LHO goes to New Orleans

[Jack White]

In my opinion, the sudden decision by LHO to go to New Orleans

to "look for a job" marked the "go-ahead signal" of the plot to kill

JFK.

Dallas was a bigger city than New Orleans, with more job opportunities.

Marina was pregnant...but LHO suddenly decided to leave Dallas.

This makes no sense at all. Why?

I think that unbeknownst to him, he had already been set up to be

the patsy, but the final step was to sheepdip him as a Castro

sympathizer. He had already been handed off from DeMohrenschildt

to the Paines, and with the New Orleans decision, the Paines were

handing him off to Guy Banister in New Orleans...head of the "get-Castro"

operations in NOLA. Once in the Crescent City, LHO suddenly became

interested in FAIR PLAY FOR CUBA.

This sudden decision was little investigated by the FBI or WC. Unlike

other LHO trips, there is no evidence of when or how he traveled to

New Orleans. JV Baker has recently posted on the forum that he

traveled there by bus on a certain date. Where she obtained this

information is a mystery, since the FBI and WC did not know.

There was detailed documentation of the later trip of Marina and

Ruth Paine to NOLA by automobile, but no investigation of LHO's trip.

Since it is very likely that his trip was part of a CIA operation, perhaps it

is more likely that he may have been driven there by a handler, who

perhaps used the ten-hour trip to discuss matters with him, and took

him directly to his new handler. This seems more likely to me than

a solitary bus ride.

Jack

[Jack White]

I find it interesting that nobody has commented on this observation.

Jack

[Thomas Graves]

In my opinion, the sudden decision by LHO to go to New Orleans

to "look for a job" marked the "go-ahead signal" of the plot to kill

JFK.

Dallas was a bigger city than New Orleans, with more job opportunities.

Marina was pregnant...but LHO suddenly decided to leave Dallas.

This makes no sense at all. Why?

I think that unbeknownst to him, he had already been set up to be

the patsy, but the final step was to sheepdip him as a Castro

sympathizer. He had already been handed off from DeMohrenschildt

to the Paines, and with the New Orleans decision, the Paines were

handing him off to Guy Banister in New Orleans...head of the "get-Castro"

operations in NOLA. Once in the Crescent City, LHO suddenly became

interested in FAIR PLAY FOR CUBA.

This sudden decision was little investigated by the FBI or WC. Unlike

other LHO trips, there is no evidence of when or how he traveled to

New Orleans. JV Baker has recently posted on the forum that he

traveled there by bus on a certain date. Where she obtained this

information is a mystery, since the FBI and WC did not know.

There was detailed documentation of the later trip of Marina and

Ruth Paine to NOLA by automobile, but no investigation of LHO's trip.

Since it is very likely that his trip was part of a CIA operation, perhaps it

is more likely that he may have been driven there by a handler, who

perhaps used the ten-hour trip to discuss matters with him, and took

him directly to his new handler. This seems more likely to me than

a solitary bus ride.

Jack

_______________________________________________________

Excellent observations, Jack.

--Thomas

[William Kelly]

Yes Jack,

Something happened in April, something in Washington, where tactical decisions were made.

This is when Col. Jose Rivera also escorted Adele Edisen around town, expressed foreknowledge of the assassination and associations with Oswald and Ruby, and gave her Oswald's phone number at the Magazine Street apartment two weeks before Oswald himself knew he would be staying there.

JFK's rendezevous with destiny at Dealey Plaza was set in motion in April in DC.

BK

[Mark Knight]

I find it interesting that nobody has commented on this observation.

Jack

Jack, it could be because this is Easter Sunday, and folks with Christian backgrounds are spending time with family instead of retreating to the solitary world of the internet.

Having said that...I think you bring up a VERY valid point. Anyone have a '63 Greyhound or Trailways bus schedule that would include routes connecting Dallas and New Orleans? Or perhaps the car-ride-with-the-handler scenario would apply.

