JFK Assassination Forum

I wouldn't want to bet my country or my world on that rumor. This is from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists:

As of early 2025, we estimate that Russia has a stockpile of approximately 4,309 nuclear warheads assigned for use by long-range strategic launchers and shorter-range tactical nuclear forces. This is a net decrease of approximately 71 warheads from last year, largely due to a change in our estimate of warheads assigned to non-strategic nuclear forces. Of the stockpiled warheads, approximately 1,718 strategic warheads are deployed: about 870 on land-based ballistic missiles, about 640 on submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and possibly slightly over 200 at heavy bomber bases. Another approximately 1,114 strategic warheads are in storage, along with about 1,477 nonstrategic warheads. In addition to the military stockpile for operational forces, a large number—approximately 1,150—of retired but still largely intact warheads await dismantlement, for a total inventory of approximately 5,459 warheads.

https://thebulletin.org/premium/2025-05/russian-nuclear-weapons-2025/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22620259604&gbraid=0AAAAAC3qOh-1Dd7CJ3jPAWeNCSnuOBi2b&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0JnRBhDJARIsALobnXZui9gWOzneozhx2ilA8uvfaGKK_eVPrdTNGPvGJYxwN__fv-0hSboaAiytEALw_wcB

(May 06,1959 MCAS | El Toro CA)
Oswald scored one point above the minimum for the lowest grade.

Marksman Qualification = 190
Oswald Score = 191

“To become qualified as a sharpshooter the Marine Corps is of the opinion that most Marines
with a reasonable amount of adaptability to weapons firing can be, so qualified.
Consequently a low marksman qualification indicates a “rather poor shot” (Vol 19 pages 16-18)

Mr. SPECTER. Of what do your current duties consist?
Sergeant ZAHM. I am the NCO in charge of the Marksmanship Training Unit Armory at the Marksmanship Training Unit in the Weapons Training Battalion Marine Corps School, Quantico, Va.

Mr. SPECTER. Based on the tests of Mr. Oswald shown by those documents, how would you characterize his ability as a marksman?
Sergeant ZAHM. I would say in the Marine Corps he is a good shot, slightly above average, and as compared to the average male of his age throughout the civilian, throughout the United States, that he is an excellent shot.

Mr. SPECTER. How would you characterize that, as a difficult, not too difficult, easy, or how would you characterize that shot?
Sergeant ZAHM. With the equipment he had and with his ability, I consider it a very easy shot.

Sergeant ZAHM. I consider it still an easy shot, a little more difficult from the President's body position and increase in distance of approximately 40 feet, but I still consider it an easy shot for a man with the equipment he had and his ability.
Mr. SPECTER. Assuming that there were three shots fired in a range of 4.8 to 5.6 seconds, would that speed of firing at that range indicated in the prior questions be within Mr. Oswald's capabilities as a marksman?
Sergeant ZAHM. Yes.

--------------------------------------

Mr. SPECTER - Of what do your current duties consist?
Major ANDERSON - I am assistant head of the Marksmanship Branch, Headquarters Marine Corps.


Mr. SPECTER - I now show you a document marked as Commission Exhibit No. 902, which characterizes what was believed to have been the shot which struck President Kennedy in the head at a distance from rifle in window to the President of 265.3 feet, with the photograph through rifle scope identified on the document being the view which the marksman had of the President at the time the President was struck in the head, and I ask you again for an opinion as to the ease or difficulty of that shot, taking into consideration the capabilities of Mr. Oswald as a marksman, evidenced by the Marine Corps documents on him.
Major ANDERSON - I consider it to be not a particularly difficult shot at this short range, and that Oswald had full capabilities to make such a shot.

-------------------------------------

Mr. EISENBERG. Can you give us your position, Mr. Simmons?
Mr. SIMMONS. I am the Chief of the Infantry Weapons Evaluation Branch of the Ballistics Research Laboratory of the Department of the Army.

Mr. EISENBERG. Do I understand your testimony to be that this rifle is as accurate as the current American military rifles?
Mr. SIMMONS. Yes. As far as we can determine from bench-rest firing.
Mr. EISENBERG. Would you consider that to be a high degree of accuracy?
Mr. SIMMONS. Yes, the weapon is quite accurate.

JohnM

Ask for evidence and get an opinion..... Hilarious!

Oswald was more than capable of making the shots that killed JFK. His longest shot was only 88 yards, less than half the distance he had to qualify at in the USMC. [quite]

Not one of the rifle tests that have been done to date have duplicated all of the conditions under which the supposed lone-gunman would have had to fire. In the one rifle test that duplicated most of those conditions, the 1967 CBS rifle test, only one of the 12 riflemen scored two hits in the required timeframe on the first attempt, and that was only because the test counted shots as "hits" even if they landed far down on the back or far out on the shoulder of the target silhouette, at least tripling the size of the target compared to Oswald's alleged shooting feat.

