The Oswald Psy-Op

Lee H. Oswald is an endlessly interesting person to study.  I've never seen anyone with such a maze of conflicts in his life story.  These discrepancies involve people who knew him, his personality, his movements, his interests, his looks and even the reams of documents that form a bewildering array of conflicts.

He is an example of a man that is built as a Legend.  Once he joined the Marines in 1956 he became a government possession and I don't think they ever let go of him until he got mixed up in the dirty deed and then started the long running, never ending, distancing.  He said he was the patsy and at least circumstantially was groomed to be one.  He just never knew when or how though he probably had an inkling towards the end.  Perhaps he envisioned for himself a method of escape.  If he did, it obviously didn't work.

I think if you dug into my past or even yours, they would find people who could give a consistent view of who you were when they knew you years ago.  With Oswald, we have conflicting witness testimony of what his character and interests were and even what he looked like.  One group knew a tall Oswald, the one with the bull neck that was the all American Boy of the 1950's.  Another group knew the misfit Oswald, the short surly kid that kept to himself and read books and studied Communism. We are told he possibly had dyslexia and learning disabilities yet he learned to speak Russian–no easy feat.  People with reading comprehension problems don't enjoy reading.  Oswald was an avid reader who maintained a library card.  It's like we are dealing with two separate people.  From here, comes forth the doppelgänger theories that populate their own weird vista.

At some hazy point the timelines start to intersect.  For example, in the fall of 1953 there are two sets of educational records for Lee Oswald.  One set has him attending school at PS44 in New York.  The other set has him attending school at Beauregard Junior High in New Orleans.  At the same time?  Either he is being impersonated at the age of 13 or else one set of the records is fabricated.  If the government's case is true, and Oswald is the loner in the killing of JFK, then why phony up documents and create this confusion?  Or maybe he was being impersonated as part of a long range project. 

What does The Establishment do if a president is elected that doesn't play ball with them?  He'll have to be guided along by stealth or put in his place.  Did they have a plan?  I think so as JFK proved to have a backbone.

Fast-forward to 1958 to Taiwan.  From his unit dairy they are on operations in Taiwan having left Atsugi, Japan.  Oswald's medical records indicate seven minor medical issues were treated in September through early October of that year (Armstrong, pp. 200-201).  They were, however, all treated at the Atsugi base.  Some have suggested that he was flown there for treatment but that seems impractical since there were medical facilities and staff on Taiwan to treat his ailments.  Would it be sensible to fly somebody back and forth just to treat hemorrhoids?  Once again, he is either being impersonated or else phony documents are being forged.  Robert Blakey, chief counsel to the HSCA was made aware of this during their investigation and chose not to dig too deeply into this morass.  I can see why.  It's another muddy rabbit trail to get bogged down in. 

Things Amp Up In New Orleans

Oswald is in various locations in the New Orleans area handing out the pro-Castro Fair Play For Cuba Committee (FPCC) pamphlets.  The most famous incident of this involves the pamphlets marked with the 544 Camp Street address.  That is the location of the Guy Banister's office.  Banister was the former head of the FBI's field office in Chicago, close friend of J. Edgar Hoover, staunch anti-communist, behind the scenes player and overall general tough guy known to pistol whip people.  Anybody sympathetic to Castro showing up at his office would probably leave with a bloody nose. 

So it's a very odd thing for Oswald, who under the official story is not supposed to be a known associate of Banister to be directing people there.  And if he doesn't know Banister then why do that?  Considering Banister's reputation that would be inviting trouble.  It appears that he and Banister were in cahoots with one another.  As researcher Bill Simpich has said, "I suggest that Banister was like a Triple A baseball manager training his player for the big leagues."  Spot on!  That analogy helps explain Oswald's oddball actions during this time.  Plus, he needed a coach and   Banister makes the perfect guide.  Unfortunately, the Big Leagues evolved into a sinister Cold War game, the secrets of which are yet to unravel.

However, some of these pamphlets didn't have a return address or a phone number printed on them.  (At the time of Oswald's arrest some of the handbills on his person featured two false sets of post office box numbers.)  So nobody was going to be able to get in contact with Oswald, the lone member of the FPCC branch in New Orleans and hook up.  It makes no sense and the only sense that can be derived from it is that Oswald is playing the role of a dongle.  That's a guy that is sent out to do some things to see how the other side is going to react or get under their skin.  It's a basic form of intelligence gathering.  Passing out literature where the USS Wasp was docked is gauging how many communist sympathizers might be onboard.

