What purpose did it serve to kill JFK?

[John Simkin]

Tony Frank has asked me to set up this poll. Please let me know if you want other options added.

[Tony Frank]

I voted for the sixth choice, KGB officers in the CIA wanted Goldwater elected President in 1964. They were trying to control the government. They already controlled the CIA, and that's how they were able to orchestrate the cover up.

[Tony Frank]

How did it benefit the Military Industrial Compex to have Johnson as President for 5 years?

Are you seriously saying that they got together, planned the elaborate assassination and cover up, and said, "We're really gonna make out great when Kennedy is assassinated"?

Just how did it benefit the Military Industrial Compex?

[Dan Stevenson]

I don't like forced choice polls and I would have liked to choose "all of the above" but number 5 does the best job of that because it uses the term "right wing", which kind of sums up all the parties involved. Clearly had Kennedy remained as conservative as he was when elected, he would not have been killed. Combine that with all the other extreme anti-left measures used during the cold war and it makes sense. Remember, that you can't be left without being "communist" in this country. That was very much true in the McCarthy era that led up to Kennedy's years as president. And it provides the backdrop for the coup that continues today.

[Paul Brancato]

Question for Mr. Frank - do you think Angleton was KGB?

For me number one comes closest.

[Chuck Schwartz]

The KGB had nothing to do with the murder of JFK.

[Chuck Schwartz]

Under Johnson, the Vietnam war was escalated, while Kennedy had said he would de-escalate the war. And, many important people in the military believed Kennedy . Hence, the death of JFK occurred before action could be taken to de-escalate the war in Vietnam. There were many people who felt we had to stop communism in Vietnam or the rest of Asia would go Communist (the domino theory). That is what caused the urgency in the believers in the domino theory.

[Roger DeLaria]

LBJ certainly benefited, he achieved his lifelong ambition of becoming president. He was going to be dropped from the 64 ticket and was likely headed for prison due to his corruption. He got to avoid political ruin and prison time, He was a shareholder in various defense contractors who benefited from LBJ's escalation of the Vietnam War, such as Bell Helicopter and Halliburton, and certainly made a lot of $. LBJ had a relationship with all the groups who had an interest in Kennedy being gone. He was the man in the middle who pulled all these parties together.

[Jon G. Tidd]

None of the above.

The presented list of who benefited from JFK's assassination is incomplete. I believe Jim DiEugenio is on the right trail when he explores JFK's approach to foreign policy in the Mideast, and other places excluding Cuba, Viet Nam, and the USSR.

[Mark Knight]

I think the intended purpose and the actual outcome might have been far apart...depending on who actually was behind the killing. Maybe a Cuban invasion was the intended purpose...and that simply didn't occur. Maybe escalation in Viet Nam [back then, we wrote it as two words] was the intention. I discount the idea that the Mafia was did it, but one of the unintended consequences was that Bobby backed off the mob. It seems awfully hard to believe that, if the assassination was simply to keep LBJ out of jail and put him in the White House--and that ALONE was the reason--that LBJ would have waited until the 11th hour, as Don Reynolds was testifying before Congress.

I think the purpose(s) behind the assassination were a bit more nuanced...but that's simply my theory.

[Jon G. Tidd]

Mark Knight @ #10: Disagree.

JFK was killed. Period. Not just wounded.

The purpose of the assassination was to kill him. Take him out.

Setting up Oswald and creating false trails (for example, the CIA did it) were central to the plot. But they were distractions.

The purpose of the assassination was achieved.

[Mark Knight]

Jon, obviously the murderers succeeded in committing murder. In NO WAY do I entertain the thought that they did not achieve that. I'm not COMPLETELY stupid, despite what you imply. I simply think that there were other purposes beyond simply committing murder. Whether those purposes, beyond simply killing JFK, of those involved were or were not achieved is a matter of speculations.

Some consequences, I believe, were unintended by those responsible for the assassination. Since I don't believe the Mafia was primarily responsible for the assassination, I think Bobby backing off the prosecution of the mob was an unintended consequence, and not a primary purpose of the assassination. I believe that an invasion of Cuba was likely a primary purpose behind the assassination, but one that was thwarted by wiser minds who wanted to avoid WW III.

I believe the question, as phrased, was what purpose was SERVED by the murder of JFK. Intended consequences doesn't always translate to that particular purpose actually being served.

[Jon G. Tidd]

Mark,

I believe the question posed -- what purpose was served by the murder of JFK -- to be the correct question. To be the most important question concerning the assassination facing researchers.

The question does make an assumption, one with which I agree: that a purpose was in fact served in the killing of JFK.

If this assumption is correct, the purpose had to be important to someone, some group, some country. And continues to be important. To the same person (if living or if represented by living individuals), group (if extant), or country. Otherwise there would be no reason for the continuing cover-up.

As I look back, I see nothing that was accomplished by the killing of JFK other than to get him out of the way. As you write, there were consequences flowing from JFK's death. Consequences are one thing; purposes are another.

If the purpose in killing JFK was to get him out of the way (that's an if), it's logical to ask who benefited simply from the fact he was gone. The simple answers are LBJ, the MIC, the CIA, Hoover, and so on. I'm inclined to look, as Jim DiEugenio has begun to do, at which countries won and which lost as a result of JFK's assassination. I'm inclined to do this because I believe the assassination was a professional job carried out by an intelligence service.

[Dan Stevenson]

Mark: In answer to your question why LBJ would wait so long, it is a good question. I often wonder how JFK stayed alive for a full 3 years of his presidency.

I believe that the assassination was the cumination of a perfect storm for the plotters. With RFK and JFK collectively pissing off many different parties that have since been implicated, it was only a matter of time. But it was also a matter of location. Remember that killing a president is relatively easy. Getting away with it, especially if there are many folks involved, is a great deal more difficult.

Attempts were made to kill him before Dallas, but they failed.

Dallas became the second perfect storm, especially for LBJ, who was from Texas.

So, in answer to you question, LBJ, had to wait until Kennedy came to Texas.

Some think that Kennedy would not have come at all had he not been influenced by Goldwater's trip to Texas just a month prior.

I believe that LBJ was so eager to off JFK, that his team actually messed up the plan by shooting too early and missing from behind. That forced the backup team, which I believe was nothing more than the Dallas PD themselves to fire the lethal shots from in front.

I believe there were other teams there as well and I think some were contract killers that later tried to take credit in order to get paid.

But the better plan would have been to kill JFK in a less populated area after he left the plaza. That plan never got carried out. But the teams were there to do it.

Because the plan didn't go as planned, we have a very messy set of concequences that were covered up by the other parties involved (FBI, CIA, Dallas Police and SS).

[Roger DeLaria]

I'm currently reading Philip F. Nelson's "LBJ: The Mastermind of the JFK Assassination." Great book where everything falls into place and makes sense to me. I'd recommend reading it.

http://www.lbjmastermind.com/

Edited January 6, 2015 by Roger DeLaria