Reply #12: I meant preparation for the dramatic escalation that occurred in 1964, after he [View All]

[Peace Patriot]

was assassinated, culminating in the "Gulf of Tonkin" Resolution in Oct. 1964, contrived by the "peace candidate" (and president by default) LBJ.

Kennedy directed Robert McNamara to begin the withdrawal of U.S. troops and "advisers" from Vietnam shortly before he was killed. He would never have permitted the escalation to the levels of late 1964 and beyond. He had just fired Allen Dulles (CIA Director) and others for their lying bullshit about the Bay of Pigs. Kennedy supported the Bay of Pigs as a covert op, involving Cuban exiles. But he was adamant that no U.S. troops or other military support be used, and that the U.S. would NOT be involved in a war with Cuba. Dulles tried to trap him into it. He fired Dulles. He was furious at the CIA deception. They said they would not need U.S. military support, when they knew full well that they would. They deliberately planned to pressure him into it, once the invasion began. Similarly, in Vietnam, he seems to have believed that, if there was the will among local people to create, maintain and defend a country (or in that case, a portion of a country) outside of the "communist orbit," as an ally of the U.S., he would support covert aid to them. But he did NOT want war, still less a full scale slaughter like Vietnam became. He was at a half-way point toward becoming a peace-oriented president, but, as a child of the "Cold War," he was not fully free of that mind-set. His learning curve, and his conscience, were in motion--when he was killed.

The CIA was doing the same thing in Vietnam that it was doing re Cuba--trying to set things up for U.S. involvement in a major war. Kennedy opposed them on Cuba. He fired their Director (and others). He was starting to undo their prep for a major war in Vietnam. And they--determined upon a major war, with lots and lots of war profiteer booty--very likely killed him because of it. I agree with Douglass. I think it was all about the war and war profiteering. I have only recently come to this conclusion, looking back at that era, through the lens of the Iraq War. Douglass lays out the case for it. I didn't know there was such a strong case for it. To me, it was more a gut feeling. Suddenly, one day, during the last year or so, I thought, "Ah! So that's why they killed JFK" (and Bobby, and MLK). My thoughts about it gelled. It seems so obvious now, but it didn't for many years. Then, very recently, I learned of Douglass' just-published book. It's actually a bit scary--certainly sobering--to find out what a good case there is for it.