While Oswald is involved with these activities he is being closely monitored by the FBI.

It all culminates with Oswald's scrum with Cuban DRE member Carlos Bringuier and two other Cubans.  This all originates from Oswald's visit to the DRE to offer his military training services and a financial donation to this anti-Castro group.  Both offers are rebuffed.  As usual, Oswald is not invoking trust in these overtures like he failed to do while sojourning in Russia.  Later, when Carlos and his boys (Celso Hernandez and Miguel Marino Cruz) see Oswald handing out the pro-Castro literature they are incensed–what was this pro-Castro, pro-communist guy trying to do offering them help?  They exchange words and all are arrested for the scuffle that occurs.  (Some have suggested that it was a staged event, evidenced by Oswald mailing a letter to FPCC HQ in New York describing the incident, which is postmarked five days before the affair takes place.)

From this incident Oswald will be branded publicly as a communist.  This will play big after the assassination as the government builds the case against him.  What few people know at the time is that these episodes are loaded with players.  The DRE is supported by the CIA.  The Cubans Bringuier and Cruz arrested in the scuffle are FBI informants, with Hernandez affiliated with the CIA. After Oswald gets out of jail he will appear on the Carte Blanche radio program to debate issues with Bringuier and Ed Butler.  Besides Bringuier being an FBI informant, Ed Butler was the Director of Information Council of the Americas (INCA), a CIA funded propaganda organization.  Not to be undone, even the program's host, Bill Stuckey, was an FBI informant.  Players surround the whole thing.  And the public is totally oblivious to it.  Welcome to Psyop City.

The US Customs Office Comes In Play  

So who is Oswald with? Orestes Pena testified to the Church Committee that Lee Oswald was employed by Customs.  Indeed, his 1959 passport has his occupation listed as "shipping export agent" though that was the year he ended his duty in the Marines and would not long after, defect to the Soviet Union.  Hardly enough time for a 20 year old to be employed by Customs.  FBI informant Joseph Oster said that Customs Agent David Smith was Oswald's handler.  Was Oswald conducting fishing expeditions for Customs during the New Orleans Period?  It's hard to know what is true here as Oswald had a lot of cover stories and left false information in his wake.   

If he was a lone operator then he is really the odd man out.  But all of his eccentric actions to this point lead to only one thing–intelligence gathering.  He approaches the DRE to see if there are any Castro or communist sympathizers there.  Just as he did at the dock handing out pamphlets to passing sailors.  We know from released FBI docs that informants saw him regularly at many Cuban anti-Castro gatherings.  What was a communist doing at these meetings?  Sifting as always.  Being a Marxist is the cover.  He only plays one on TV after the assassination.  The Legend falls into place, piece by piece, just before the final act, the Big Event. 

The Psyop Oswald?

What we know about Lee Oswald is a mishmash of differing threads, some verifiable and some not.  A never ending but fascinating study.  There is the teenage Oswald peddling is junky bike in the trailer park in North Dakota;  the gung-ho Marine Oswald; the crazy Oswald that slashes his wrist in order to stay in the Soviet Union; the kind and thoughtful Oswald from the account of the Judyth Vary Baker; and finally, the cold calculated killer of a young and charismatic President. There are a lot of Oswald's here.  Enough to have a whole roomful of personalities. 

There are plenty of books about Lee Oswald probing the mystery of who he was.  There are the conventional lone gunman views of Vincent Bugliosi and Norman Mailer.  Both have to ignore inconvenient facts to arrive at their conclusions.  To be fair, there is a lot here to wade through and determine what is true and what is not.  On the other side, John Armstrong has Oswald the secret agent man involved in a complicated doppelgänger scheme, while alleged ex-lover Judyth Baker has her man involved with shadow warfare mixed with patriotic intent. 

In truth we really don't know him and he's buried in all of the layers of mythology created for him.  The mythology was created no doubt, by skilled hands.  But nobody can explain the motive to murder a man that the killer had nothing against.


