JFK: let the suspense prevail!

Published : 28 Oct 2017, 10:09 AM
Updated : 28 Oct 2017, 10:09 AM

Fifty four years is a long time, especially in global politics. Yet, some events never lose their ability to hold public attention. Or maybe we should say, some events, due to the mystery surrounding them, never allow the world to forget.

Nov 22 is here! Once more, the fateful day in Dallas when the charismatic president John F Kennedy was assassinated, comes back with its dark overtones.

This year the suspense amplifies with the declaration of the current US administration that previously classified documents related to the killing investigation of JFK would now be free of embargo.

Obviously, the first thought is: would these shed some light on how the US president was killed in 1963? Conspiracy theorists are waiting eagerly to delve into these and maybe ferret out something that might give credence to the several explanations out there that firmly posit that Oswald, the gunman arrested soon after the killing with a rifle, was actually a patsy.

Just to shake your memory a little: Lee Harvey Oswald was shot and killed before he could defend himself or possibly direct the law towards a far sinister root of the killing.

But why is there so much fascination with JFK? There have been killings of top leaders around the globe, in some cases, the actual perpetrators were never caught and the underlying motives hardly investigated.

A king is dead, let there be a new king – the world has blithely moved on with this theory. Not in the case of this US president though.

A king who left in tragic theatrics

The intrigue surrounding the killing has an inexplicable aura of macabre romanticism surrounding it. It's not just about a bullet hitting a leader and then finishing him off. There on the open hood car, in a span of a few seconds, a real life drama of the most touching kind unfolded.

A smiling picture perfect couple basking in adulation one second, the dream becoming a blood splattered horror the next!

The beautiful wife, desperately holding on the head of her husband, blood and crushed bones on her dress; security men running towards the car; the cheering crowd stunned and bewildered. The supposed killer who had Marxist leanings, shot and killed by a night club owner before he could give a testimony – ingredients for a Shakespearean tragedy.

For decades, the footage being recorded by TV cameras has been analysed, re-analysed and finally, re-mastered in digital to sustain the horror of assassination. Also, to provide fodder for those looking for diabolic/preposterous theories!

When the president was rushed to the hospital, the doctors were ready and so were photographers. The pictures of JFK's lifeless body, the back portion of his head blown off are on the net, added to the grim cult surrounding the abrupt end.

There are countless people who have made it their life's mission to prove their conspiracy theories about JFK's murder. While some claim to know every single detail related to the last few moments of the president, they often have shallow knowledge about JFK's tenure as US president.

So, we have two sorts of JFK experts, one section knows the intricacies of state policy as pursued by Kennedy against a very unstable global scenario while the other has made the killing an obsession.

Is Cuba the missing piece?

Among the several theories in circulation, the belief that the killing was linked to the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, has the most adherents. This version states that JFK was killed because he did not approve the required air support for the Bay of Pigs invasion of Castro's Cuba by CIA trained Cuban exiles. Another similar theory speculates rather vehemently that exiled Cuban casino owners in collusion with the CIA masterminded the killing, hoping that after JFK, a more assertive President with draconian sanctions on Cuba would follow.

Then, many writers of Cold War history have suggested that JFK's desire to improve relations with Castro might have angered dissident Cubans, who engineered the assassination.

But you see no explanation is supported by incontrovertible evidence. That is why the possibilities are endless. This has allowed something utterly incredulous theories to step in, stating (don't laugh!), JFK was about to reveal his governments communication with alien life forms to the people and, the bullet put an end to that because certain quarters wanted to hush it (alien-contact) up.

There are some other theories too but so far, a sense of resentment over Cuba working as the driving force for the assassination seems a little plausible.

The straightforward vs the conspiracy

We can simply accept that Oswald killed JFK and get along with life. The problem is some of the questions raised by experts about Oswald's position on top of a building, the supposed bullet's trajectory from his rifle not matching the angle in which the president was shot, along with other unexplained factors, compounded the mystery.

Ok, for argument's sake, let's accept that the president was murdered by someone else hiding in the bush to the front of the motorcade, Oswald was framed and there was indeed an inner plot.

Well, does it have any bearing on the current global scenario? Don't think so.

Yet, deep within us there is a desire to know what really happened, simply because as humans, our curiosity will multiply unless it's satisfied.

The moment these hitherto secret documents are out in the market, a frenzy of activity surrounding them will follow.

Safe to say, analysis won't point to any definite though a new conspiracy theory may germinate.

Actually, subconsciously we never wanted to find out the real truth because after being bombarded with so many salacious possibilities for over fifty years, the certainty of one decisive explanation, dousing the fascination forever, is not what we crave.

Honestly speaking, we don't want this case to be solved. The JFK killing puzzle is the incubator for countless intrigue – credible and absurd.

Obviously, in a world where suspense is lost to banal predictability, no one is willing to let go of some old fashioned thrill. I say, bring out the papers, let some new theories develop so we can keep on biting our nails!

Please don't kill this cult of the assassination! Once solved, Kennedy will lose much of his mystique!

Right, let me hear that JFK alien theory again!