The Life of Lee Harvey Oswald by Abner Smith (microcosm)
Two thousand and eleven marks the 10th anniversary of Microcosm's CIAMSFU series. This is the first one I've read, so I'm only a decade behind at this point. Issue number six is a short bio of Kennedy assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. Using declassified government documents, writer Abner Smith constructs Oswald's life from his troubled childhood in New Orleans through his troubled military career to his troubled time in the Soviet Union (and his unsuccessful attempts at defection) and his troubled marriage to a young Russian woman. Seems like Oswald was a bit troubled—a loose nut, probably not to be trusted as a spy or double agent. He was more likely than not, just a disillusioned wanna-be revolutionary and hardly someone the government would want to work with in the assassination plot of one of the most powerful men in the world. Yet something doesn’t quite fit and this is the CIA were talking about here. If you lean even slightly toward conspiracy theories regarding this pivotal part of American History, the ultimate objective was achieved and we know Oswald didn't spill his guts. Well...
An interesting read for sure, but Smith doesn't necessarily shed a lot of light on the subject for me. His writing style is a little clipped and he could have probably benefited from an editor to help organize his thoughts a little better, but this a zine not a graduate thesis so that's a gripe not a dis. It is amazing the things the CIA/FBI and the US Government think they can get away with. What would probably be even more amazing, are the things they have gotten away with that we'll never know about—Chris Auman
Two thousand and eleven marks the 10th anniversary of Microcosm's CIAMSFU series. This is the first one I've read, so I'm only a decade behind at this point. Issue number six is a short bio of Kennedy assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. Using declassified government documents, writer Abner Smith constructs Oswald's life from his troubled childhood in New Orleans through his troubled military career to his troubled time in the Soviet Union (and his unsuccessful attempts at defection) and his troubled marriage to a young Russian woman. Seems like Oswald was a bit troubled—a loose nut, probably not to be trusted as a spy or double agent. He was more likely than not, just a disillusioned wanna-be revolutionary and hardly someone the government would want to work with in the assassination plot of one of the most powerful men in the world. Yet something doesn’t quite fit and this is the CIA were talking about here. If you lean even slightly toward conspiracy theories regarding this pivotal part of American History, the ultimate objective was achieved and we know Oswald didn't spill his guts. Well...
An interesting read for sure, but Smith doesn't necessarily shed a lot of light on the subject for me. His writing style is a little clipped and he could have probably benefited from an editor to help organize his thoughts a little better, but this a zine not a graduate thesis so that's a gripe not a dis. It is amazing the things the CIA/FBI and the US Government think they can get away with. What would probably be even more amazing, are the things they have gotten away with that we'll never know about—Chris Auman
Always read Reglar Wiglar!
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