[John Dolva]

Mark Lane might be able to coment on bussing around in the south

[Linda Minor]

In my opinion, the sudden decision by LHO to go to New Orleans

to "look for a job" marked the "go-ahead signal" of the plot to kill

JFK....

This sudden decision was little investigated by the FBI or WC. Unlike

other LHO trips, there is no evidence of when or how he traveled to

New Orleans. JV Baker has recently posted on the forum that he

traveled there by bus on a certain date. Where she obtained this

information is a mystery, since the FBI and WC did not know.

There was detailed documentation of the later trip of Marina and

Ruth Paine to NOLA by automobile, but no investigation of LHO's trip.

Since it is very likely that his trip was part of a CIA operation, perhaps it

is more likely that he may have been driven there by a handler, who

perhaps used the ten-hour trip to discuss matters with him, and took

him directly to his new handler. This seems more likely to me than

a solitary bus ride.

Jack

In Judyth's book, Lee Harvey Oswald, it states:

Lee, himself, was quite busy in an ongoing campaign to groom him to be able to enter Cuba at any time as a "Marxist" supporting Castro. During this preparation period, which had already begun in Dallas, Lee eventually told me he had asked to be transferred to New Orleans on short notice for two reasons: first, he wasn't getting along with his wife, and was trying to avoid violent encounters with her.]122] Second, Lee was intrigued by rumors, originating from a source in New Orleans, that a plot had been hatched to lure Kennedy to Texas in order to kill him. Since New Orleans was his home turf, Lee requested a transfer there as soon as he learned that President Kennedy's trip to Texas was scheduled for some time in the fall.[123] A task was found for him there--he left at once.

Also, though Lee never mentioned any third reason for coming to New Orleans, others have told me that Lee had been involved in some recent business in Dallas that required him to distance himself from Texas immediately.[124] [125]

122. Lee had been mistreating his wife, and was disgusted with himself over it. He late told me he had requested an assignment in New Orleans in order to get away from Marina and cool off, and to renew his ties with family members there. With the support of his aunt and uncle (who loved him far more than one would presume from reading their depositions made to the Warren Commission) he felt that he would be able to walk away from a fight before it got too serious, and could stay with his aunt and uncle overnight without having to endure the embarrassment of his wife leaving him to stay somewhere.

123. Researcher Mary Farrell agreed with me, in the presence of investigator Debbee Reynolds (just before moving from her Holland St. residence in Dallas in 2001), that she believed the sudden removal of Lee Oswald to New Orleans the same day that Kennedy's trip to Texas was announced was suspicious to her. Ferrell repeated this observation several times and must have told it to many people.

124. Ruth Paine testified in the Clay Shaw trial held by Jim Garrison in New Orleans that Marina Oswald was planning to stay behind in their apartment, but that Paine just happened to come by on the day Lee was leaving for New Orleans, and offered to have Marina stay with her instead. Paine said Lee bought a ticket for himself, as well as one for his wife to use later, when he would send for her. Ref: P. 31, Feb. 22 transcript. But Lee Oswald told me that Ruth had already planned to pick up Marina that day and take her to her home. Lee had possession of some of Marina's things before his wife rejoined him in New Orleans, which I myself observed. Hence, Lee intended for Marina to eventually rejoin him in New Orleans. He resented Ruth Paine and told me, "Never trust the Paines."

125. I want to stress that Lee Oswald himself never, at any time, mentioned to me any association with Walker, or with the (possibly) rigged assassination attempt on Walker's life.

page 59:

Lee later said he was stunned by all we had in common. Soon convinced that I, too, had been sent to New Orleans for clandestine purposes, he wanted to find out more about me. Here's why: Lee, newly arrived in town by Greyhound Bus, had obediently check in at the YMCA. I was supposed to use Greyhound, not another bus line--so was Lee.[133] I had been told to check in at the "Y". I had temporarily left behind my mate--so had Lee. I knew some Russian. In Lee's mind, this was amazing, as I had no connections with the expatriate Russian community. I had mentioned Dr. Mary Sherman as a contact. Lee had just learned her name the night before, when he had dined with his long-time friend, David Ferrie.[134] And I had mentioned my being involved with Sherman's cancer research project. Dave Ferrie was involved in a cancer research project with Dr. Sherman, and had mentioned that a young cancer research specialist was going to be brought in to help out, since David was going to have a very busy summer.

