JFK Assassination Forum
The JFK Assassination Discussion & Debate => JFK Assassination Discussion & Debate => Topic started by: Benjamin Cole on June 25, 2026, 01:49:57 AM
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AI-version:
Investigative journalist and assassination expert Gus Russo maintains that elements of the Cuban intelligence service (known as the G-2, or DGI) likely encouraged Lee Harvey Oswald to assassinate President Kennedy in retaliation for continuous U.S. plots to overthrow or assassinate Fidel Castro.
Russo, along with other researchers, argues that Oswald—a fervent Castro supporter—traveled to Mexico City in September 1963 and made contact with Cuban diplomats and intelligence operatives. According to Russo's investigations (detailed in his book Live by the Sword), members of the Cuban regime were made aware of U.S. attempts to assassinate Castro, and they may have in turn accepted or encouraged Oswald’s offer to eliminate Kennedy.
Russo's research builds on declassified documents and interviews with Cuban defectors. For instance, a controversial 2006 documentary co-authored by Russo (Rendezvous with Death) further alleged that Cuban intelligence contracted Oswald to carry out the assassination.
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I have watched the Rendevous With Death documentary, and it is pretty good.
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Due the cadence or sequence of bullet strikes on JBC-JFK, the LNT-SBT JFKA theory does not hold water.
Most JFKA researchers, being lefties, then fabricate elaborate tales of a Deep State JFKA.
Some righties, such as James Woolsey, blame Moscow.
Seems to me a low-level plot involving LHO and some G-2'ers, or Alpha 66'ers (who may have been G2 double agents), is more probable.
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Remember:
Connally: I was knocked over, just doubled over by the force of the bullet. It went in my back and came out my chest about 2 inches below and the left of my right nipple. The force of the bullet drove my body over almost double and when I looked, immediately I could see I was just drenched with blood. (1 HSCA 42)
Explain to me when this happens, in what frames of the Z-film?
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AI-version:
Investigative journalist and assassination expert Gus Russo maintains that elements of the Cuban intelligence service (known as the G-2, or DGI) likely encouraged Lee Harvey Oswald to assassinate President Kennedy in retaliation for continuous U.S. plots to overthrow or assassinate Fidel Castro.
Is there a certification process for becoming an assassination expert?
Russo, along with other researchers, argues that Oswald—a fervent Castro supporter—traveled to Mexico City in September 1963 and made contact with Cuban diplomats and intelligence operatives. According to Russo's investigations (detailed in his book Live by the Sword), members of the Cuban regime were made aware of U.S. attempts to assassinate Castro, and they may have in turn accepted or encouraged Oswald’s offer to eliminate Kennedy.[/quote}
I guess the Cubans and Oswalds were just hoping that one day Oswald would have a job at a building overlooking a presidential motorcade route.
Russo's research builds on declassified documents and interviews with Cuban defectors. For instance, a controversial 2006 documentary co-authored by Russo (Rendezvous with Death) further alleged that Cuban intelligence contracted Oswald to carry out the assassination.
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I have watched the Rendevous With Death documentary, and it is pretty good.
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Due the cadence or sequence of bullet strikes on JBC-JFK, the LNT-SBT JFKA theory does not hold water.
As Trump said to his Energy Secretary yesterday when he started speaking incoherently, "Nobody cares".
Most JFKA researchers, being lefties, then fabricate elaborate tales of a Deep State JFKA.
Some righties, such as James Woolsey, blame Moscow.
Seems to me a low-level plot involving LHO and some G-2'ers, or Alpha 66'ers (who may have been G2 double agents), is more probable.
That's like saying it is more probable that I will win the Mega Millions this week than that I will win the Powerball.
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Remember:
Connally: I was knocked over, just doubled over by the force of the bullet. It went in my back and came out my chest about 2 inches below and the left of my right nipple. The force of the bullet drove my body over almost double and when I looked, immediately I could see I was just drenched with blood. (1 HSCA 42)
Explain to me when this happens, in what frames of the Z-film?
JBC begins to double over and dip to the right at about Z234. It's very obvious.
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AI-version:
Investigative journalist and assassination expert Gus Russo maintains that elements of the Cuban intelligence service (known as the G-2, or DGI) likely encouraged Lee Harvey Oswald to assassinate President Kennedy in retaliation for continuous U.S. plots to overthrow or assassinate Fidel Castro.
Russo, along with other researchers, argues that Oswald—a fervent Castro supporter—traveled to Mexico City in September 1963 and made contact with Cuban diplomats and intelligence operatives. According to Russo's investigations (detailed in his book Live by the Sword), members of the Cuban regime were made aware of U.S. attempts to assassinate Castro, and they may have in turn accepted or encouraged Oswald’s offer to eliminate Kennedy.
Russo's research builds on declassified documents and interviews with Cuban defectors. For instance, a controversial 2006 documentary co-authored by Russo (Rendezvous with Death) further alleged that Cuban intelligence contracted Oswald to carry out the assassination.
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Gus Russo's book "Live By the Sword" can be read online here (you'll need a free account for full access): https://archive.org/details/livebyswordsecre00russ
Nowhere in the book does he make any of the claims stated above about G-2/Cuban intelligence meeting Oswald and encouraging him to shoot JFK. Nowhere. Don't trust me, just go to the address above and read it for yourself. You can do a quick search for "G-2" or "Cuban intelligence" and be taken to those sections. If you do that you'll see that Russo never says Oswald met with Cuban intelligence and/or they encouraged him to shoot JFK or angered him enough to him shoot JFK.
What Russo does say in the book is that there were numerous rumors and allegations, some more solid than others, that Oswald may have met with either pro-Castro people or, more important, Castro's agents (note the important difference between a pro-Castro person and a Cuban agent/officer). And that in these meetings they may, again may, have told him about the covert war on Cuba, the assassination plots, and that the Kennedy Administration was preparing an invasion of Cuba. Finally, as a result of these supposed meetings Oswald was angered enough to strike back at JFK. However, Russo admits that Oswald may have learned on his own about some of the above anti-Cuban efforts and then acted on his own without any influence, directly or indirectly, from these pro-Castro people. Most important in all of this is: Russo admits he simply doesn't know.
Russo's complaint is that these rumors or allegations were never fully investigated. That's his main argument. Why not? He says for a number of reasons: fear of a possible war that would follow, fear that the assassination plots would be revealed, fear that intelligence sources and methods would be exposed, fear that the "Camelot myth" of JFK would have been destroyed.
Here's a good summary (page 347) from the book of what he believes may have happened (again, note his qualifiers):
(https://www.drivehq.com/file/DFPublishFile.aspx/FileID13115357761/Keydrydaooh3q0f/russ on oswald and cuba.png)
In any case, I gave the link to the book. You can read for yourself what he argues.
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That is true about Russo's book, which I very recently reread. I was surprised when Ben posted a piece on another thread in which Russo seemed to refer to much more explicit claims based on interviews with G2 or former G2 types. I said at that time that I wished Russo would reveal more in terms of names, notes, etc.
The G2 angle has major hurdles for me. WHY ON EARTH would pro-Castro types recruit a participant whose sympathies would point directly to Castro? WHY ON EARTH would Castro invite the end of his regime, if not the end of his entire nation, if not WW3, by whacking JFK soon after making veiled threats to do so? For me, the "plausibility" factor is close to zero.
One could play the game that CIA-did-it fans play: These were "rogue" G2 types, but presumably even they could see the likely consequences set forth above.
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That is true about Russo's book, which I very recently reread. I was surprised when Ben posted a piece on another thread in which Russo seemed to refer to much more explicit claims based on interviews with G2 or former G2 types. I said at that time that I wished Russo would reveal more in terms of names, notes, etc.
The G2 angle has major hurdles for me. WHY ON EARTH would pro-Castro types recruit a participant whose sympathies would point directly to Castro? WHY ON EARTH would Castro invite the end of his regime, if not the end of his entire nation, if not WW3, by whacking JFK soon after making veiled threats to do so? For me, the "plausibility" factor is close to zero.
One could play the game that CIA-did-it fans play: These were "rogue" G2 types, but presumably even they could see the likely consequences set forth above.
In Ben's defense Russo is a little "sloppy" (for me) with these claims of Oswald's contacts with either pro-Castro people or Cuban agents (and again as should be obvious, there's a huge difference between the two). He tends to make a claim and then walk it back later with qualifiers and limits. The allegation about an Oswald meeting such as the "Twist Party" is made and then later mentioned as "possibly" happening and not fully investigated. So what he says can be easily misunderstood as definitive when it's conditional.
