder of President Kennedy” without clear parameters of the term “responsible” is just that, a leap. I would suggest inserting the caveat to each category: With skills and in a position to . . .  as well as applying a process of prioritization.

Otherwise, the categorization of so many suspects might read: Men with Power; Men with Money; Men with Influence; Men with Power and Money to Buy Influence; Men Who Would Do Anything for Money, Power, and Influence, Men Who Hated Kennedy, Men Willing to Kill Kennedy, etc. 

It should go without saying that informed researchers recognize this database as presented provides enormous potential for future historians who are trained in document analysis. However, regardless of the unparalleled quality of the specific research and subsequent database, propinquity is not irrefutable evidence to indict individuals posthumously in the murder of President Kennedy. 

Massive lists have and likely will continue to inadvertently neutralize the fact that a tightly held cabal (some of whom are buried in this and similar lists) actively participated in Lancelot Project — the successful plot to assassinate Kennedy in Dallas and well-laid plans for the subsequent (and ongoing to date) cover-up. 

If AI  is the endgame of this project, how might the omission of key figures (from this or any database) in the triumphant assassination plot, execution, and cover-up affect the outcome of the analysis? Can artificial intelligence figure out the sins of omission in a database?

To address these concerns, in due time and with no agenda other than to advance the cold case investigation into who killed JFK, a new EF thread will provide a supplement to incorporate and hierarchize individuals exposed by Pierre Lafitte in his privates papers provided to investigative journalist Hank Albarelli — a number of whom overlap with characters identified by Otto and Ilse Skorzeny as revealed in the collection of papers secured by Major Ralph Ganis — establishing irrefutable circumstantial evidence (beyond but not exclusive of government records) of their specific roles in the assassination and ensuant Coup in Dallas. 

As recommended to preserve the integrity of this database:

1.With skills and in a position to Neutralize legitimate security for Presidential motorcade:

2. With skills and in a position to Engineer and manipulate patsies:

3. With skills and in a position to Designate patsies for post-assassination "narrative" control:

4. With skills and in a position to  Coordinate the hit-team:

5. With skills and in a position to Provide the technical logistics for assassination team:

6. With skills and in a position to Plan the assassination:

7. With skills and in a position to Recruit and train the hit-team:

8. With skills and in a position to Cover up assassination plot and control mass-media narrative:

9. With skills and in a position to provide Security/coordinators for assassination fireteam/shooters:

10. With skills and in a position to serve as Fireteam/Shooters:

11.With skills and in a position to Finance and back assassination plot: