Dead or Alive: The Future of the Assassination Policy Under A Just War Tradition - Research Paper Example

18 May Assignment “What really happened?” questioned Nikita Khrushchev, Premier of the Soviet Union, expressing his incredulity, while being spoken to about John F. Kennedy’s (JFK) assassination, in the year 1964 (HSCA). Time ticked slowly as the President wafted through Dealey Plaza that afternoon. Smiling at the crowds, travelling in the limousine, all was well received by the people of Texas as they screamed praises for the faces of renowned importance passing by them. They greeted them with happiness and joy, and not a soul suspected a thing. At 12:30 pm on Friday 22 November 1963, the crowd suddenly grew wild as a sniper rifle fired through the air, making the atmosphere even more petulant than before and causing upheaval in the surroundings. As the smoke cleared and the Presidential motorcade was surrounded by the mob by scared townspeople, their emotions running amok, it was discovered that Governor Connally and James Tague, travelling suit were injured heavily trying to protect the one man sitting in the vehicle, on which everyone had their eyes upon. Jacqueline Kennedy, the First Lady was shell shocked as she heard the noise and on her right quietly fallen, lay her husband, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, fatally shot and wounded, in the heart of Dealey Plaza, in Dallas, Texas. The political assassination of JFK, the thirty fifth President of the United States of America was a shocker to the entire global community that regarded him as one of the smartest and most influential people of all time. After many enquiries into the political situation, it has been marked as the offshoot of a criminal conspiracy possibly involving a number of groups and communities such as the CIA, the KGB, the American mafia, the Israeli government, and people like the President of the FBI at the time, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Cuban President, Fidel Castro. The official story was that Kennedy was killed at the hand of Lee Harvey Oswald who fired a shot from the corner window of the Book Depository, and was a U.S Marine who had defected to the Soviet Union. In order to understand the political motives and happenings of the events leading up to and during the assassination of President Kennedy, it is vital to first understand the terms that are being used to describe the situation. The entire event has been passed off as a political conspiracy; a conspiracy may thus be defined as “An agreement between two or more persons to combine for unlawful or subversive purpose involving plots schemes, intrigues and collusion. The group of conspirators are united in the aim of usurping or overthrowing established political power often, but not always, in secret.” Under the same, Kennedy’s death was the cause of a political assassination which may be defined as ‘a sudden or secretive attack to murder someone who holds a prominent position for political reasons’ (Knoepfler). It is important also to comprehend the kind of motives that each assassin might have in order for him to be convinced enough to kill someone of such great stature. Most assassins in history have been stirred by religious, political, ideological or military motives in order to kill someone who they feel do not deserve the right to live because their pleas and needs were not being heard by them. The motive or incentive for Lee Oswald Harvey being behind Kennedy’s killing was not portrayed as something that involved some sort of financial or personal gain. Despite heavy interrogation by the police, the assassin denied all the alleged accusations against him for being charged for the murder of Kennedy as well as police officer, J.D Tippit. However, it is felt by some that enough evidence exists against him. However, even before the man could be tried, he was killed by a club owner by the name of Jack Ruby. People further believed that Ruby himself was part of the same conspiracy leading to Kennedy’s death; however he denied any such allegation and further insisted on saying that he was only trying to give Mrs Kennedy a break from going to another trial about her husband’s death (The Forgotten Victims: 1). In the year 1962, the United States of America emerged unsuccessful in trying to overthrow the Cuban regime, or the entire Bay of Pigs episode, where the CIA was unable to put an end to the power of Fidel Castro. Following this, the Soviet Union and Cuba soon began to build nuclear bases in Cuba with the construction of medium and intermediate range ballistic missiles (ABMs). The main question to look into was why was Cuba left out of diplomatic negotiations with the United States? All the while, Cuba was absent from any kind of negotiations made even though a letter had been drafted for Castro to read. The US failed to create any kind of contact with the government of Cuba that it could have been at war with