This one has been a favorite red herring argument of the CTs for years. No shooting in the history of firearms has ever been duplicated because every shooting has its own set of variables that cannot be duplicated. There is nothing about Oswald's shooting of JFK with his Carcano rifle that was beyond his capabilities.
Tell us why it is necessary to prove when Oswald zeroed his rifle. Is that a legal requirement to prove somebody committed a homicide with a firearm?
Now you are just making things up. Nobody put Oswald at another location in the TSBD DURING the shooting. Your lie refutes itself. How could Oswald be on the first AND second floors during the shooting. It's amazing somebody who has been at this as long as you have could come up with a claim so wacky.
So?
Oswald didn't buy the rifle for the purpose of killing JFK because he couldn't have possibly known 8 months prior to the act, he would be handed an opportunity to do that. A firearm is only traceable if the authorities have the weapon in their possession. When Oswald took the shot at Walker, he was able to leave the scene with his weapon. He didn't have that option when he killed JFK. Leaving the building with the rifle was not an option. Imagine if Oswald was holding the rifle when Baker confronted him. The encounter would have ended very differently and possibly badly for Baker since Oswald would have still had a live round in the chamber. Oswald could have bought better rifle but it would have cost him more money.
So what's your point. Nobody has said Oswald was stupid. Oswald was presented a golden opportunity to achieve fame by killing JFK. His options were limited. The time and place were dictated to him. He had to smuggle his rifle into work and then leave it behind when he fled the scene. Your whole premise is that Oswald planned to get away with the crime. I don't think that even crossed his mind. I think he was perfectly willing to trade his life for JFKs just as the three previous presidential assassins had done. Booth couldn't have been more conspicuous after he shot Lincoln. Everybody in the theater knew who he was when he leapt from Lincoln's box onto the stage. Guiteau and Czolgosz both committed their crimes at close range knowing they would be apprehended immediately. They didn't seem to care. Why do you assume Oswald would have.
Can you cite an expert in either wound ballistics or forensic medicine who shares your opinion on this or is this just another of your amateurish arguments.?
The only implausible claims are the ones made by you.

You've got to love how the mind of a fanatical zealot works!

Oswald was more than capable of making the shots that killed JFK. His longest shot was only 88 yards, less than half the distance he had to qualify at in the USMC. [quite]

Not one of the rifle tests that have been done to date have duplicated all of the conditions under which the supposed lone-gunman would have had to fire. In the one rifle test that duplicated most of those conditions, the 1967 CBS rifle test, only one of the 12 riflemen scored two hits in the required timeframe on the first attempt, and that was only because the test counted shots as "hits" even if they landed far down on the back or far out on the shoulder of the target silhouette, at least tripling the size of the target compared to Oswald's alleged shooting feat.

The fanatical zealot dismisses any conclusion based on actual tests, but he still "knows for sure" that Oswald could have made the shots, without any evidence to back that up!

This one has been a favorite red herring argument of the CTs for years. No shooting in the history of firearms has ever been duplicated because every shooting has its own set of variables that cannot be duplicated. There is nothing about Oswald's shooting of JFK with his Carcano rifle that was beyond his capabilities.

And here the fanatical zealot claims that Oswald had the capabilities to make the shots, when in fact he he never knew Oswald, never saw him shoot a rifle and only relies on what he has been told.

Now you are just making things up. Nobody put Oswald at another location in the TSBD DURING the shooting. Your lie refutes itself. How could Oswald be on the first AND second floors during the shooting. It's amazing somebody who has been at this as long as you have could come up with a claim so wacky.
So?

Oswald could have eaten his lunch at the first floor lunch room and then went upstairs to get a drink. Nobody is claiming this happened exactly "during the shooting", but regardless the fanatical zealot "knows for a fact" that Oswald was on the 6th floor when the shots were fired. Never mind that nobody has actually ever been able to put him there!

My wife is over there now. The elephant in the room is that Russia has a massive nuclear arsenal. I don't see Russia ever whimpering for mercy. I can see Russia being pushed into doing something truly ghastly, especially with the demonstrated unwillingness of Trump and Europe to confront Putin in a meaningful way. It seems to me that now, with the balance at least shifting toward Ukraine, would be the time for a really strong push toward a negotiated peace.

It's rumored 75% or more of their nuclear arsenal isn't functionable.