133. This may come as a surprise to some, but Lee told me he, also, did not have to provide the funds for his own bus ticket. Other possible bus lines were Continental Trailways.

Note: there is a copy of Judyth's bus ticket stub in the book.

Edited April 4, 2010 by Linda Minor

[Emil Snizek]

In my opinion, the sudden decision by LHO to go to New Orleans

to "look for a job" marked the "go-ahead signal" of the plot to kill

JFK.

Dallas was a bigger city than New Orleans, with more job opportunities.

Marina was pregnant...but LHO suddenly decided to leave Dallas.

This makes no sense at all. Why?

I think that unbeknownst to him, he had already been set up to be

the patsy, but the final step was to sheepdip him as a Castro

sympathizer. He had already been handed off from DeMohrenschildt

to the Paines, and with the New Orleans decision, the Paines were

handing him off to Guy Banister in New Orleans...head of the "get-Castro"

operations in NOLA. Once in the Crescent City, LHO suddenly became

interested in FAIR PLAY FOR CUBA.

This sudden decision was little investigated by the FBI or WC. Unlike

other LHO trips, there is no evidence of when or how he traveled to

New Orleans. JV Baker has recently posted on the forum that he

traveled there by bus on a certain date. Where she obtained this

information is a mystery, since the FBI and WC did not know.

There was detailed documentation of the later trip of Marina and

Ruth Paine to NOLA by automobile, but no investigation of LHO's trip.

Since it is very likely that his trip was part of a CIA operation, perhaps it

is more likely that he may have been driven there by a handler, who

perhaps used the ten-hour trip to discuss matters with him, and took

him directly to his new handler. This seems more likely to me than

a solitary bus ride.

Jack

This moment does seem to be when the crucial wheels of a plan began turning... I usually think of Oswald's exit from New Orleans as more foreboding than his entrance... To me, his dropping everything and leaving quickly after having achieved the goal of hoisting himself into the media/public record, says that his mission had been completed and he'd been given new instructions.

The fact that Agent Hosty lost track of Oswald in the crucial moment that he left for New Orleans makes Hosty look out of the loop to me in a similar way that Winston Scott seemed to be in Mexico concerning Oswald's instructions. The fact that the "FBI didn't know where he'd gone" but he'd turned in his own forwarding address to keep receiving Communist magazines (Oswald and the CIA, John Newman) clashes hilariously with the fact that once he got himself arrested in New Orleans, the first thing he asked to do was talk to the FBI.

How fascinating would it be to know what John L. Quigley (FBI) said to Oswald when he visited him in jail after the scuffle and just days before the radio debate?

The whole New Orleans period seems shockingly transparent beginning from his courting of Bringuier when Oswald walked into his store and offered to train Anti-Castro refugees... which just looks like part of Phillips and McCord's project to infiltrate the FPCC and the DRE simultaneously.

I believe it was in Dick Russell's "On the Trail of the JFK Assassins" (one of my favorites) that I read that a sworn deposition from a witness in an unconnected court case stated they were in a meeting with both Guy Banister and a "Mr.Phillips" who was "from Washington" and "seemed to be running the show" where they were working on "a televised anti-Castro propaganda program".

The move to New Orleans is one of the darkest corners of Oswald's life that could always use more research if there's anything tangible left to dig up- ...it leads you toward wondering why Oswald, having crossed many borders before and having applied for visas before, would end up in Mexico expecting to get into Cuba without having to apply for a visa in advance. ...and who brings a clipping about themselves being arrested to make themselves look more suitable to enter another country?

(I realize many people don't think Oswald was in Mexico at all, but I think there's logical reasons why it could make more sense that he was.)

