FREE ESSAY ON THE JFK CONSPIRACY

THE JFK CONSPIRACY

The JFK Conspiracy
On November 22, 1963 President John F. Kennedy arrived in Dallas to a crowd of excited
people lining the streets hoping to get a glimpse of the President. As his motorcade
proceeded 
down Elm Street, Governor Connally's wife said, You can't say that Dallas isn't friendly
to you 
today Mr. President. Upon that, John F. Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United
States 
was assassinated. The United States mourned the death of its young and inspiring
President. It has been thirty-seven years since the assassination of John F. Kennedy and
many people are still uncertain as to who is actually responsible for his assassination.
Through the years there have been numerous theories that the CIA and the FBI were somehow
linked to the assassination.
Though many would doubt that the president's own government would conspire to murder him;
there are several possible reasons for their potential participation in an assassination
plot. The Bay of Pigs was the spark that ignited the devastating fire. 1500 CIA trained
anti-Castro expatriates were sent to seize Cuba. At the critical last moment President
Kennedy cancelled the air strikes which were supposed to disable Castro's air force. As a
result more than 100 of the CIA's men were killed; the remaining agents surrendered.
(Morrissey)
Kennedy took full public responsibility for the Bay of Pigs disaster though secretly he
blamed the CIA. Kennedy fired three of the CIA's top men whom were responsible for the
operation: Director Allen Dulles, who was later a member of the Warren Commission (Lifton
176), General Cabell, and Richard Bissel. (Morrissey) After the CIA lost time, effort, 
and people in the attempt to secure Cuba, the CIA became hostile and wanted to get rid of
Kennedy to prevent him from losing more ground, especially in Vietnam.Adding to the fire
were Kennedy's secret commitments to pulling out of Vietnam and his threat to"Smash the
CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter them in the wind" (Belzer 79)
There were three known attempts on taking JFK's life in the fall of 1963. In late
October, Thomas Arthur Vallee was arrested by the secret service in Chicago days before a
scheduled visit by Kennedy. Vallee was discovered to have an M-1 rifle, a handgun, and
three thousand rounds of ammunition. Days later, the Secret Service received another
threat: Kennedy would be ambushed in Chicago by a Cuban hit squad. The Chicago trip was
cancelled without explanation.
On November 18, four days before the assassination in Dallas, Joseph Milteer outlined the
details for the upcoming Texas attempt to a police informant. None of these threats were
forwarded to authorities in Dallas. (Belzer 10)
The amounts of activity and suspicious incidents in Dallas on November 22, 1963 are
astounding. The evidence in the third and final attempt on President Kennedy's life in
Dealey Plaza provides a reason to believe that U.S. government agencies had a role in
JFK's death. It all begins on Main Street on which the motorcade was supposed to stay
(Garrison 117). The Dallas Morning News featured a detailed map of the planned motorcade
route. The motorcade was supposed to take a relatively strait course through Dealey Plaza
without passing by the Book Depository. Suddenly, unexpectedly the motorcade veered from
the approved route. This exposed JFK to snipers positioned at the Book Depository,
"Grassy Knoll"and the Dal-Tex building. This also caused drivers to slow down to an
estimated 10 miles per hour. The Secret Service have had to approve the unexplained
changes. (Garrison 117-119)
There were many photographers and people videotaping in the Dealey Plaza who captured the
devastating moments in which President Kennedy was murdered. Mary Muchmore 
shot a movie of the final frontal shot into Kennedy's head (Belzer 17). Orville Nix shot
a video that features flashes from the grassy knoll and an image of what people believe
to be a gunman (Belzer 17). Robert Hughes captured movement from the sixth floor corner
window of the Book Depository and the window next to it (Belzer 17). Abraham Zapruder
shot perhaps the most famous film of all. His film stemmed evidence that for instance,
there was a question -based on the timing of the firing sequence taken from his film- as
to whether a lone gunman could have fired so quickly with accuracy. Marine sharpshooters
tried- and failed (Belzer 15). Other evidence indicated that policemen on the scene
turned not toward the Book Depository, but toward Zapruder's position neat the grassy
knoll. Zapruder testified that he believed shots came from behind him: on the grassy
knoll. None of the films ever made it into the Warren Commission.