Sources
Armstrong, John, Harvey and Lee; Baker, Judyth, Me and Lee; Mailer, Norman, Oswald's Tale; Bugliosi, Vincent, Reclaiming History

Lee Oswald and Customs
https://www.opednews.com/articles/2/THE-JFK-CASE--THE-TWELVE-by-Bill-Simpich-120825-173.html

It’s All In The Theater!

“Is everything a conspiracy? No. Only the important stuff.”

Jeff Wells, Rigorous Intuition

People often lose sight of the irony of Lee Harvey Oswald, a man arrested in a theater, in essence spent his time on earth playing a form of real theater--Cold War Theater. Inspired by the TV show, I Led Three Lives, Oswald now plays it out in real life. He plays such roles as the malcontent, the loser, the loner, the friend, the Marine, the Marxist, the jerk, the family man, the Cold War spy, and finally the assassin, all rolled up in one. And very few of these roles are real. In this light we see the maze of a contradictory life coming together in one almost cohesive whole. It’s still disorderly, with mysteries forever abounding, but at least get a glimpse of what played out, those very things they don’t want us to ever know, as our history becomes one massive National Security Secret.

Marine Days
It starts out in the Marines when Oswald’s medical records indicate he was treated for contracting gonorrhea. As the record states, “In line of duty, not due to own misconduct.” The phrase itself is fascinating. Nothing more heroic as catching the clap in service to one’s country. Where did the doctor get the nerve to write such a thing? He was most likely ordered to as contracting an STD is normally grounds for dismissal from the service at that time. Apparently somebody needed him to do more than just operate a radar station and gave him a pass on these indiscretions. Like they did with his two court marshals.

More peculiarities abound because when he was being diagnosed and treated for gonorrhea. His health records state he was treated seven times in September and early October by the medical staff at Atsugi–only his Marine unit diary says he was not there, but on a ship steaming to Taiwan.

Some have speculated that he may have been flown back and forth but that is highly unfeasible. The records could have been falsified to provide cover for Oswald’s other activities. He has a pattern of taking cover jobs to go about doing other things. And these things leave trails–conflicting and often confusing trails. After all, there are false records in his SIG 201 file at the CIA. Numerous documents in other government agencies play Scrabble with his name in various variations of Oswald Lee, Harvey Oswald, and so on. He has a pattern of “fronting” which leads to doppelganger speculations.

Oswald’s Marine medical records also state that he is given a course of penicillin for tonsillitis. Yet his childhood medical records state he had his tonsils removed at the age of six. It may very well be cover for another infection of gonorrhea. If so, yet again, he’s given another pass and the doctor can’t write the same excuse with a straight face again without being called out.

At times Lee Oswald appears to be not so much a person but a Project.

In Russia
Theater apparently plays well in Russia. Lee Oswald’s journey there, his years there, and his return home are but many segments of the play. While an involved subject I’ll mention only several instances here. One could write a whole book on the Russian defection phase of Oswald’s life.

First is Oswald’s dumping of his U.S. citizenship. He does so by writing an undated later renouncing it. Actually, to legally surrender U.S. citizenship one must fill out a “Certificate of Loss of Nationality.” Which Oswald never did. His passport files at the State Department would have been flagged. They were not. The handwritten letter meant nothing legally. It’s all for show. This way, should he decide to come back to the United States, or perhaps ordered to do so, he could. And he did. And ultimately, the main decider of who is legally a citizen is the Attorney General. Which of course, was Robert Kennedy.

When his mother asked him why he came back he replied, “Mother, not even Marina knows why I came back.” Well, that’s weird. I guess he couldn’t tell her he was ordered to come back by whoever his handlers were.

(Filling the Certificate of Loss of Nationality, established in 1907, was free till just recently; now the government charges around $400 because so many people started doing it to avoid paying taxes. Also, it is wise to arrange for a passport affiliated with another country should one try something like this.)

Secondly, Oswald vows to spill everything he knows about being a radar operator at the Atsugi airbase in Japan. This is the base where the U2 spy planes were flying out of, where Francis Gary Powers was stationed, and was basically a CIA run operation. It’s been debated about how much Oswald knew while stationed there and how high his security clearance was. In the long run it doesn’t matter–whatever he knew the military had to change out all of their codes upon the news of this landing. A safe move even if Oswald knew nothing.