10-4

[Jack White]

EXCELLENT RESPONSE, Emil. Good information and observations!

Jack

In my opinion, the sudden decision by LHO to go to New Orleans

to "look for a job" marked the "go-ahead signal" of the plot to kill

JFK.

Dallas was a bigger city than New Orleans, with more job opportunities.

Marina was pregnant...but LHO suddenly decided to leave Dallas.

This makes no sense at all. Why?

I think that unbeknownst to him, he had already been set up to be

the patsy, but the final step was to sheepdip him as a Castro

sympathizer. He had already been handed off from DeMohrenschildt

to the Paines, and with the New Orleans decision, the Paines were

handing him off to Guy Banister in New Orleans...head of the "get-Castro"

operations in NOLA. Once in the Crescent City, LHO suddenly became

interested in FAIR PLAY FOR CUBA.

This sudden decision was little investigated by the FBI or WC. Unlike

other LHO trips, there is no evidence of when or how he traveled to

New Orleans. JV Baker has recently posted on the forum that he

traveled there by bus on a certain date. Where she obtained this

information is a mystery, since the FBI and WC did not know.

There was detailed documentation of the later trip of Marina and

Ruth Paine to NOLA by automobile, but no investigation of LHO's trip.

Since it is very likely that his trip was part of a CIA operation, perhaps it

is more likely that he may have been driven there by a handler, who

perhaps used the ten-hour trip to discuss matters with him, and took

him directly to his new handler. This seems more likely to me than

a solitary bus ride.

Jack

This moment does seem to be when the crucial wheels of a plan began turning... I usually think of Oswald's exit from New Orleans as more foreboding than his entrance... To me, his dropping everything and leaving quickly after having achieved the goal of hoisting himself into the media/public record, says that his mission had been completed and he'd been given new instructions.

The fact that Agent Hosty lost track of Oswald in the crucial moment that he left for New Orleans makes Hosty look out of the loop to me in a similar way that Winston Scott seemed to be in Mexico concerning Oswald's instructions. The fact that the "FBI didn't know where he'd gone" but he'd turned in his own forwarding address to keep receiving Communist magazines (Oswald and the CIA, John Newman) clashes hilariously with the fact that once he got himself arrested in New Orleans, the first thing he asked to do was talk to the FBI.

How fascinating would it be to know what John L. Quigley (FBI) said to Oswald when he visited him in jail after the scuffle and just days before the radio debate?

The whole New Orleans period seems shockingly transparent beginning from his courting of Bringuier when Oswald walked into his store and offered to train Anti-Castro refugees... which just looks like part of Phillips and McCord's project to infiltrate the FPCC and the DRE simultaneously.

I believe it was in Dick Russell's "On the Trail of the JFK Assassins" (one of my favorites) that I read that a sworn deposition from a witness in an unconnected court case stated they were in a meeting with both Guy Banister and a "Mr.Phillips" who was "from Washington" and "seemed to be running the show" where they were working on "a televised anti-Castro propaganda program".

The move to New Orleans is one of the darkest corners of Oswald's life that could always use more research if there's anything tangible left to dig up- ...it leads you toward wondering why Oswald, having crossed many borders before and having applied for visas before, would end up in Mexico expecting to get into Cuba without having to apply for a visa in advance. ...and who brings a clipping about themselves being arrested to make themselves look more suitable to enter another country?

(I realize many people don't think Oswald was in Mexico at all, but I think there's logical reasons why it could make more sense that he was.)

10-4

[Pamela Brown]

In my opinion, the sudden decision by LHO to go to New Orleans

to "look for a job" marked the "go-ahead signal" of the plot to kill

JFK.

Dallas was a bigger city than New Orleans, with more job opportunities.

Marina was pregnant...but LHO suddenly decided to leave Dallas.

This makes no sense at all. Why?