There was yet another film shot by a lady referred to as the "Babushka Lady". This film
was shot from a point where the depository windows and the grassy knoll could be seen
clearly. The Monday following the assassination two men, whom she believed to be Secret
Service or FBI agents, appropriated the film. The men told the "Babushka Lady" that her
film would be useful evidence, and if she turned it over it would be returned within ten
days. The tape was never returned, and the men eventually said it was "bad film". (Belzer
19)
Another suspicious activity that took place on the tragic day was the presence of the
mysterious "umbrella man". The umbrella man was in the crowd on the Dealey Plaza
sidewalk. He is very noticeable because he is the only one to bring an umbrella on the
particularly clear and warm day. In photos before the limousine enters the plaza, the man
is shown standing casually with his umbrella closed. But, as the president's car comes
nearer a "choreography"(Belzer 22) begins. As JFK draws parallel to the man, the
president is hit by the first bullet. The man opens his umbrella pumping it in the air
many times then closes it and 
lowers it. At that same moment his accomplice thrust his right arm into the air in what
many researchers believe to be a clenched wrist salute. (Belzer 22)
Yet another baffling incident is the lack of Secret Service protection during the
motorcade route and the shooting. Secret Service agents actually turned down an offer
from the Dallas Police Department for more security. During the motorcade the service
diminished their shield by reducing motorcycle police from eight to four. Once firing
began photos and videos show strange lack of reaction from agents riding behind Kennedy.
While JFK grasp his throat, Secret Service agents are looking around, two towards
Kennedy, two towards the rear except Clint Hill, an agent brought at the last minute by
the first lady. No agents move to shield the president from further gunfire. After the
first shot was fired Kennedy's driver actually brings the car to a halt. (Belzer 46)
Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the murder of President Kennedy. When he was taken
into custody, Oswald pleaded that he was set up, he was a patsy (Garrison 70). The
evidence surrounding the case of Oswald, and the evidence surrounding the day of the
assassination suggest that in fact Oswald was the perfect pasty for the CIA to mold.
The CIA had been setting up Oswald since as early as January 1961, the month of Kennedy's
inauguration. Investigators believe that the CIA had people impersonate Oswald in order
to paint the picture that Oswald was a crazed communist assassin. Before the
assassination, Oswald was spotted at the Russian embassy in Mexico, buying a car, at the
rifle range (Belzer 67), and giving out pro Castro leaflets in New Orleans. "In the
intelligence community there is a term used to describe this kind of manipulated behavior
designed to create a desired image: sheepdipping. (Garrison 70)." It seems that Oswald
had been in New Orleans to be sheepdipped under the guidance of Guy Banister and that he
had been sent back to Dallas when the mission was accomplished (Garrison 71). Oddly
enough records indicate that the Oswald who enlisted in the 
Marines was 5'11," the Oswald who went to Russia was 5'6" while the dead Oswald measured
in at 5'9" (Belzer 68)
At noon, on a street in Dallas, the president of the United States is assassinated. He is
hardly dead when the official version is broadcast. In that version, which will be the
definitive one, Lee Harvey Oswald alone has killed John Kennedy. "The weapon does not
coincide with the bullet, nor the bullet with the holes. The accused does not coincide
with the accusation: (Galeano 183)"Oswald is an exceptionally bad shot, but according to
the official version, his acts were those of a champion marksman and Olympic sprinter. He
has fired an old rifle with impossible speed and his magic bullet, turning and twisting
to penetrate Kennedy and John Connally, the governor of Texas, remains strangely intact
(Stone JFK).
Oswald denies it. But no one knows, no one will ever know what he has to say. Two days
later he collapses before the television cameras, the whole world witness to the
spectacle, his mouth shut by Jack Ruby, a two-bit gangster and minor trafficker in women
and drugs. Ruby
says he has avenged Kennedy out of patriotism and pity for the poor widow.(Galeano 183)
President Lyndon Baines Johnson set up a committee led by chief justice Earl Warren, to
conduct an official investigation into Kennedy's murder. On 24 September 1964, the Warren
Commission finally issued a report of their findings (Gest 28). They concluded that
President Kennedy was murdered by a single gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald. (Lifton 12) The
Warren Commission was made up of seven LBJ appointed members. Three of them had ties to
the CIA or the military elite. The Report concluded that the shots that killed Kennedy
were fired from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository building, and no
other site. They further concluded that there was three shots fired in all, and all of
them were fired from Lee Harvey Oswald. The Commission stated that there was no
conspiracy, domestic or international, and that there was no connection between Jack Ruby
and Oswald. However, through the twenty six 
volumes and the approximately thirteen thousand pages of testimonies and documentary
exhibits traces of testimonies from Kennedy's physicians, Dallas physicians,
eyewitnesses, or civilian films cannot be found.
Bibliography
Works Cited
Belzar, Richard. UFO's, JFK, and Elvis conspiracies you don't have to be crazy to
believe. 
New York: The Ballantine Publishing Group, 1999. 
Galeano, Eduardo. Memory of Fire: III Century of the Wind. Part Three of 
a Trilogy, translated by Cedric Belfrage: Pantheon Books, 1988.
Gest, Ted, at al. "JFK The Untold Story of the Warren Commission." U.S. News & World 
Report 17 August 1992: 28-42.
JFK. Dir. Oliver Stone. Warner Bros, 1991.
Lifton, David S. Best Evidence. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc, 1980.
Peterson, Roger S. "Declassified." American History July/ August 1996: 22-26, 54-57.
The Bay of Pigs Revisited. Ed. Michael D. Morrissey. May. 1993. 3 May. 2000
.