However, admitting to releasing this information to an arch enemy at the height of the Cold War is a breach of National Security and something that could of gotten Oswald arrested; either at the American Embassy in Moscow or upon his return to the United States. Once again, nobody seems to care.

And when he gets back home they continue not to care when Oswald lands a job at Jagger-Chiles-Stovall, a photography and mapping company that specialized in classified government and military work. Peculiar to the outsider of such things but most likely not if you are a dangle out fronting.

New Orleans
Oswald’s Cold War theater hits its stride in the summer of 1963. By this time the Kennedy administration had survived the Bay of Pigs fiasco in 1961 and the 1962 stand-down with the Soviets over the missiles in Cuba. Lee Oswald has begun his main acting job in the town of his birth. He takes a job at the Reily Coffee Company. According to Judyth Baker, former co-worker, alleged lover and author of Me and Lee, Oswald’s job at the Reily Coffee Company was a cover, with her faking his time cards with the owner’s consent so Lee cold run “ops.” The time cards are in reprinted in her book with her “J” on them. Sounds a bit of a stretch, but Hunter Leake, the second highest CIA official in the New Orleans station gave an interview in the early 1980’s where he said he hired Oswald out as a low level currier and that his presence in New Orleans in the summer of 1963 was at the behest of the CIA. Leake further states that after the assassination he was ordered to collect all files on Oswald and personally deliver them to Langley. The cover up was on.

The Fair Play for Cuba Committee drama was the apex of Oswald’s activities durning this period. Using his alias, Alek Hidell, Oswald becomes the one-man branch of the outfit. Just about everything going on with this is phony. He’s seen all over the place handing out pamphlets, some with addresses of people such as Guy Bannister, staunch anti-communist, and some with no addresses at all. No fellow travelers are going to be able to get in touch with him by doing this. He contacts Carlos Bringuier, of the DRE, the Cuban anti-Castro organization (financed and directed by the CIA) and offers his services as a former Marine to help them in their training. He gets rebuffed. Later, he mets up with Bringuier and two other Cubans (all three, being FBI informants) and engages in his famous street scuffle on Canal Street which gets him arrested with press coverage to establish his public credentials of being a communist. This will be blazed to the world after the assassination. His trip to the DRE appears to be a fishing expedition; after all, what pro-Castro guy would want to help out the very group that is out to overthrow his man? To add to the fakery he writes a letter to the FPCC headquarters in New York relating the incident. However, the letter is postmarked 5 days before altercation takes place. Oops! Nothing like having your own secret agent man with hidden psychic powers!

Later, Oswald will appear on a radio debate program, Conversation Carte Blanche, with Carlos Bringuier, Bill Stuckey and Edward Butler (all three men are affiliated with the government in some capacity). Bringuier gave Oswald a hard time about his years in Russia and his communist background. In a major “oops” moment he blurted out the following: “I was under the protection of the....that is to say, I was was not under the protection of the American government.” In the transcript of this in the Warren Commission evidence volumes, the part above in bold is edited out. It’s only in listening to the original recording can this be heard.

Sometimes the truth outs. Oswald’s misspoken comment and quick turn-around is reminiscent of Secretary of Defense William Rumsfeld’s blurting out at a press conference that indeed, the plane that crashed in Shanksburg was shot down. It’s a quick peek behind the curtain. Was it a Freudian slip or was it real?

The Long Road Beyond
There are many more instances of Lee Oswald being an actor, albeit a small one on a much larger stage in the 1960s and on two continents. From Russia, to New Orleans, to the mysterious trip to Mexico, Oswald’s seemingly haphazard life does feature hints of direction. His actions in the summer of 1963, while appearing devoid of purpose and at times batty, is the window dressing. In his things after the assassination was found a rough draft of a speech. It’s decidedly anti-communist. A curious find for someone so ideologically bent against capitalism and the free enterprise system. Is that crudely drafted speech a glimpse of the real man behind the curtain?

It’s all a collection of footprints in the sand. Follow the trail.

Sources
Bugliosi, Vincent, Reclaiming History; Mars, Jim, Crossfire; Baker, Judyth, Me & Lee; Armstrong, John, Harvey and Lee; Garrison, James, On the Trail of the Assassins