I think that unbeknownst to him, he had already been set up to be

the patsy, but the final step was to sheepdip him as a Castro

sympathizer. He had already been handed off from DeMohrenschildt

to the Paines, and with the New Orleans decision, the Paines were

handing him off to Guy Banister in New Orleans...head of the "get-Castro"

operations in NOLA. Once in the Crescent City, LHO suddenly became

interested in FAIR PLAY FOR CUBA.

This sudden decision was little investigated by the FBI or WC. Unlike

other LHO trips, there is no evidence of when or how he traveled to

New Orleans. JV Baker has recently posted on the forum that he

traveled there by bus on a certain date. Where she obtained this

information is a mystery, since the FBI and WC did not know.

There was detailed documentation of the later trip of Marina and

Ruth Paine to NOLA by automobile, but no investigation of LHO's trip.

Since it is very likely that his trip was part of a CIA operation, perhaps it

is more likely that he may have been driven there by a handler, who

perhaps used the ten-hour trip to discuss matters with him, and took

him directly to his new handler. This seems more likely to me than

a solitary bus ride.

Jack

Didn't Marina encourage Lee to move to avoid repercussions from his telling her he shot at Gen. Walker?

[Jack White]

In my opinion, the sudden decision by LHO to go to New Orleans

to "look for a job" marked the "go-ahead signal" of the plot to kill

JFK.

Dallas was a bigger city than New Orleans, with more job opportunities.

Marina was pregnant...but LHO suddenly decided to leave Dallas.

This makes no sense at all. Why?

I think that unbeknownst to him, he had already been set up to be

the patsy, but the final step was to sheepdip him as a Castro

sympathizer. He had already been handed off from DeMohrenschildt

to the Paines, and with the New Orleans decision, the Paines were

handing him off to Guy Banister in New Orleans...head of the "get-Castro"

operations in NOLA. Once in the Crescent City, LHO suddenly became

interested in FAIR PLAY FOR CUBA.

This sudden decision was little investigated by the FBI or WC. Unlike

other LHO trips, there is no evidence of when or how he traveled to

New Orleans. JV Baker has recently posted on the forum that he

traveled there by bus on a certain date. Where she obtained this

information is a mystery, since the FBI and WC did not know.

There was detailed documentation of the later trip of Marina and

Ruth Paine to NOLA by automobile, but no investigation of LHO's trip.

Since it is very likely that his trip was part of a CIA operation, perhaps it

is more likely that he may have been driven there by a handler, who

perhaps used the ten-hour trip to discuss matters with him, and took

him directly to his new handler. This seems more likely to me than

a solitary bus ride.

Jack

Didn't Marina encourage Lee to move to avoid repercussions from his telling her he shot at Gen. Walker?

LHO did NOT shoot at Walker. That is fiction. Did not happen. Not a reason for moving to NOLA.

[William Kelly]

And how did the rifle get from Dallas to New Orleans?

Did Oswald take it with him - on the bus?

Or did Marina and Ruth bring it in the station wagon later on?

And what's with the catastrophic destruction of the USS Threasher on the same day as the Walker shooting, and did that have more to do with what happened at Dealey Plaza than did the Walker shooting, given the nature of JFCOTT?

And if the movements of Oswald and others in the drama had anything to do with policy decisions in April in Washington, then I would suggest it begins here:

JFK Assassination - The Administrative Details - April 1963

http://jfkcountercoup.blogspot.com/2008/11...

On April Fools Day, April 1, 1963, the Cuban Coordinating Committee – Covert Operations in Cuba (CCC-COC) met, the subject of an April 3 memo from Gordon Chase of the National Security Council to McGeorge Bundy, the President's Special Assistant for National Security Affairs. It included a still classified agenda and matters discussed by the Cottrell Committee, which White identifies as "An interdepartmental committee, chaired by Sterling J. Cottrell, in early 1963 to coordinate the administration's covert and overt Cuban policies."

