5 – The Communist Connection: JFK Was Murdered by the KGB
While the Communist conspiracy angle is not as well-trodden as some of the others, plenty of literature has been written about the possibility. The Soviet Union had one obvious motive; to gain revenge for the embarrassment of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. In ‘Programmed to Kill,’ Ion Mihai Pacepa, the highest-level intelligence officer to ever defect from the USSR, wrote that the KGB ordered the assassination, blamed the Americans, the Kremlin covered everything up and the KGB had ties with Oswald.
He suggested that the Soviet leader at the time, Nikita Khrushchev, plotted the murder only to change his mind. However, the KGB was unable to ‘deprogram’ Oswald who carried out the assassination. Critics of Pacepa’s work say his case is predominantly circumstantial and scoff at the notion that the KGB couldn’t stop Oswald since they had months to kill him if they wanted.
There is also a suggestion that Oswald betrayed the United States by providing the USSR with state secrets. The pilot of the U-2 flight downed in May 1960, Gary Powers, believes that Oswald could have provided the Soviets with the information they needed to shoot the plane. When he lived in the Soviet Union, Oswald would have had plenty of chances to communicate with the KGB. The suggestion is that he was somehow ‘programmed’ to murder the President through the use of propaganda. Given his aggressive mentality and pro-communist stance, the KGB would have found it easy to brainwash the hapless Oswald.
That Oswald was a communist sympathizer is no secret. After all, he lived in the Soviet Union for a couple of years and applied for Soviet and Cuban citizenship at different stages in his life. He believed communism was the way forward and applied for citizenship to both communist nations in Mexico City on September 28, 1963. There is a suggestion that Oswald was impersonated while he was there; an issue I already covered.
Holes in the Theory
Pacepa wrote that Oswald tried to kill Edwin Walker in a ‘dry run’ and persists with the idea that he left Marina a note. There is no strong evidence to link Oswald to the Walker murder attempt, and there have long since been doubts over the authenticity of the note that mysteriously appeared after the assassination.
Most of Pacepa’s work is made up of fanciful suggestions with little or no evidence to back it up. Again, the fact that Oswald used a low-quality rifle helps dispel any notions of KGB interference. Surely they would want to equip their ‘secret assassin’ with something a lot more accurate to ensure the job was done correctly?
While the USSR was certainly angry over what happened in the Cuban Missile Crisis, assassinating the American president was an extraordinary risk. If the plot was uncovered, a war was inevitable.
Oswald apparently met a Soviet diplomat named Valeriy Kostikov in Mexico City. Kostikov was suspected of being a member of the KGB assassinations department so any meeting with him would raise alarm bells. The trouble is, there is a strong possibility that the man who met him was, in fact, an imposter. In other words, it is another theory that lacks sufficient evidence.
The events of November 22, 1963, will never be forgotten. The trouble is, no one knows for sure why JFK was assassinated nor do we know the culprit. Lee Harvey Oswald could well be the killer although there is enough evidence to suggest he was possibly the victim of a frame-up. Most legal experts agree that had Oswald stood trial, the weight of evidence against him would be insufficient to warrant a guilty verdict. Jack Ruby prevented us from finding out.
The events surrounding the assassination read like a very complex mystery crime thriller. Both sides of the argument continue to plead their case; but the truth is, a definitive answer will probably never be reached.
Sources For Further Reading:
History Ireland – Forty Years On: Who Killed JFK?
Reuters – New Footage Of JFK In Dallas Released
AARP – 50 Facts About the JFK Assassination
Orlando Sentinel – In Shadows Of Missing Film May Lie Clue To JFK Killing, Coverup
Poughkeepsie Journal – Wanted: The ‘Other’ JFK Assassination Film
ABC News – Study: Shot Was Fired From ‘Grassy Knoll’
BBC – JFK Assassination: Questions That Won’t Go Away
Slate – JFK Assassination: Killing Conspiracy
History – Why the Public Stopped Believing the Government about JFK’s Murder
Biography – Did the Mob Kill John F. Kennedy?
The Washington Post – What The Mob Knew About JFK’s Murder
ABC News – Organized Crime Expert Sees Mob Connections
National Public Radio – Documents Offer Insight Into Soviet View Of JFK Assassination
Military – Vietnam Vet Oliver Stone Still Thinks the CIA Killed JFK
ABC News – JFK Assassination Files Reveal Hoover’s Frustration Over Oswald’s Death, Soviet Reaction
USA Today – JFK Conspiracy Theorist Points Finger At LBJ
Hindustan Times – JFK Assassination: From Strange Call To Why KGB Suspected President Johnson
New York Time Magazine – Was Oswald a Spy, and Other Cold War Mysteries