Rolling Stone - On the 50th anniv of JFK's death, his nephew recalls the president's attempts

[avaistheone1]

to halt the war machine





By Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
November 20, 2013 12:30 PM ET

On November 22nd, 1963, my uncle, president John F. Kennedy, went to Dallas intending to condemn as "nonsense" the right-wing notion that "peace is a sign of weakness." He meant to argue that the best way to demonstrate American strength was not by using destructive weapons and threats but by being a nation that "practices what it preaches about equal rights and social justice," striving toward peace instead of "aggressive ambitions." Despite the Cold War rhetoric of his campaign, JFK's greatest ambition as president was to break the militaristic ideology that has dominated our country since World War II. He told his close friend Ben Bradlee that he wanted the epitaph "He kept the peace," and said to another friend, William Walton, "I am almost a 'peace at any price' president." Hugh Sidey, a journalist and friend, wrote that the governing aspect of JFK's leadership was "a total revulsion" of war. Nevertheless, as James W. Douglass argues in his book JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters, JFK's presidency would be a continuous struggle with his own military and intelligence agencies, which engaged in incessant schemes to trap him into escalating the Cold War into a hot one. His first major confrontation with the Pentagon, the Bay of Pigs catastrophe, came only three months into his presidency and would set the course for the next 1,000 days.

JFK's predecessor, Dwight D. Eisenhower, had finalized support on March 17th, 1960, for a Cuban invasion by anti-Castro insurgents, but the wily general left its execution to the incoming Kennedy team. From the start, JFK recoiled at the caper's stench, as CIA Director Allen Dulles has acknowledged, demanding assurances from CIA and Pentagon brass that there was no chance of failure and that there would be no need for U.S. military involvement. Dulles and the generals knowingly lied and gave him those guarantees.

When the invasion failed, JFK refused to order airstrikes against Castro. Realizing he had been drawn into a trap, he told his top aides, David Powers and Kenneth O'Donnell, "They were sure I'd give in to them and send the go-ahead order to the [U.S. Navy aircraft carrier] Essex. They couldn't believe that a new president like me wouldn't panic and try to save his own face. Well, they had me figured all wrong." JFK was realizing that the CIA posed a monumental threat to American democracy. As the brigade faltered, he told Arthur Schlesinger that he wanted to "splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds."

The next confrontation with the defense and intelligence establishments had already begun as JFK resisted pressure from Eisenhower, the Joint Chiefs and the CIA to prop up the CIA's puppet government in Laos against the communist Pathet Lao guerrillas. The military wanted 140,000 ground troops, with some officials advocating for nuclear weapons. "If it hadn't been for Cuba," JFK told Schlesinger, "we might be about to intervene in Laos. I might have taken this advice seriously." JFK instead signed a neutrality agreement the following year and was joined by 13 nations, including the Soviet Union.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/john-f-kennedys-vision-of-peace-20131120#ixzz2lEBSIY8D

[villager]

1. And we all know how the war machine responded to *that*

n/t

[Scuba]

2. +1

[Martin Eden]

15. RFK Jr has articulated the strongest motive for the assassination

JFK's death brought about the policy change they sought -- full scale military intervention in Vietnam.

[Enthusiast]

18. I believe this was the motivation for the assassination.

I am firmly convinced. The message is clear, "Do not stand in the way of the military industrial complex or you will die."

[indepat]

20. I'm convinced also: the move to peace in our time was going be stopped at any cost and it was.

The fruits of permanent war and lust for empire are evident for all to see as are its horrendous societal costs.

[Vincardog]

21. +1

[RobertEarl]

3. They killed him

They won. We are screwed.

All the apologists whose bible is the Warren Commission Report and where they put all of their faith and trust, can GFT.

[LuvNewcastle]

4. +1000

Great article. If this is the Kennedy family consensus of the true story of what happened to JFK, it's right in line with what I've always suspected. God help us.

[YoungDemCA]

5. Who are "they"?

Name names, please.

Thanks.

[RobertEarl]

6. In the OP, young one, in the OP

Last edited Wed Nov 20, 2013, 09:06 PM - Edit history (1)

The same ones that are trying their best to make a slave out of all you youngsters. Wisen up. Read between the lines.

They are the ones who brought us nuke energy. Great shit that is, eh?

They kept us using fossil fuels in ever increasing amounts and claiming all the while that their profiting off a degraded environment IS GOOD for the kids.

Some of us have fought them, and the rest of us just kept buying their crap and adding to their bank accounts.

Get it yet?

[monmouth3]

7. Their names are rarely in the headlines, they work in the shadows. I never, ever bought

that report..

[RobertEarl]

19. Very Few ever did buy into the Warren Report

When we found out there were still many secrets being held from the People, most people understood the Warren Commission was covering up something and maybe even the whole lot.

The coverup sent a message: 'They' will do whatever it takes and get rid of anybody that gets in their way. Cheney is a modern day example of 'They'.

[Boomerproud]

10. Do you think "they" are going to go on TV and raise their hands?

Always question...read what the wise people who have replied to your post are saying. Think about who "won".

[Hotler]

8. K&R n/t

[TheUnspeakable]

9. K&r !!

[WillyT]

11. K & R !!!

[Martin Eden]

12. Much more than a president was killed that day.

And Vietnam cost us much more than all the blood and treasure spilled directly down that drain. The murder of JFK was the beginning of the end of the American Dream.

[polichick]

13. That's why it's so important for Americans to know what happened...

The corruption and dismantling of the last 50 years has to be seen for what it is.

Know thy enemy.

[Martin Eden]

14. Our enemy is the Powers That Be, pulling strings behind the scenes.

But we see their servants on TV, and in our nation's capitol.

Sadly, the PTB are aided by ignorant voters who don't know our history; like the frog in a pot of water being slowly brought to a boil, it hasn't dawned on them to jump out before it's too late.

[polichick]

16. I know and you know - but everybody has to know...

Good that RFKJr wrote this. Good that Snowden has spoken out. Things will eventually be clear - and yes, could be too late.

[Enthusiast]

17. +1 a whole bunch.......nt

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

22. Stuff like this

assuming it is true, is why I don't believe the 'Oswald acted alone' stuff......

[woo me with science]

23. K&R

[Warren Stupidity]

24. kick. Great article. Needs to be kicked at least once a week.

[WillyT]

25. Kicked Evvey Couple Of Minutes...