Among those in the CCC-COC meeting were Secretary Vance, Joe Califano, Dick Helms, Dez FitzGerald and Bob Hurwitch, who discussed "Ballon Operations Over Havana, a plan that was "well under way," given favorable winds, that would release balloons containing hundreds of thousands of leaflets designed by the CIA propaganda shop, which "attack Castro's henchmen and contain cartoons illustrating sabotage techniques." Another review is scheduled before this is put into operation.

Also on the agenda of this meeting was finding appropriate installations for the "Training of CIA-Sponsored Cuban Exiles on Military Reservations – CIA and the Army," and "The Russian Language Programs – The Committee decided in favor of instituting three programs (Radio Liberty, Radio Caribe, and an intrusion program…"

In summary, Gordon Chase notes, "In approving the three programs for Special Group considerations, the committee recognized that they will probably be of marginal value only: however, they will cost us very little, financial or otherwise."

Under agenda item number four, "Sabotage of Cuban Shipping – The Committee…will recommend to the Special Group the incendiaries which would be timed to go off in international waters and the abrasives in the machinery. While the propaganda boost might be nil, they are easier to effect than limpets and could really hurt Castro."

Then Chase tells McBundy, "The Committee gave the CIA the option of using its own Cubans or of using DRE as a cut-out."

The DRE are the anti-Castro Cuban Student Revolutionary Directorate, whose members interacted with Oswald before the assassination.

Then the meeting briefly discussed "The Redirection of Cuban Exile Group Operations," asking themselves the question of "what is an acceptable target?"

In response, "Dick Helms pointed out that although these groups may start out to get a non-Soviet target, once you let them go, you can never really be sure what they will do."

Let me repeat that: "DICK HELMS POINTED OUT THAT ALTHOUGH THESE GROUPS MAY START OUT TO GET A NON-SOVIET TARGET, ONCE YOU LET THEM GO, YOU CAN NEVER REALLY BE SURE WHAT THEY WILL DO."

Bob Hurwitch, the memo mentions, "seemed to favor the approach that attacks and sabotage should appear to come from inside rather than outside Cuba."

Rather incredulously, Chase concludes, "The Committee came to no decision on this one. More thinking is needed." Indeed.

On the same April 3rd day Gordon Chase wrote that memo to McBundy, RFK met with his Russian ambassador Dobrynin and reported to the President that, "We exchanged pleasantries. He told me that Norman Cousins had asked to see Khrushchev and he had arranged it…Another point that was made was a sharp and bitter criticism about the raids that had taken place against Russian ships."

It is noted that, "[3. On March 26, anti-Castro group L-66 sunk the Baku, a Russian vessel, at the Cuban harbor of Caibarien only a week after another Soviet ship had been attacked in a Cuban port.]"

"These were piratical acts and the United States must take responsibility for them. It isn't possible," RFK quoted Dobrynin, "to believe that if we really wanted to stop these raids that we could not do so. They were glad to hear of the steps that are being taken lately but in the last analysis the specific acts, namely, the arrests that we made would be the criteria by which they would judge our sincerity. The Soviet Union questions whether in fact we wish to end these attacks for our criticism of them has been not that they were wrong but they were ineffective. The clear implication was that if the raids had been effective they would have had our approval."

About a week later, on April 9, 1963, Joseph A. Califano, Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army wrote a memo to his boss, Cyrus R. Vance, which White describes as, "JFK decides which of the covert operations proposed him (See previous docs) would be carried out."

Under the Subject, "President Action on Special Group Items Concerning Cuba," Califano checks off the items, beginning with, "1. The President rejected the balloon item on the recommendations of Ed Morrow," so the project that was "well underway," was scuttled before it could get off the ground because JFK talked about it with Ed Morrow.

"The President approved the propaganda item (inciting Cubans to harass, attack and sabotage Soviet military personnel in Cuba) provided every precaution is taken to prevent attribution."

"The President approved the sabotage of cargos on Cuban ships and the crippling of ships (through sand in the gears, etc.); With respect to Russian language broadcasts, the President (a) rejected such broadcasts by exile groups over Radio Caribe in the Domincian Republic, ( rejected black intrusion on the use of such broadcasts on Radio Liberty from North Carolina, pending consultation with Lleweellyn Thompson."

