Fletcher Prouty, Mark Lane,
JFK Assassination Theories,
& the Fascist Right
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I am posting this at the request of some folks who are
active in this conference. Please do not deluge me with
E-mail. When I use the terms conspiracist, conspiracism,
and conspiracy theory, I mean theories for which there is
inadequate information to draw reasonable conclusions. I
am well aware that there are numerous actual conspiracies,
especially among government officials. I have worked on
many lawsuits against the FBI and CIA trying to prove
such conspiracies. -Chip Berlet
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The JFK Conspiracy
The Oliver Stone film "JFK" stimulated nationwide
interest in conspiracies. Some right-wing
paranoid theories are woven into the film, not
surprising since Fletcher Prouty was an advisor
to Stone, and the film's character "Mr. X" was
primarily based on Prouty. Several of the film's
themes echo conspiracist claims appearing in a
John Birch Society magazine article on the JFK
assassination by Medford Evans. The article was
first published in September 1967 and was
reprinted in April 1992 in the Birch magazine
"The New American" to catch the wave of publicity
around the Stone film. In the article, Evans
discusses rumors that Lyndon Johnson may have
engineered the Kennedy assassination, considers
the assassination a "coup d'etat" . and suggest
the American Establishment had JFK killed. The
publisher complains, however, that "if Oliver
Stone is seriously trying to indict the CIA,
defense contractors, Big Oil, Big Business, the
news media, and a host of others, he errs in
suggesting that the whole business was a
right-wing plot. These are not individuals of the
Right."
As the film "JFK" was making headlines, Prouty
was promoting the new IHR edition of his book on
the CIA, "The Secret Team" and Lane was promoting
his new book on the Kennedy Assassination,
"Plausible Denial," in tandem with the film.
Prouty wrote the introduction to Lane's book.
Stone highlighted the research of Prouty in a
December, 1991 "Op-Ed" article in the "New York
Times" . Prouty was widely discussed as a model
for the "Mr. X" character featured in the Stone
film, and Prouty served as an advisor to the
film. Both Prouty and Lane have been featured on
nominally progressive radio stations discussing
the JFK assassination. There has been a
reluctance to discuss some of these issues among
some progressives, for instance a new film by
respected documentarians Daniel Schechter and
Barbara Kopple, "Beyond 'JFK': The Question of
Conspiracy," features Lane and Prouty but makes
no mention of the controversy surrounding
their affiliations.
===============================================
"Spotlight" used the opportunity of the release
of Oliver Stone's film "JFK" to promote Fletcher
Prouty, Mark Lane, and Victor Marchetti. Prouty
was an advisor on the film and was the model for
the film's character "Mr. X." Prouty and Lane
went on book promotion tours in tandem with the
film. "Spotlight" wove its coverage of the film
"JFK" around its theories about Jewish "dual
loyalist" control of the U.S. government and the
claim that the Israeli intelligence agency,
Mossad, controls CIA covert operations.
While concern over Reagan Administration
participation in joint intelligence operations
with Mossad is legitimate, the use of
anti-Zionism as a cover for conspiracist
anti-Jewish bigotry can be seen in an article in
the August 24, 1981 issue of "Spotlight" :
"A brazen attempt by influential
"Israel-firsters" in the policy echelons of the
Reagan administration to extend their control to
the day-to-day espionage and covert-action
operations of the CIA was the hidden source of
the controversy and scandals that shook the U.S.
intelligence establishment this summer."
"The dual loyalists, whose domination over the
federal executive's high planning and
strategy-making resources is now just about
total, have long wanted to grab a hand in the
on-the-spot "field control" of the CIA's
worldwide clandestine services. They want this
control, not just for themselves, but on behalf
of the Mossad, Israel's terrorist secret police."
"Spotlight" not only rails against
"dual-loyalist" Jews in government, but also has
praised the Nazi skinhead movement and reported
favorably on the "spirit" of the Nazi Waffen SS
during World War II.
Prouty is quoted in the October 8, 1990 edition
of "Spotlight" as saying the enemy of the
American people is the CIA along with "usury, the
political parties, the media and our textbooks."
The issue of usury (high interest rates) is often
coupled with a bigoted critique of Jewish
financial influence and power, and whether or not
that was the way Prouty meant it to be taken, in
the context of a Liberty Lobby conference, the
anti-Jewish inference would be drawn by many in
the audience.
Prouty also was quoted in the "Spotlight" as
saying that "If anybody really wants to know
what's going on in the world today he should be
reading "The Spotlight." Prouty refused to
confirm or deny the accuracy of the quote in an
interview with the author. [f-17]
======================================================
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The JFK Conspiracy - Mr "X" is Fletcher Prouty
The following can be found at : http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/prouty3.txt
Mystery Man "X" in JFK MOVIE is Fletcher Prouty
JFK (the movie)
The mystery man, "X"
The man called "X" (Donald Sutherland) meets the
"Jolly Green Giant," Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner)
"I could give you a false name, but I won't," he tells the DA. "Just call me X."(1)
"I'm not going to name names, or tell you who or what I represent," the man says mysteriously, "Except to say -- you're close, you're closer than you think . . ."(2)
"Something about his manner speaks of authority, knowledge, and above all, old-fashioned honesty," the screenplay reads.(3)
"Everything I'm going to tell you is classified top secret," he tells Garrison, and gives the DA what the script calls a "significant look."(4)
And then he proceeds to fill Jim Garrison in on the truth behind the conspiracy that killed John F. Kennedy.
There is only one small problem: the mystery man "X" never existed; Jim Garrison never had any such informant, and the story "X" tells is nothing more than a combination of speculation and outright fiction.