As to Castro: Russo explicitly says that Castro did not order Oswald to shoot JFK or have his agents encourage Oswald to do so. He says
(https://www.drivehq.com/file/DFPublishFile.aspx/FileID13588815003/Keybau9u2a5cym9/castro.jpg)
That September threat was the one Castro made at the Brazilian Embassy where he said:
"If US. leaders are aiding terrorist plans to eliminate Cuban leaders, they themselves will not be safe. Let Kennedy and his brother Robert
take care of themselves since they too can be the victims of an attempt which will cause their death."
If Oswald did read that I wonder what he thought?
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The AI version on Russo's narrative is mostly on target. Remember, after Russo wrote the book, he made the documentary. The published book may have generated leads, as often happens in journalism, and he included additional info in the documentary, which is fun to watch anyway and I advise you do so.
Also, make sure you book-search by other terms such as---
DI (Dirección de Inteligencia / Intelligence Directorate): The official current name of Cuba's primary foreign intelligence and espionage agency.DGI (Dirección General de Inteligencia): The historical name of Cuba's foreign intelligence service. The agency was officially known by this acronym from its creation in 1961 until it was reorganized and renamed in 1989.DSE (Departamento de Seguridad del Estado / Department of State Security):
I cannot seem to open the whole book, have to set up an account.
I did find this nugget (see below).
Maybe you can fill us in on the rest of it.
(https://i.postimg.cc/CLmcJjhM/Screen-Shot-2569-06-26-at-06-59-10.png)
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I agree with Russo that G2, or Cuban intel JFKA leads were never followed up, due to LBJ's instructions. I have posted elsewhere on this.
Due to the cadence of shots on 11.22, I am skeptical that a lone gunsel armed with a single-shot-per-bolt-action rifle (or carbine) perped the JFKA.
So who were LHO manipulators or confederates?
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I got Internet Archives to perform some functions...
(https://i.postimg.cc/XqyQvhMP/Screen-Shot-2569-06-26-at-07-59-28.png)
(https://i.postimg.cc/YqQBnD4t/Screen-Shot-2569-06-26-at-07-59-53.png)
So, herein Russo explains that LHO may have been in contact with Cuban intel even before going to MC.
Russo explains in his book that Washington and the WC were extremely loath to follow any leads back to Havana.
I will stand by my statement that leads connecting LHO to Havana, G2, DGI or other Cuban intel assets were not followed. That Russo also makes that case adds to my comfort in making this statement.
As for it being "rational" or not that Castro and Cuba, or Cuba assets would perp the JFKA---history is replete with wildly irrational acts, by men large and small.
Why did Puerto Rican nationalists attempt to assassinate President Truman? Would such an assassination do anything but backfire?
Why did Putin invade Ukraine, which turned into a quagmire-bear-trap 100 times worse than Vietnam, and from which he cannot now exit?
Remember the intense ideologies and nationalism of the 1950s and 1960s. Think of Islam terrorists today. Are they rational? Would they perp the 9/11 catastrophe? Why would Islamo-fascists murder 3,000 Americans on 9/11?
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It's easy to conjure up reasons any number of entities would have wanted JFK killed. What nobody has been able to conjure up is any real evidence any of them conspired with Oswald to do the deed.
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JC--
Say you lived in a town somewhere, and Mr. Smith was murdered.
The mayor says to the police chief, "Whatever you do, don't look into Mr. Jones. He is too important to the prosperity of the town."
Indeed, years later we would have little evidence that Mr. Jones murdered Mr. Smith.
That is what happened to the WC/FBI. They were told not to follow leads in Havana, and people lost their jobs for doing so.
Gus Russo is a serious JFKA scholar and no leftie. He says much what I say: There was no investigation into LHO connections to Havana.
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Here is Russo (page 455) in his concluding chapter of "Live By the Sword" - note the uncertainties, "we can't be sure" et cetera.
Again, this is the main theme of his book: He thinks the covert war on Cuba played a role in Oswald's act. I.e., a type of "blowback". But he doesn't know how or how much. Did Oswald learn about the war on his own? Or was he told about it? By who? Pro-Castro people or Castro's agents? And what did they tell him? Again, he doesn't know. His argument is that the rumors or allegations of Oswald meeting with pro-Cuban figures (private citizens or agents) were never fully investigated. Maybe, he says, they would have found direct evidence of Cuban involvement (although he says Castro didn't directly order the assassination). Maybe not. Maybe it was Oswald on his own volition based on his own discoveries. It's all, as he says, "educated guesses."
