Some Relevant Facts About the JFK Assassination

There's an explosive new book that lays out a very detailed – and persuasive – case for the probability that the late President Lyndon Baines Johnson was responsible for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

I say persuasive because the author, Barr McClellan, was one of LBJ's top lawyers, and he provides a lot of information hitherto unknown to the general public – much more of which he says is buried in secret documents long withheld from the American people.

"The American public has waited forty years to hear the truth about the JFK assassination," McClellan says. "For government agencies to withhold critical evidence and not cooperate with the [1998 investigation conducted by the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB)] is a form of obstruction of justice. Under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act, the public should be granted access to these documents."

According to McClellan and Doug Horne, a former ARRB investigator, hundreds of relevant documents were withheld from the 1998 investigation into the JFK assassination. They believe that these materials are now in the possession of the National Archives, relocated from sealed files previously controlled by the CIA and FBI.

McClellan also asked for a formal review of the evidence in his book, "Blood, Money & Power: How L.B.J. Killed J.F.K.," which establishes a direct connection between LBJ and an individual involved with the assassination and cover-up.

"At this time we need to see what else is missing and what else would be helpful to presenting the entire truth," McClellan continued. "The Senate Judiciary Committee and the Department of Justice could make the request of the National Archives and should do so."

Now, in normal circumstance I would tend to view this latest explanation of who was behind the killing of JFK as exactly that – just another theory among dozens. But the circumstances are not normal. Poll after poll establishes that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe that the official verdict of the Warren Commission is simply not borne out by what little is known publicly about the case.

McClellan's new book adds to those facts and names a second suspect he says was a longtime assassin for Lyndon Johnson, whom he portrays as ... well, as being homicidal whenever he or his many concealed interests were threatened.

Add to that the incredible inconsistencies in the FBI and Secret Service investigations, which reek with the stench of cover-up, and one can't escape the conclusion that if LBJ did nothing else in dealing with the aftermath of the assassination, he sure as hell clamped a lid on any evidence that contradicted the official finding that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone gunman acting solely on his own initiative.

I report all of this as a prelude to revealing what I know about the matter but have never before written about – in the beginning, because I had a wife and seven children to protect, and since, because I had no reason to revisit the matter.

If you are going to hang your hat on what NRA sharpshooters did you might want to know the whole story.

From: http://www.kenrahn.com/JFK/History/WC_Period/Reactions_to_Warren_Report/Reactions_of_left/Unanswered_questions--Cook/Cook_Unanswered_questions.html

Some Unanswered Questions
The Warren Commission Report: I
Fred J. Cook
The Nation, 13 June 1966, pages 705–715

". . . The results must have been jolting, for Frazier, whose time was the fastest, fired two more series of three shots each. The range this time was 25 yards; the purpose, again, to show “how fast the weapon could be fired,” with only secondary attention to accuracy. Under these circumstances, which obviously provided no valid comparison, Frazier got off his first round of three shots in 4.8 seconds; his second round in 4.6 seconds.

Still a third test was performed at 100 yards on the Quantico firing range, with the attention given this time to both accuracy and speed. Parenthetically, it should perhaps be noted that, for exceptionally fast firing, rifle experts prefer the iron sight to the telescopic sight. They explain that the recoil of the rifle sets up vibrations in the cross hairs of the telescopic sight, making it more difficult to line up the target quickly for the next shot. This difficulty, not emphasized by the commission in its report, possibly accounts for the slower firing times registered by the FBI agents on the Quantico range. Again each agent fired a round of three shots. The firing times: 5.9 seconds, 6.2 seconds, 5.6 seconds.