Like all good fiction, however, Oliver Stone's mystery man is inspired, however distantly, by real life. Let's meet the real-life model for the character portrayed by Donald Sutherland.
The rest of this article can be found at:
L. Fletcher Prouty
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leroy Fletcher Prouty
January 24, 1917(1917-01-24) – June 5, 2001 (aged 84)
Place of birth Springfield, Massachusetts
Place of death McLean, Virginia
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch United States Air Force
Years of service 1941-1964
Rank Colonel
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Legion of Merit
Joint Chiefs of Staff Commendation Medal
Leroy Fletcher Prouty (January 24, 1917 - June 5, 2001) was a colonel in the United States Air Force, author, banker, and critic of U.S. foreign policy, especially as regarded the activities of the CIA.
Contents
Early Life
Prouty attended public schools. He was a vocalist with Big Bands, sang in most large dance halls, hotels and colleges in the Northeast. He was a graduate of Massachusetts State College in 1941 with a Bachelor's degree.
World War II
He began his military career with the 4th Armored Division in Pine Camp, New York. He transferred to the US Air Force in 1942 earning his Pilot's wings in November. He arrived in British West Africa in February 1943 as a pilot with Air Transport Command.
In the summer of 1943 he was the personal pilot of General Omar Bradley, General John C. H. Lee and General C. R. Smith (Founder and President - American Airlines), among others. He flew the U.S. Geological Survey Team in Saudi Arabia, October 1943, to confirm oil discoveries in preparation for the Cairo Conference. He was assigned to special duties at the Cairo Conference and the Tehran Conference November-December 1943. He flew Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese delegation (T. V. Soong's delegates) to Tehran.
An important mission he was involved in was the evacuation of the British commandos made famous by the novel Guns of Navarone involved in the Battle of Leros from Leros to Palestine. In 1945 he transferred to Southwest Pacific and flew in New Guinea, Leyte and was on Okinawa at the end of war. He landed near Tokyo at the time of their surrender with the first three planes carrying General Douglas MacArthur's bodyguard troops. He flew out with American POWs.
Post-War Years
Between 1946-49 he was assigned by the US Army to Yale University, where he also taught, to begin the first USAF ROTC program. From 1950-52 he transferred to Colorado Springs to establish Air Defense Command. From 1952-54 he was assigned to Korean War duties in Japan where he served as Military Manager for Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) during the US Occupation.
From 1955-1964 he was assigned to U.S. Air Force Headquarters where he directed the creation of an Air Force world-wide system for "Military Support of the Clandestine Operations of the CIA", as required by a new National Security Council Directive, 5412 of March, 1954. As a result of a CIA Commendation for this work he was awarded the Legion of Merit by the US Air Force, and was promoted to Colonel being assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
With the creation of the Defense Intelligence Agency by Secretary McNamara and the abolishment of the OSO, was transferred to the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to create a similar, world-wide office and was the Chief of Special Operations, with the Joint Staff all during 1962-1963. He received orders to travel as the Military Escort officer for a group of VIPs who were being flown to the South Pole, November 10-November 28, 1963, to activate a Nuclear Power plant for heat, light and sea water desalination at the U.S. Navy Base at McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.
Retiring as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force in 1964 he was awarded one of the first three Joint Chiefs of Staff Commendation Medals by General Maxwell D. Taylor, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Post Retirement
He was a Senior Director of Public Affairs for Amtrak during the 1970s, and a director of the National Railroad Foundation and Museum. Prouty authored books including The Secret Team: The CIA and Its Allies in Control of the United States and the World, JFK: The CIA, Vietnam and the Plot to Assassinate John F. Kennedy and numerous articles on railroads including the entries on Railroad Engineering and Foreign Railroad Technology for McGraw-Hill's encyclopedias.
Prouty served as an advisor to Oliver Stone's movie JFK and was the inspiration for the mysterious "X", played by Donald Sutherland, who assists Jim Garrison in the movie. Although that scene was fiction Garrison and Prouty did meet in person some years after the events depicted in the film.
Controversial Claims
As a famous critic of the CIA he pointed out its influence in global matters, outside the realm of U.S. congressional and government oversight. His works detail the formation and development of the CIA, the origins of the Cold War, the U-2 incident, the Vietnam War, and the John F. Kennedy assassination. Prouty's book JFK claims that these events are proof of a secret "global elite" at work.
He subscribed to the theory that oil is not derived from fossils but from carbon deposits deep within the Earth (abiogenic petroleum origin theory)[1], and that U.S. Intelligence agencies may have been involved in the deaths of People's Temple members at Jonestown.[2] He claimed that Korean airlines Flight 007 was downed by "an explosive device" planted aboard by the CIA, rather than being shot down by a Soviet interceptor.[3]
He believed that Franklin D. Roosevelt did not die a natural death. Rather, Winston Churchill had him poisoned.[4] He believed that Kennedy was killed by forces allied with the Federal Reserve Bank because Kennedy was moving against them.[5]
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Notes
1. ^ The Fletcher Prouty Commentary - June
found at: http://www.prouty.org/coment13.html
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2. ^ "Revisiting the Jonestown tragedy" 2000
found at: http://www.freedommag.org/english/vol29I4/page04.htm
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3. ^ More Proutyisms
found at : http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/prouty.htm#moreisms
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4. ^ Who Killed Franklin D. Roosevelt?
found at: http://www.prouty.org/coment11.html
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5. ^ Did the Fed Kill Kennedy?
found at: http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/prouty_fed.htm
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