(https://www.drivehq.com/file/DFPublishFile.aspx/FileID13591483768/Key9bphcf8v1u0c/russo two.jpg)
(https://www.drivehq.com/file/DFPublishFile.aspx/FileID13591607817/Keyjing58aee46u/russo extra.jpg)
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JC--
Say you lived in a town somewhere, and Mr. Smith was murdered.
The mayor says to the police chief, "Whatever you do, don't look into Mr. Jones. He is too important to the prosperity of the town."
Indeed, years later we would have little evidence that Mr. Jones murdered Mr. Smith.
That is what happened to the WC/FBI. They were told not to follow leads in Havana, and people lost their jobs for doing so.
Gus Russo is a serious JFKA scholar and no leftie. He says much what I say: There was no investigation into LHO connections to Havana.
A rather humorous tale. The CTs have been looking for evidence that Mr. Jones was complicit in the assassination and have come up empty. Why would anyone believe Mr. Jones had anything to do with it. If we are going to simply assume Mr. Jones was involved, why stop there. Why not accuse, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Robinson, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Rogers, Mr. Michaels, or Mr. Thomas. Oh, wait. The CTs have already done that. Never mind.
I was ready to assume Russo was just another CT huckster separating gullible CTs from their money but I decided to look into it. According to Wikipedia, Russo concluded that Oswald acted on his own in retribution of JFK's policies toward Cuba. While nobody knows why Oswald decided to kill JFK, that seems as good an explanation as any. It wouldn't require Oswald to know anything that wasn't public knowledge. JFK did sign the trade embargo with Cuba, but only after Pierre Sallinger had scored 1200 Cuban Petite Upmann cigars.
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SMG-
Thanks for your comments.
To be sure, mere reporters and authors, without incarceration, investigative and subpoena powers, can only say for certain so much. Russo is careful to say what he has learned, and to not go beyond that.
Sure, a reporter can gently ask questions, peruse the public domain.
But it remains that Al Haig, Win Scott and Thomas Mann (and State Dep't staffer Thomas) all thought somebody was behind LHO. I do too. Win Scott papers are a curious lacuna in the public record.
Moreover, it is beyond dispute that forma or government investigations into LHO-Havana connections were suffocated in 1963-4 by LBJ order, and that G2'ers have told Russo (and were filmed in his documentary) that other G2'ers triggered LHO.
Did G-2'ers physically assist LHO on 11.22?
As the SBT-LNT theory does not hold water, I think it is an open question.
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SMG-
Thanks for your comments.
To be sure, mere reporters and authors, without incarceration, investigative and subpoena powers, can only say for certain so much. Russo is careful to say what he has learned, and to not go beyond that.
What Russo learned is that Oswald was the assassin, which was quite easy, and that he could find no evidence Oswald acted on behalf of any other individuals or groups.
Like so many CTs who have gone before, you are willing to simply assume others were involved there being no credible evidence of co-conspirators.
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AI-version:
Investigative journalist and assassination expert Gus Russo maintains that elements of the Cuban intelligence service (known as the G-2, or DGI) likely encouraged Lee Harvey Oswald to assassinate President Kennedy in retaliation for continuous U.S. plots to overthrow or assassinate Fidel Castro.
Russo, along with other researchers, argues that Oswald—a fervent Castro supporter—traveled to Mexico City in September 1963 and made contact with Cuban diplomats and intelligence operatives. According to Russo's investigations (detailed in his book Live by the Sword), members of the Cuban regime were made aware of U.S. attempts to assassinate Castro, and they may have in turn accepted or encouraged Oswald’s offer to eliminate Kennedy.
Russo's research builds on declassified documents and interviews with Cuban defectors. For instance, a controversial 2006 documentary co-authored by Russo (Rendezvous with Death) further alleged that Cuban intelligence contracted Oswald to carry out the assassination.
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I have watched the Rendezvous With Death documentary, and it is pretty good.
It is interesting to note that some lone-gunman theorists still cite Russo in their debates with conspiracy theorists, when in fact Russo posits a conspiracy. It's just that Russo's conspiracy has only one shooter, and the shooter is Oswald.
Russo is no longer active, at least as far as I can tell, but he did a great deal of valuable research for his book Live By the Sword.