"We have also agreed with CIA that we would spot about 20 inductees now in training at Fort Jackson whom we consider to have the necessary characteristics for CIA operations inside Cuba. These personnel, along with those given jump training under 5 above, would also be used in advance of the introduction of Special Forces, should there be a decision to invade Cuba."

Sterling J. Cottrell, the Coordinator of Cuban Affairs to the Special Group, wrote a memo on April 18, 1963, which White says, "reviews current covert actions against Castro and poses the question whether these actions should be intensified."

Under SUBJECT: "Proposed New Covert Policy and Program Toward Cuba," Cottrell wrote, "A. The following guidelines are being used in our present covert policy towards Cuba: 1. Producing comprehensive intelligence related to our basic policy objectives….2. Intensifying covert collection of intelligence within Cuba, especially within the regime. 3. Supporting the efforts of certain Cuban exiles, who are associated with the original aims of the 26 of July Movement [1. A reference to the original effort to spark a revolution in Cuba when Castro and his cohorts tried to seize the Moncada military barracks in 1953.] and who believe that the Castro regime can be overthrown from within in order that they may: 1) cause a split in the leadership of the retime… create a political base of opposition…4) The use of a variety of propaganda media to stimulate passive resistance….5) The placing of incendiary devices and/or explosives with suitable time delay within the hull or cargo to disable or sink Cuban vessels and/or damage their cargos while on the high seas…6) Introduce abrasives and other damaging material…."

Cottrell then poses the questions, "1) Should the U.S. move beyond the above policy to a program of sabotage, harassment and resistance activities? 2) What kind of effective action can be taken? 3) What capabilities do we possess? 4) What repercussions can we expect?"

In this memo, Cottrell also says, "Surface attacks by maritime assets firing on Cuban ships in Cuban waters. When the maritime asset cannot reach the target, shore based attacks on shipping in port or passing the offshore keys will be undertaken….Considerations: Attack craft from the sea would be manned by Cubans. Shore based attacks by paramilitary trained Cubans firing on ships with recoilless rifles, rocket launchers or 20mm cannon. First sea attack in May and once monthly thereafter. First shore based attack in June. These operations would disrupt coastal commerce. US would probably be blamed. Cuban reprisal measures possible. Soviets likely allege US culpability….Externally mounted hit and run attacks against land targets. Examples: molasses tanker, petroleum storage dumps, naval refueling base, refineries, power plants."

Under "Considerations," Cottrell notes, "Operations conducted by Cubans with paramilitary training. High possibilities of complex operations going awry. First attack in April, with one per month thereafter. Effects would be increased exile morale, some economic disruption. Repercussions would include charges of US sponsorship and increased Cuban security force activities…"

Cottrell includes an attachment on the subject of "A Covert Harassment/Sabotage Program against Cuba," which states, "This paper presents a covert Harassment/Sabotage program targeted against Cuba: including are those sabotage plans which have previously been approved as well as new proposals…Loses in men and equipment with the attendant adverse publicity must be expected. Even without such loses, US attribution would be claimed. When policy and guidelines of the overall sabotage program are established, it will be possible progressively to develop up to a limit additional covert assets and support capabilities. However, materially to increase the pace of operations, a period of four to six months is required. Ultimate limiting factors are weather, length of 'dark of the moon' period each month and appropriate targets. A source of additional agent personnel is from Cuban personnel trained by the US Military Forces under the recent programs, but released to civilian status…."

That April 29th 1963, RFK and members of the Standing Group of the National Security Council met in Washington at 5pm, but the memo prepared by McGeorge Bundy has yet to be declassified and released, other than its title: "A Sketch of the Cuban Alternatives."

And the countdown to Dallas was underway, and JFK's Rondezevous with destiny was inevitable....

Edited April 5, 2010 by William Kelly