had the UN not intervened in the matter. This led to Castro turning a blind eye towards the Kennedy administration and Castro refused to accept any kind of inspection within the country with respect to the nuclear material. The Soviet Union had become an intermediary between the US and Cuba. It has been said that Kennedy himself deliberately chose not to involve Cuba in the entire matter. Soon after, techniques had been built by Kennedy’s men in order to sabotage Cuba in different ways. Castro’s opinions and pleas went unheard by and all this worsened the conditions between the two countries, not to forget the close allies, mainly the Soviet Union. Cuba’s missile crisis was not looked into as much as it was a matter of concern, by the US. The Soviets on the other hand, helped a great deal in settling the warfare which was mainly due to its willingness to comply with the Cuban government (Dominguez 2000). The Kennedy administration, it has been said, worsened the situation that was prevailing in Vietnam. The American policies that were made at the time with respect to the Cold War and situation in Cuba and the Soviet Union, led to the Kennedy administration gaining an upper hand on everything (Trachtenberg 2002). Under Kennedy’s presidency and strict belief and support towards the Diem government in South Vietnam and in the ‘Domino Theory’, he tried to increase the size of the army in Vietnam by pushing in American soldiers. This act was undertaken despite Kennedy being warned by Charles De Gaulle about how the entire situation was completely out of his hand and not winnable. By doing this, he broke the agreement made in Geneva in 1954 and forced a number of Vietnamese to follow by force the propaganda laid down by the Southern Vietnamese communist government. This led to ruining the lives of a vast number of peasants and rural poor and after he realised that Diem would never be able to unite both parts of Vietnam, he ordered and agreed for the CIA to intervene and overthrow the autocracy established. In the year 1963, Diem was overthrown and killed and soon after followed Kennedy’s assassination. Operation Mongoose, also known as the Cuban Project, was a secret plan to sabotage the entire government of Cuba established by Fidel Castro, and to subsequently overthrow and assassinate him. Kennedy’s policies wanted to see a new government in Cuba with which the US could live in peace. Since it was the nearest communist country to the US, it became imperative for Kennedy’s administration to keep it under check and to gradually lay a plan better than the Bay of Pigs which went along the lines of fuelling anti-regime feelings and seditious emotions among the people of Cuba which would greatly accelerate the process. It is still not clear whether or not Kennedy and his brother were aware of these plans to kill Castro, despite their obsession with “getting over with it.” However, since these efforts were undertaken under the permit of the President, even if they did not take place, the allegations suffice to explain the strong tensions that existed between the two countries. James Douglass stated that Kennedy was assassinated because he turned away from the situation going on with respect to the Cold War towards seeking negotiated peace with the Soviet Union. Kennedy said, “Something very bad is going on within the CIA and I want to know what it is. I want to shred the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter them to the four winds” (Molina, Gabriel). The US government had faced widespread embarrassment due to its failed invasion in Cuba and thus Kennedy soon placed distrust on the CIA blaming them for the reason for the results. The CIA was involved with the assassinations of a number of foreign leaders during Kennedy’s period including that of President Diem of Vietnam (Prados, John 2003). All these conspiracies have stemmed from local matters even though they went on to become international matters. They have been referred to as total conspiracy theories as well according to which all the events leading to and in the aftermath of the entire conspiracy need to be looked into in order to uncover the truth. The conspiracy theory circling around Kennedy has thus come to initiate a new phase in world history altogether. Works Cited Prados, John. "JFK and the Diem Coup." JFK and the Diem Coup. 2003. Web. 18 May 2012. . Knoepfler. “Dead or Alive: The Future of the Assassination Policy Under A Just War Tradition.” NYU Journal of Law and Liberty (2010). Print. "DISCUSSION BETWEEN CHAIRMAN KHRUSHCHEV AND MR. DREW PEARSON RE LEE HARVEY OSWALD." HSCA Segregated CIA Collection, Box 62. Web. 18 May 2012. . "The Forgotten Victims to a Genuine Conspiracy, Page 1." The Forgotten Victims to a Genuine Conspiracy, Page 1. Web. 18 May 2012. . Dominguez, J. I. "The Missile Crisis: (Or, What Was “Cuban” about U.S. Decisions during the Cuban Missile Crisis?)." Diplomatic History 24.2 (2000): 305-15. Print. Read More