An interesting follow-up to Russo's research is the 2015-2017 investigation done by former CIA officer Robert Baer and his team, which included former LAPD detective Adam Bercovici, former FBI profiler Steve Gomez, and former Special Forces Army Ranger Marty Skovlund. In 2017, the History Channel aired Baer's seven-part documentary titled JFK Declassified: Tracking Oswald.
Here are some of the findings and discoveries made by Baer and his team:
-- Oswald received intelligence training and had some kind of connection with the U.S. Government after he left the Marines.
-- Oswald associated with anti-Castro Cubans and even trained with them in New Orleans. Oswald also associated with Cuban intelligence operatives.
-- The owner of Henry's Market, aka Henry's Bar, in New Orleans said Oswald came to the bar many times, and that the day after the assassination two Cubans came to the bar and told him Oswald was innocent and that Oswald had been framed.
-- Oswald's job at the Reilly Coffee Company in New Orleans was a "cover for action," that his job was a "front," a "cover." Oswald could have found a job much closer to his residence in New Orleans. Reilly's was across the street from the Crescent City Garage, which was used by federal agents as a kind of motor pool for their vehicles.
-- Adrian Alba, the owner of the Crescent City Garage, was telling the truth when he reported that he saw an FBI agent hand Oswald an envelope in front of the Reilly Coffee Company.
-- Silvia Odio told the truth when she reported that Oswald and two anti-Castro Cubans visited her residence in Dallas weeks before the assassination, and that one of the Cubans phoned her a few days later and told her that Oswald was an expert marksman and that Oswald had said that anti-Castro Cubans should have already killed JFK over the Bay of Bigs.
-- A Dallas police report noted that Oswald was seen visiting a house used by Alpha 66 members in Dallas. Alpha 66 was a violent anti-Castro and anti-JFK group. The house, located on Harlandale Avenue, was rented by Manuel Rodriguez Orcaberro, an Alpha 66 member who was known to be virulently anti-JFK.
-- Oswald was trying to reach the Harlandale house after the assassination. The bus transfer allegedly found on Oswald hours after he was arrested could have taken him to a point very close to the Harlandale house.
-- Oswald conspired with anti-Castro Cubans to kill JFK.
-- Oswald was the only shooter, but he was supported by Alpha 66 members and other anti-Castro Cubans. If Oswald had made it to the Harlandale house, Alpha 66 members would have helped him escape.
-- The Russians played no role in the assassination, and Oswald was not working for the Russians.
-- Castro was aware of the Alpha 66 plot to assassinate JFK but did nothing to stop it. He monitored it but did not intervene to prevent it.
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It is interesting to note that some lone-gunman theorists still cite Russo in their debates with conspiracy theorists, when in fact Russo posits a conspiracy. It's just that Russo's conspiracy has only one shooter, and the shooter is Oswald.
Russo is no longer active, at least as far as I can tell, but he did a great deal of valuable research for his book Live By the Sword.
An interesting follow-up to Russo's research is the 2015-2017 investigation done by former CIA officer Robert Baer and his team, which included former LAPD detective Adam Bercovici, former FBI profiler Steve Gomez, and former Special Forces Army Ranger Marty Skovlund. In 2017, the History Channel aired Baer's seven-part documentary titled JFK Declassified: Tracking Oswald.
Here are some of the findings and discoveries made by Baer and his team:
-- Oswald received intelligence training and had some kind of connection with the U.S. Government after he left the Marines.
-- Oswald associated with anti-Castro Cubans and even trained with them in New Orleans. Oswald also associated with Cuban intelligence operatives.
-- The owner of Henry's Market, aka Henry's Bar, in New Orleans said Oswald came to the bar many times, and that the day after the assassination two Cubans came to the bar and told him Oswald was innocent and that Oswald had been framed.
-- Oswald's job at the Reilly Coffee Company in New Orleans was a "cover for action," that his job was a "front," a "cover." Oswald could have found a job much closer to his residence in New Orleans. Reilly's was across the street from the Crescent City Garage, which was used by federal agents as a kind of motor pool for their vehicles.
-- Adrian Alba, the owner of the Crescent City Garage, was telling the truth when he reported that he saw an FBI agent hand Oswald an envelope in front of the Reilly Coffee Company.
-- Silvia Odio told the truth when she reported that Oswald and two anti-Castro Cubans visited her residence in Dallas weeks before the assassination, and that one of the Cubans phoned her a few days later and told her that Oswald was an expert marksman and that Oswald had said that anti-Castro Cubans should have already killed JFK over the Bay of Bigs.
