Book links Mafia and plot against Castro to JFK killing

[emad]

Thye Independent<br>By Rupert Cornwell in Washington <br>Published: 02 December 2005<br><br> <br>A new book has claimed that a group of Mafia bosses was behind the assassination of John F Kennedy - and had only called off at the last moment a similar attack on the President's motorcade during a visit to Tampa, Florida, four days beforehand. <br><br>Ultimate Sacrifice, which draws on a new trove of recently declassified documents, asserts that Kennedy was plotting a coup to topple Fidel Castro, the Cuban dictator, on 1 December 1963 - a coup that would have been followed by a US military invasion of the island.<br><br>Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartmann, the authors, claim the Mafia got wind of the conspiracy and then infiltrated it, before organising Kennedy's assassination on 22 November 1963.<br><br>According to the authors, the Mob believed that the federal authorities - then led by Attorney General Robert Kennedy, the President's brother, who was allegedly running the coup plot - would not have pressed an investigation, which might have revealed the plot against Castro.<br><br>Three Mafia bosses - Santo Trafficante, Carlos Marcello and Johnny Rosselli - are said to have been behind the assassination, as well as the aborted attempt in Tampa. Lee Harvey Oswald, was a pawn in the conspiracy. The book purports to show new evidence of the Mafia links of the nightclub owner Jack Ruby, who shot Oswald dead.<br><br>But critics have pointed to problems with the book's thesis: Robert McNamara, then running the Pentagon, has said he was not informed of any new plan to invade Cuba before Kennedy's death. It is also implausible that the Mafia, itching to get rid of Castro and restore Cuba's once lucrative gambling industry, would have blocked a plot that would have done just that. <br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article330680.ece">news.independent.co.uk/wo...330680.ece</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>

[Dreams End]

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>It is also implausible that the Mafia, itching to get rid of Castro and restore Cuba's once lucrative gambling industry, would have blocked a plot that would have done just that.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>That's exactly what I was going to say. I'm sure the CIA used some of their mob connections to pull it off, but this thesis makes no sense. the Mob hated Castro...as the island was basically mafia run before the revolution. <p></p><i></i>

[Gouda]

Thom Hartman, air america, baby. <br><br>Even gentrified liberal salon.com's David Talbot does not buy this angle in his critical review of the book. Talbot also posts a 'top 5' kennedy assassination books list. "The Last Investigation," by Gaeton Fonzi, makes the list. Peter Dale Scott does not make the top 5 (though it is given a side honorable mention), and many letters to the editor are calling for Posner's book to be on the list. <br> <br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2005/12/01/review/index.html">www.salon.com/books/featu...index.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br> <p></p><i></i>

[Qutb]

I was positively surprised by the Salon article. But it's interesting to see that the disinformation continues (Hartman et al) even after 43 years. I mean, they can't seriously believe that thesis. <p></p><i></i>

[Dreams End]

How about a "top five books on the JFK assassination designed to distract us from the real assassins?" <p></p><i></i>