Oswald
and U.S. Intelligence – Christopher Sharrett
BK: Thanks for posting this Dave.
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Oswald
and U.S. Intelligence by Christopher
Sharrett
Oswald
had relatives who had worked for the CIA.
Oswald
had top secret security clearances while in the Marines, and was at one point
stationed at Marine Air Control in the Atsugi Base in Japan. This was a top
secret base, from which the CIA launched U-2 flights and performed other
covert activities. For example, Oswald’s unit was involved in a “top-secret”
project, “Operation Strongback,” a preparation for a coup against the
government of Indonesia.
Oswald
was later assigned to El Toro Air Station in California with security
clearance to work on radar.
Oswald
was assigned to study Russian at the special U.S. School of Languages at
Monterey, a school which is used to train people selected to do work for the
U.S. government.
While
at El Toro, Oswald began expressing very openly pro-Russian and pro-communist
views. Such expression did not trigger any concern on the part of his Marine
superiors, and in no way affected his security clearances.
Oswald
obtained a hardship discharge from the Marines within a week of applying for
it. The reason given for the application turned out to be false.
Oswald
had no visible means of income for his trip to Russia, part of which could
not have occurred by commercial transport because of its timing, but could
have been accomplished by U.S. military transport.
On
defecting to the Soviet Union, Oswald claimed that he intended to give away
classified radar information to the Soviets.
No
damage assessment was ever undertaken by U.S. intelligence services of the
classified information Oswald was supposedly giving to the Russians.
Two
and a half years after “defecting” to the Soviet Union, Oswald applied to
return to the United States. At the time of Oswald’s application, the
U.S. Embassy in Moscow cabled the State Department about his request.
Portions of the cable having to do with Oswald’s identity were classified. On
receiving his request the State Department ruled that for technical reasons,
Oswald’s relinquishing of his U.S. citizenship had not occurred. His return
to the U.S. was approved and his travel and moving expenses for
returning to the U.S. were funded by the U.S. government. Upon his return,
Oswald was greeted not by police officials but by a representative of
Traveler’s Aid, who was also a prominent official of an ultra-rightist
organization that enjoyed intelligence support.
His
Russian-born wife was exempted from usual immigration quotas and the usual
waiting period.
Our
intelligence agencies never debriefed Oswald with regard to secrets he
supposedly passed to the Russians.
No
“Look-out Card” was ever filled out on Oswald, a standard procedure for a person
who would have been considered a security risk, if his defection was
legitimate. Although in the early 1960s the FBI published over a million names
of potential subversives, Oswald’s name wasn’t included. Yet Oswald was
sufficiently known to our intelligence sources that on June 3, 1960, J. Edgar
Hoover wrote a memorandum to the State Department about the fact that someone
other than Oswald was using his name as an alias.
On his
return to the U.S., Oswald created a public persona for himself as a leftist
agitator, but in reality associated with a circle of people who are
exclusively anti-communist, right wing activists closely linked to the FBI,
the CIA, and U.S. Naval Intelligence, including David Ferrie, Clay Shaw, Guy
Banister, George de Mohrenschildt, and Jack Ruby.
In New
Orleans Oswald set up his own Fair Play For Cuba Committee without the
authorization of the national headquarters of the organization which was
based in New York City. Oswald was the only member of his committee and he
used as an address the post office box of anti-Castro Cubans in New Orleans.
Although he was ostensibly broke, he spent money on FPCC fliers and
handbills, one batch of which lists the New Orleans FPCC office as located at
544 Camp Street, the headquarters of New Orleans anti-Castro, right-wing
activism in the center of that city’s U.S. government intelligence complex.
Although broke, Oswald hired two men to help him distribute his handbills.
In New
Orleans, In 1963, Oswald was granted a passport within twenty-four hours of
its being requested.
In
Texas, he and his family were befriended by members of a right-wing Russian
emigré community. The husband of the family with which he lived had a security
clearance at Bell Helicopter. His security clearance was not adversely
affected by his close association with Oswald.
While
some of Oswald’s letters and other writings suggest a subliterate person,
other writings, especially letters to leftist groups, suggest a
sophisticated, literate person. Either Oswald’s illiteracy was a pose or
someone wrote letters for him.
Oswald
was regularly monitored by federal agents. When arrested, Oswald had the
name, address, and phone number of an FBI agent in his possession. George de
Mohrenschildt, Oswald’s closest associate in Dallas, had ties to
the CIA, and J. Walton Moore, a CIA agent, asked de Mohrenschildt to stay in
contact with Oswald.
Both
the FBI and Army Intelligence knew that Oswald used aliases. Army
Intelligence in Texas knew Oswald’s aliases and previous addresses, although
the Pentagon “routinely” destroyed its files on Oswald. Dallas police
officials told the Warren Commission that Oswald was an informant for both
the FBI and CIA, information that the Commission termed a “dirty little
rumor.” Dallas officials years later retracted the information.
Sources
of Information on Oswald
Garrison,
Jim. A Heritage of Stone New York: G.P. Putnam, 1970.
Meagher,
Sylvia. Accessories After the Fact: The Warren Commission, the
Authorities and the Report. New York: Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1967, pp.
210.
Melanson,
Philip H. Spy Saga: Lee Harvey Oswald and U.S. Intelligence. New York:
Praeger, 1990.
[First 100 pages of a draft mirroring the published form in local copy on ratical]
Scott,
Peter Dale. Deep Politics and the Death of JFK. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1993.
Scott,
Peter Dale. The Dallas Conspiracy. Unpublished manuscript, 1970.
Weisberg,
Harold. Oswald in New Orleans: Case for Conspiracy with the CIA. New
York: Canyon Books, 1967.
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