-- A Dallas police report noted that Oswald was seen visiting a house used by Alpha 66 members in Dallas. Alpha 66 was a violent anti-Castro and anti-JFK group. The house, located on Harlandale Avenue, was rented by Manuel Rodriguez Orcaberro, an Alpha 66 member who was known to be virulently anti-JFK.
-- Oswald was trying to reach the Harlandale house after the assassination. The bus transfer allegedly found on Oswald hours after he was arrested could have taken him to a point very close to the Harlandale house.
-- Oswald conspired with anti-Castro Cubans to kill JFK.
-- Oswald was the only shooter, but he was supported by Alpha 66 members and other anti-Castro Cubans. If Oswald had made it to the Harlandale house, Alpha 66 members would have helped him escape.
-- The Russians played no role in the assassination, and Oswald was not working for the Russians.
-- Castro was aware of the Alpha 66 plot to assassinate JFK but did nothing to stop it. He monitored it but did not intervene to prevent it.
Why would the Cubans even suggest to Oswald that he assassinate JFK when they couldn't have known about the opportunity fate would deal him. Maybe they said to him,, "Hey, Lee. On the off chance that somebody JFK happens to ride past your workplace in a slow moving open top car, why don't you whack him for us.".
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MTG:
Thanks for your comments.
As I understand Russo, he thinks the Cubans encouraged LHO to assassinate JFK.
Russo stops short of saying, "I have evidence of Cuban intel on-the-ground cooperation with LHO on 11.22."
In fact, I have no such evidence either.
What I have is my layman's review of the Z-film, showing JFK shot at ~Z-222, JBC at ~Z-295 and JFK at Z-313. So I contend a lone gunsel armed with a single-shot-per-bolt-action rifle could not have perped that JFKA alone.
I agree with you, the mostly likely jFKA co-conspirators are Cubans, whether Alpha-66 or G2/DGI, or double agents.
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Why would the Cubans even suggest to Oswald that he assassinate JFK when they couldn't have known about the opportunity fate would deal him. Maybe they said to him,, "Hey, Lee. On the off chance that somebody JFK happens to ride past your workplace in a slow moving open top car, why don't you whack him for us.".
Even more fundamentally than that, it seems to me, is: Why would any pro-Castro pro-Cuba provacateur suggest anything along the lines of the JFKA to a erratic goofball whose background would POINT DIRECTLY TO CASTRO AND CUBA??? This sounds like "suicide by cop" on a national scale.
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Even more fundamentally than that, it seems to me, is: Why would any pro-Castro pro-Cuba provacateur suggest anything along the lines of the JFKA to a erratic goofball whose background would POINT DIRECTLY TO CASTRO AND CUBA??? This sounds like "suicide by cop" on a national scale.
Exactly, it's similar to the FBI or CIA saying they have a low/high level employee, now let's have him kill the President!?
Or some Government employee relative of Ruth Paine saying "hey Sis, could you let a potential President's assassin's wife stay with you?
JohnM
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LP--
You are making the irrational assumption that state and private actors always make rational decisions.
Why did Puerto Rican nationals try to assassinate then-President Truman in 1950? Surely, if successful, such an assassination would have only backfired.
Remember, when ideology and nationalism, or ethnocentrism, or ethnic bias get involved, rational thought and behavior often goes out the window.
The Alpha-66 crowd said that they had been betrayed by JFK, at BoP, and their friends and comrades died for nothing.
The G2-DGI'ers knew that JFK had been trying to assassinate Castro for years.
A couple-three hotheads....a couple guns...all you need.
As for LHO being "nutty"...that might be viewed as a plus. A nutty LHO's testimony might be taken with a grain of salt, and more-easily dismissed, providing plausible deniability.
Anyway, I am not sure LHO was regarded as all that nutty pre-JFKA.
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As for LHO being "nutty"...that might be viewed as a plus. A nutty LHO's testimony might be taken with a grain of salt, and more-easily dismissed, providing plausible deniability.
Anyway, I am not sure LHO was regarded as all that nutty pre-JFKA.
The guy emigrated to the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. What kind of a rational person would do that?
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JC--
I am no fan of the Soviet Union then, or Russia now.
But the word "rational" covers a lot of ground.
Trying to start a life in Russia might speak to an ideological bent, in an otherwise rational person.
