My new book, "Into the Nightmare"

[Joseph McBride]

Thank you, Joseph. As I continue to read, I find a great deal to admire about not only your research, but also your passion for the man and your acute sense of loss -- both of which we share on very deep levels.

This does not mean, however, that we agree on all aspects of the case.

Charles, you'll find in reading my book that I do provide, in detail, what you call a "conspiracy model" or theory. My book details my belief that the assassination was a military coup, benefiting Johnson, to enrich the military-industrial complex by widening the war in Vietnam and to give freer rein to the military men and right wing oil men who opposed Kennedy.

Fair enough. But not quite clear enough -- at least for me.

Who, in your opinion, had the authority to order/authorize the coup?

They thought he was a traitorous dove for trying to achieve detente with the USSR and Cuba and for resisting widening the Vietnam War. I agree with Peter Dale Scott on the phase one/phase two theory of the assassination; I recommend his works on deep politics. Johnson did not want a war in Cuba or with the USSR, but he was owned and operated for decades by Brown & Root (which merged with Halliburton).

Help me to understand your position: Is it correct to say that you've concluded that Brown & Root coerced LBJ to ... what? ... use the power of the vice-presidency to authorize and order the operation? In your scenario, would the powers-that-be at Brown & Root plus certain military officers and oil barons properly be cast as the assassination's Sponsors, and would LBJ be their primary Facilitator?

I agree with Peter Dale Scott on the phase one/phase two theory of the assassination; I recommend his works on deep politics.

So do I. And I'll pass along your recommendation, insofar as I have read just about every word written by Professor Scott on this case (among others).




That's a big "but" you've got there.

You stipulate, as do I, that the right wing military wanted war in Southeast Asia. The industrialist profiteers wanted that war. They helped eliminate THE major road block to that war. They controlled the eminently controllable successor to the road block.

However, unlike LBJ, many/most also wanted to take out Cuba and the USSR.

BUT they didn't.

Why?

After all, and as you suggest, "They thought[JFK] was a traitorous dove for trying to achieve detente with the USSR and Cuba ... " Yet eventually detente came to pass.

Who had the power to control the very forces that in my opinion you incorrectly place at the top of the JFK assassination food chain?

I am not sure what your "model" is from your general theoretical description of such plots.

First, I'd suggest that the distinction you would draw between "model" and "theoretical description" is one without a difference.

Second, I encourage you re-read carefully the Evica-Drago model as I describe it above. We name names -- at least in three of its four categories/levels -- and assign roles. And if indeed we have been less than direct and informative in doing so, I cordially invite you to post detailed questions and/or criticisms, to which I'll gladly respond.

[T]he Tippit murder [is] a largely neglected and critical aspect of the events in Dallas.

I and many others have agreed with this assessment for decades.

I write at length about how Tippit moved in the rightwing milieu that also included Ruby and various rightwing extremists and how the Dallas Police Department was deeply involved with forces hostile to Kennedy.

You are indeed to be commended for bringing invaluable new detail to the Tippit research which, decades ago, established his and the DPD's involvement with "rightwing [sic] forces hostile to Kennedy."

We are in full agreement that Tippit and some of his DPD colleagues are accurately and best placed within the lower Facilitator ranks.

Charles,

Thanks for your good words on my Tippit research and my other research
in INTO THE NIGHTMARE.

In my previous replies to you, I tried to lay out a summary of my analysis of the underpinnings
and extent of the conspiracy. We can agree to disagree on some of it. Since I wrote
a long book, it would be reductive to try to address all these issues in
a nutshell, so I'd rather people try to follow what I think is a logical progression
in my book, which I think would be more beneficial. In the first part of the book, I discuss my own evolution to
understanding the case and becoming an assassination researcher
and then I launch into an even longer, microscopic analysis of the
Tippit case, which needed to be done.

Along the way I delve into other issues
and most of the big issues, including the involvement of LBJ and his fellow conspirators, providing
whatever I can in the way of fresh research and insights. I don't claim to know (since nobody does, and further
research needs to be done) exactly how all the planning was done and all the orders were given, etc. I have some ideas about this, and, for example, I try to pinpoint
how the motorcade route was chosen, a critical part of the conspiracy that reached to high levels; the parts
about Kenneth O'Donnell, whom I consider to have been disloyal to Kennedy, may surprise readers. E. Howard
Hunt and his son Saint John Hunt have made claims about the chain of command in the plot that need further research.
And by studying how the coverup works we can see how the plot worked (as we learned in Watergate as well).

Let's hope we all continue the study of the remaining issues in the assassination and make more discoveries. I've contributed what I could with my
own independent research.