Thanks to the CIA: How became known as a conspiracy theorist (even without a theory)
Hi Jeff
The CIA recently released this April 1967 Document #1035-960, marked =PSYCH" for Psychological Warfare Operations, in the division "CS", =he Clandestine Services, providing instructions for its "media =ssets". Paragraph #3, (b) explains why it labelled me a "conspiract =heorist," even though my book Inquest: The Warren Commission and the =stablishment of Truth contains no theory other than that the Warren =ommission conducted a flawed investigation. See document excerpt below
RE: Concerning Criticism of the Warren Report 1. Our Concern. From the day of President Kennedy's assassination on, =here has been speculation about the responsibility for his murder. =lthough this was stemmed for a time by the Warren Commission report, =which appeared at the end of September 1964), various writers have now =ad time to scan the Commission's published report and documents for =ew pretexts for questioning, and there has been a new wave of books =nd articles criticizing the Commission's findings. In most cases the =ritics have speculated as to the existence of some kind of conspiracy, =nd often they have implied that the Commission itself was involved. =resumably as a result of the increasing challenge to the Warren =ommission's report, a public opinion poll recently indicated that 46% =f the American public did not think that Oswald acted alone, while =ore than half of those polled thought that the Commission had left =ome questions unresolved. Doubtless polls abroad would show similar, =r possibly more adverse results.
This trend of opinion is a matter of concern to the U.S. government, =ncluding our organization. The members of the Warren Commission were =aturally chosen for their integrity, experience and prominence. They =epresented both major parties, and they and their staff were =eliberately drawn from all sections of the country. Just because of =he standing of the Commissioners, efforts to impugn their rectitude =nd wisdom tend to cast doubt on the whole leadership of American =ociety. Moreover, there seems to be an increasing tendency to hint =hat President Johnson himself, as the one person who might be said to =ave benefited, was in some way responsible for the assassination. =nnuendo of such seriousness affects not only the individual concerned, =ut also the whole reputation of the American government. Our =rganization itself is directly involved: among other facts, we =ontributed information to the investigation. Conspiracy theories have =requently thrown suspicion on our organization, for example by falsely =lleging that Lee Harvey Oswald worked for us. The aim of this dispatch =s to provide material countering and discrediting the claims of the =onspiracy theorists, so as to inhibit the circulation of such claims =n other countries. Background information is supplied in a classified =ection and in a number of unclassified attachments.
Action. We do not recommend that discussion of the assassination =uestion be initiated where it is not already taking place. Where =iscussion is active [business] addresses are requested:
a. To discuss the publicity problem with (?J and friendly elite =ontacts (especially politicians and editors), pointing out that the =arren Commission made as thorough an investigation as humanly =ossible, that the charges of the critics are without serious =oundation, and that further speculative discussion only plays into the =ands of the opposition. Point out also that parts of the conspiracy =alk appear to be deliberately generated by Communist propagandists. =rge them to use their influence to discourage unfounded and =rresponsible speculation.
b. To employ propaganda assets to [negate] and refute the attacks of =he critics. Book reviews and feature articles are particularly =ppropriate for this purpose. The unclassified attachments to this =uidance should provide useful background material for passing to =ssets. Our ploy should point out, as applicable, that the critics are =1) wedded to theories adopted before the evidence was in, (II) =olitically interested, (Ill) financially interested, (IV) hasty and
So thanks CIA, your "media assets" bought the label Cheers Ed Epstein www.edwardjayepstein.com ebooks at