That is, no one has ever said LHO was schizo, or fabricated memories, or misunderstood basic instructions, etc. Indeed LHO, as Marine, was advanced into relatively high-end radar work at the Atsugi airbase in Japan.
I doubt some whacko would be able to do that.
I do regard someone shooting at major public figures, or any innocent person, as likely mentally ill, even if lucid. I am a layman in these matters.
Tough call on LHO. The DPD'ers who interviewed him post-JFKA thought him lucid, perfidious and abrasive.
As for low-level DGI, G2 or Apha-66'ers, they might regard LHO as very useful.
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JC--
I am no fan of the Soviet Union then, or Russia now.
But the word "rational" covers a lot of ground.
Trying to start a life in Russia might speak to an ideological bent, in an otherwise rational person.
That is, no one has ever said LHO was schizo, or fabricated memories, or misunderstood basic instructions, etc. Indeed LHO, as Marine, was advanced into relatively high-end radar work at the Atsugi airbase in Japan.
I doubt some whacko would be able to do that.
I do regard someone shooting at major public figures, or any innocent person, as likely mentally ill, even if lucid. I am a layman in these matters.
Tough call on LHO. The DPD'ers who interviewed him post-JFKA thought him lucid, perfidious and abrasive.
As for low-level DGI, G2 or Apha-66'ers, they might regard LHO as very useful.
I don't believe Oswald was insane in a legal sense, but he clearly wasn't playing with a full deck.
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LP--
You are making the irrational assumption that state and private actors always make rational decisions.
Why did Puerto Rican nationals try to assassinate then-President Truman in 1950? Surely, if successful, such an assassination would have only backfired.
Remember, when ideology and nationalism, or ethnocentrism, or ethnic bias get involved, rational thought and behavior often goes out the window.
The Alpha-66 crowd said that they had been betrayed by JFK, at BoP, and their friends and comrades died for nothing.
The G2-DGI'ers knew that JFK had been trying to assassinate Castro for years.
A couple-three hotheads....a couple guns...all you need.
As for LHO being "nutty"...that might be viewed as a plus. A nutty LHO's testimony might be taken with a grain of salt, and more-easily dismissed, providing plausible deniability.
Anyway, I am not sure LHO was regarded as all that nutty pre-JFKA.
I think a more careful distinction needs to be made between (1) "Castro and/or G2" being behind the JFKA, (2) "Castro and/or G2" encouraging the JFKA, and (3) "a couple of angry pro-Castro wackos who might've thought they were doing something helpful" encouraging Oswald to kill JFK. They all seem to get blended together in the "Castro/Cuba" narrative. Only #3 has any plausibility and would account for the irrationality I'm talking about.
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Why would the Cubans even suggest to Oswald that he assassinate JFK when they couldn't have known about the opportunity fate would deal him. Maybe they said to him,, "Hey, Lee. On the off chance that somebody JFK happens to ride past your workplace in a slow moving open top car, why don't you whack him for us."
Huh???
Because Oswald lived in Dallas, a likely campaign stop for JFK in the upcoming election. Because JFK's trip to Dallas was announced on September 13, nine weeks in advance of the trip.
And why in the world would the Cubans have assumed that Oswald could only do the shooting if JFK rode by his workplace?
Of course, you are assuming a priori that Oswald was the gunman and that the Cubans would have recruited him to be the gunman, whereas the Odio evidence shows that anti-Castro Cubans were trying to frame Oswald for the assassination weeks in advance of the shooting.
Also, the released HSCA Lopez-Hardway report shows that someone was impersonating Oswald in Mexico City to try to further paint him as a pro-Soviet, pro-Castro Marxist.
MTG: Thanks for your comments.
As I understand Russo, he thinks the Cubans encouraged LHO to assassinate JFK. Russo stops short of saying, "I have evidence of Cuban intel on-the-ground cooperation with LHO on 11.22."
I think you're forgetting some of Russo's arguments. For example, he presents evidence that suggests Oswald was supposed to get a ride to Cuba from Red Bird Airport in Dallas after the assassination, and that pro-Castro Cuban Quinton Machado cut a deal with Oswald to bring him to Cuba after the shooting (Live By the Sword, pp. 308-309).
In any case, even if Oswald had done the shooting after "only" being encouraged to do so by pro-Castro Cubans, this would still constitute a conspiracy; this would still mean he was not a "loner"; and this would make the Cubans who urged him to do the shooting "accessories before the fact"--and they would have risked being arrested, charged, and prosecuted for murder in the second degree.