But this was not the end of the complications. Frazier was asked what would have happened if he had been firing at a moving target, and he replied: “It would have slowed down the shooting. It would have lengthened the time to the extent of allowing the cross hairs to pass over the moving target.” Could he estimate how much additional time this might have taken? “Approximately one second,” he replied. With “considerable practice” with the weapon, something there is no indication Oswald had, Frazier thought his firing times might have been reduced—but “4.6 seconds is firing this weapon as fast as the bolt can be operated, I think.” This fastest, bolt-action-only time (a statistic that does not reflect accuracy or the necessity to adjust to a moving target) thus became the commission’s standard in deciding that Oswald could readily have performed the deed attributed to him.

When one turns to the series of tests run under the supervision of Simmons, the Army ballistics expert, the results are no more persuasive. Simmons’ three Master marksmen from the National Rifle Association fired at silhouette targets placed at 175, 240 and 265 feet—the approximated distances at which the commission had deduced the shots might have been fired. Again, it must be emphasized that Simmons’ marksmen were firing at still targets; they did not have to adjust for speed and so use up that precious extra second that Frazier had estimated would be required.

The results:
First expert: 8.25 seconds on his first three-shot series; 7 seconds on the second.
Second expert: 6.75 seconds and 6.45 seconds.
Third expert: 4. 6 seconds and 5.15 seconds.
Only one of the championship marksmen—and he only on one round and firing at still targets—had matched the firing time attributed to Oswald. And even these sharpshooters, with still targets, had trouble matching Oswald’s supposed accuracy with the moving car. All three NRA men hit the first and closest target perfectly. But when they shifted to the second target, their first four shots missed completely. The angle of adjustment was less for the third shot, but still one of the bullets fired in the standard test with the telescopic sight (one marksman fired an extra round with an iron sight) flew wide of the mark.

From this test, it would seem, as the commission itself virtually concluded, that Oswald’s first shot would have found his mark and that, if he missed, he would have missed most probably with his second shot. His third shot then, coming at Zapruder frame 313, would have been the last shot, and the entire action would have been compressed into 100 frames (even less if one concludes the President was first wounded around frame 220) and into 5.5 seconds of time. On this basis, Oswald would have accomplished something beyond the capacity of the fastest trigger fingers the commission could find. None of them fired at a moving target; none of them had to take that extra second Frazier had estimated would be necessary. And still they could not match Oswald’s supposed feat. In all, according to the commission’s own records, fourteen rounds of three shots each were fired; in only two of these rounds (and one of these was designed to test bolt-action speed only) did the fastest trigger fingers approximate the time attributed to Oswald. In the other twelve, they failed—and in most, they were not even close!

Thanks for posting this.

Unfortunately, the thoroughgoing confusion generated by the event, the 'investigation' and the (I believe) coverup have made it impossible to get to the entire truth. These threads themselves often rehash misunderstandings and half-truths which have been bouncing around for decades.

The History Channel last night (11/18) aired one of the best reviews of the case I have seen. I actually stayed up to watch it - quite a feat given my age and busy practice. My retired USAF Col. father was quite an expert on the background information a couple of decades ago and came to the conclusion from friends in Texas that 'Landslide Lyndon' was tied into the mess. Cui Bono? was the operative phrase.

I would encourage all Freepers to check out the History Channel presentation as it details the mob connections through Montreal and Marseille. Further, the information extracted from the remaining photographs is very good evidence of the other shooter.

I had never looked at the Zapruder film closely. As a hunter, it is clear to me that Kennedy's head is kicked back by the frontal impact of a slug. The History Channel had all the statements from the Dallas Parkland doctors noting the massive right rear exit wound. Oswald didn't do that.

One important finding here is that conspiracy nuts are right once in a while. On this topic, I am one of them. Sadly, those in the controlling government positions decided that (1) Americans shouldn't know and couldn't handle the truth and (2) Their positions of power were all that mattered.

The more current parallel to this is the treatment by the government and press of the Clinton Arkancides. Exempli gratia: Ken Starr and the treatment of Miquel Estrada relative to the Foster coverup. Saddest of all is the recognition that in some important areas, our government simply cannot be trusted.

All of this bureacratic, megalomanic behavior by the powers-that-be is typical of a system on a slow descent into tyranny.

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