JFK and the Unspeakable - Why He Died and Why It Matters by James W. Douglass

Author:James W. Douglass [Unknown]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2009-09-13T16:07:19+00:00

Washington and Dallas

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Department, CIA, AID, and the u.s. Information Agency, JFK ordered them

to take a positive approach to Indonesia:

"With a peaceful settlement of the West Irian dispute now in prospect, I

would like to see us capitalize on the US role in promoting this settlement to

move toward a new and better relationship with Indonesia. I gather that with

this issue resolved the Indonesians too would like to move in this direction,

and will be presenting us with numerous requests.

"To seize this opportunity, will all agencies concerned please review their

programs for Indonesia and assess what further measures might be useful. I

have in mind the possibility of expanded civic action, military aid, and economic stabilization and development programs, as well as diplomatic initiatives. The Department of State is requested to pull together all relevant agency proposals in a plan of action and submit it to me no later than September 1 5th•

John F. Kennedy"230

As in the case of newly independent African nations, the CIA's deep-seated

opposition to Kennedy's openness to Sukarno arose from something more

basic than Cold War ideology. As in the Congo, Indonesia was rich in natural resources. If its natural resources were developed, Indonesia would become the third or fourth richest nation in the wodd.23J U.S. corporations

were determined to exploit Indonesia for their own profits, whereas Sukarno

was busy protecting the wealth of his country for the people by expropriating all foreign holdings. With the corporation-friendly Dutch out of the picture thanks to Kennedy's diplomacy, Sukarno could now block foreign control of West Irian resources as well.232

From the ruling standpoint of corporate profits and Cold War ideology,

it was clear Sukarno had to go. The CIA was committed to achieving that

goal, as Sukarno was well aware. On November 4, 1 963, he told U.S. ambassador Howard Jones "he had been given evidence of a CIA plan to topple him and his government. "233 Jones reported to the State Department:

" Sukarno acknowledged he was convinced that President Kennedy and the

U.S. Ambassador were not working against him. However, he was aware

from the past that CIA often participated in activities of which the Ambassador was not aware and which even perhaps the White House was not aware. "234

On the evening of November 1 9 , 1 963, when JFK said he was willing to

accept Sukarno's invitation to visit Indonesia the following spring, he was setting in motion a radically transforming process that could dramatize in a very visible way Kennedy's support of third world nationalism. That sea

change in U.S. government policy would be terminated three days later. The

fate of Sukarno himself would be decided, in effect, in Dallas. As would be

revealed by post-Dallas events, the primary factor that had kept Sukarno's

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J FK a n d the U nspeakable

independent government alive amid the hostile forces trying to undermine it

was the personal support of President John F. Kennedy.

The assassins of the president controlled the crime scene, Dealey Plaza,

from the beginning. When witnesses instinctively stormed the grassy knoll

to chase a shooter who was apparently behind the fence at

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