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Huh???
Because Oswald lived in Dallas, a likely campaign stop for JFK in the upcoming election. Because JFK's trip to Dallas was announced on September 13, nine weeks in advance of the trip.
He couldn't have shot JFK from anywhere in Dallas. He needed to shoot him from a location along the motorcade route. Nobody could have known he would be working along that route two months before the assassination.
Did you really need me to figure out that part for you?
And why in the world would the Cubans have assumed that Oswald could only do the shooting if JFK rode by his workplace?
If they knew anything about Oswald, they would have known he couldn't drive and relied on public transportation or friends to get him around. If you're going to hire somebody to assassinate a president, these are the kinds of basic things you would want to know about your assassin.
Of course, you are assuming a priori that Oswald was the gunman and that the Cubans would have recruited him to be the gunman, whereas the Odio evidence shows that anti-Castro Cubans were trying to frame Oswald for the assassination weeks in advance of the shooting.
It isn't an assumption that Oswald was the assassin. Anyone who is familiar with the evidence and has an ounce of common sense knows that to be a fact. I think you meet one of those qualifications.
Also, the released HSCA Lopez-Hardway report shows that someone was impersonating Oswald in Mexico City to try to further paint him as a pro-Soviet, pro-Castro Marxist.
What does that indicate to you?
I think you're forgetting some of Russo's arguments. For example, he presents evidence that suggests Oswald was supposed to get a ride to Cuba from Red Bird Airport in Dallas after the assassination, and that pro-Castro Cuban Quinton Machado cut a deal with Oswald to bring him to Cuba after the shooting (Live By the Sword, pp. 308-309).
Russo did get the part about Oswald being the assassin correct. He's guessing about Oswald's plans after the assassination. He has no more knowledge than you or me about where Oswald was going after he killed JFK.
In any case, even if Oswald had done the shooting after "only" being encouraged to do so by pro-Castro Cubans, this would still constitute a conspiracy; this would still mean he was not a "loner"; and this would make the Cubans who urged him to do the shooting "accessories before the fact"--and they would have risked being arrested, charged, and prosecuted for murder in the second degree.
There is no evidence the Cubans encouraged Oswald to kill JFK, only supposition. That is something all JFKA conspiracy theories are based on.
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He couldn't have shot JFK from anywhere in Dallas. He needed to shoot him from a location along the motorcade route. Nobody could have known he would be working along that route two months before the assassination.
Did you really need me to figure out that part for you?
If they knew anything about Oswald, they would have known he couldn't drive and relied on public transportation or friends to get him around. If you're going to hire somebody to assassinate a president, these are the kinds of basic things you would want to know about your assassin.
This is so ridiculous and backward it's not worth answering. You start from a woeful knowledge base and then blunder from there.
What does that indicate to you?
Russo did get the part about Oswald being the assassin correct. He's guessing about Oswald's plans after the assassination. He has no more knowledge than you or me about where Oswald was going after he killed JFK.
There is no evidence the Cubans encouraged Oswald to kill JFK, only supposition. That is something all JFKA conspiracy theories are based on.
More of your uninformed dogmatism. I doubt you've even read Russo's book. If you have, your comments are even more indefensible. You're in no position to be pontificating about anyone's research.
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This is so ridiculous and backward it's not worth answering.
Nice dodge.
You start from a woeful knowledge base and then blunder from there.
Was that supposed to sound clever? It didn't work.
More of your uninformed dogmatism. I doubt you've even read Russo's book.
Am I supposed to read every book about the JFKA that has ever been published?
If you have, your comments are even more indefensible. You're in no position to be pontificating about anyone's research.
The questions I raised are valid ones for anyone proposing that Cubans put Oswald up to assassinating JFK. They are valid no matter who one postulates was behind the assassination.
You seem to be like a kid in a candy store when it comes to the JFKA. You can't seem to make up your mind about who did it or how they did it. You seem to be willing to embrace any theory so long as it doesn't include Oswald as the lone assassin. The only thing you don't seem to like is the one and only truth.
You have spent at least three and a half decades, probably more, telling us what you don't think happened. After all the research you've done and all the books you seem to have read, have you figured out who was behind the assassination and how they did it? I'll bet haven't done one tenth the research you have but I have been able to figure that out. It isn't all that hard to do.