Oswald in the doorway: the blog of the Oswald Innocence Campaign, by Ralph Cinque

Do you think Oswald, that is, the Oswald of fame, the Oswald we know, was an intelligence agent, that is, a real intelligence agent? 

Well, he may have wanted to be, and maybe he thought he was, but I don't think the US intelligence agencies ever thought he was. I think he was just a dupe for them; that's all. I don't think they ever thought of him as a real intelligence agent. 

Now, if you disagree with that, then tell me: what intelligence did Oswald ever give them? And don't tell me that he told them about the JFK assassination because I will rhetorically slap you upside your rhetorical head. 

Oswald did NOT know about the JFK assassination. He arrived to work that morning not knowing that JFK's limo was going to pass the TSBD building that day.  We know that from the testimony of James Jarman, and that settles it. There is NO basis to claim that Oswald was putting on aires for James Jarman. 

So, you got any other intelligence that Oswald provided? How about during his 3 years in the USSR? Did he deliver any significant intelligence out of that?

Well, I don't know of any. Some say that Oswald provided the Russians with information about Francis Gary Powers and the U2 plane, which the Soviets shot down. And often, they add that he did it, not to betray America, but because our side wanted him to do it, where the purpose was to screw up detente and escalate the Cold War.

But, that's ridiculous because the Oswald in Russia didn't know anything about that. It was the Oswald who had been at Atsugi, Japan who knew about that. The Oswald who went to Russia was never at Atsugi. The Oswald who went to Russia was only in the Far East very briefly. He spent a few weeks at Ping Tung, Taiwan from September 14 to October 6, 1958. Then, he was briefly at Iwakuni, Japan, but for less than a month because by October 29 of that year, he was at the Naval Air Station in Santa Ana, California. 

And while "Harvey" was at Iwakuni, Japan, there is a long medical record of "Lee" being in the hospital at Atsugi, Japan being treated for urethritis, the result of a venereal infection, and rectal bleeding caused by colitis.  You can read all about it on John Armstrong's website:

http://www.harveyandlee.net/Marines/Marines.html   

It was in the Far East that they did the bait and switch, where Harvey took over the identity of Lee. But, Harvey, who was the Oswald we know, the one who defected to Russia, married Marina, came back with her, etc., was never at Atsugi. Therefore, there is no basis to assume that he provided the Russians with information about Francis Gary Powers and the U2. 

From what I can tell, the Russians were very careful to make sure that Oswald did NOT access any important information. Remember, they watched him constantly. Don't you think they monitored his mail and his phone calls? And as I see it, the only information he could give the Americans was information about Russian life- what it was like to live there, for him and for people he met and saw there. There is value in that, for sure, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it "intelligence." 

And when Oswald returned to Ft. Worth in June 1962, after living in Russia for 3 years, do you know how much time the FBI spent with him? Two short meetings. That's it. Nearly three whole years of immersion in Russian life got debriefed in two short meetings.

And why did the CIA and FBI see to it that articles about Oswald's defection to the USSR appeared in the US press? What was the purpose of that? Remember, it wasn't the Russians who made that happen; it was our side. But, how was that helpful if his mission was really to gather intelligence about the Soviet Union?

I would say that Oswald was a patsy and a dupe- not just in the JFK assassination but also in his defection to Russia. I don't think they ever expected or counted on him to obtain any intelligence about Russia. So, why'd they send them there?

One, they wanted to see how the Soviets would respond, how they would go about vetting him, how they would handle his case. Two, they felt it was good PR for them because this wasn't a doctor or a scientist defecting to the USSR, it was a disgruntled Marine who received a dishonorable discharge and who never even completed high school. If that's the kind of person who wants to defect to the Soviet Union, what does that say about the Soviet Union? Three, they were out to distract and preoccupy the Soviets. If the Soviets were all involved with Oswald, then perhaps other real US intelligence agents would receive less scrutiny and stay below the radar. And four, even though there is no chance they were thinking about killing Kennedy at the time since Kennedy wasn't President at the time, they may have been thinking ahead to the possible use of Oswald as a patsy for something. Remember, if he was a false defector, then it was probably assumed that he would come back eventually. Plus, they had the other Oswald to use to set him up as needed in the future. 

Ask yourself this: why was Oswald (Harvey) given a dishonorable discharge from the Marines? What did he do that was so dishonorable? Officially, he left the Marines a little early because his mother was sick or in hardship, but did they really have to give him a dishonorable discharge?

I really think it would be best to STOP thinking of Oswald, the Oswald we know, as a REAL intelligence agent. It was not as though he was a real intelligence agent who became a patsy. He was never a real intelligence agent, and he was always a patsy. They always used him as a patsy. They were always playing him. They didn't start playing him in the spring of 1963; they were always playing him.