News Archive - Jun 2008
Book Reissue: ''Oswald and the CIA''
June 24, 2008: John Newman's 1995 book Oswald and the CIA has been updated and reissued by Skyhorse Publishing. In a new Epilogue entited "The Plot to Murder President Kennedy: A New Intepretation," Newman names names, detailing the conspiratorial aspects of the Mexico City affair and fingering CounterIntelligence Chief James Angleton as the "one person whose hands fit into these gloves." A new appendix features additional documents not shown in the original publication of the book.
American University Speech Anniversary
June 10, 2008: Today is the 45th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's commencement address to the American University, where he called for rethinking the Cold War. Starting by joking that others worked hard for the degrees while "I am earning mine in the next 30 minutes," JFK soon turned to the most serious and pressing matter of the era. Excerpts from the speech are printed below:
What kind of peace do I mean? What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children--not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women--not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.
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Some say that it is useless to speak of world peace or world law or world disarmament--and that it will be useless until the leaders of the Soviet Union adopt a more enlightened attitude. I hope they do. I believe we can help them do it. But I also believe that we must reexamine our own attitude--as individuals and as a Nation--for our attitude is as essential as theirs.
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So, let us not be blind to our differences--but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.
The full text of the speech, along with recorded audio, is available at the JFK Library and Museum website.