Deadly Secrets: The CIA-Mafia War Against Castro and the Assassination of JFK

There are container cargo ships full of conspiracy books out there. Many are poorly referenced, factually suspect and politically slanted. This one, originally entitled "The Fish is Red," may be =accused= of the latter, but surely not either of the former... and =actually= not of the latter, either. It is probably still -- after two and a half decades -- one of the ten best books on the assassinations, the emerging corporate state, the cold-war and organized crime energy back of the growth of the CIA, 20th century jingoism in Latin America, and all that. Hinckle and Turner pull from their own substantial government and journalistic endeavors (Turner was with The Bureau; Hinckle made his name with =Ramparts= magazine when it was the most respected muckraker out there) to provide a =comprehensive= rundown of pretty much all that was known through the '80s. This book (under both titles) continues to be an essential resource for serious, scholarly development of themes like Peter Dale Scott's "deep state" and James Ellroy's "spook saturation." All the characters are here: Not-so humble Howard, Tricky Dick, Ronnie Reagan, Gerry Ford, every director of the CIA to that time, the truly centrist (and only pragmatically liberal) Kennedy brothers, Jim Garrison, Clay Shaw, Carlos Marcello, Santos Trafficante, Meyer Lansky, Bebe Rebozo, Johnny Roselli, Ollie North, Mitch WerBell, legions of Cuban exiles, Jack Ruby, and, of course, Lee the Patsy. This =is= the book Oliver Stone and James Ellroy built their (increasing) fortunes upon. This is the =real= "American Tabloid" and "The Cold Six Thousand." If the copy you get in the mail is tattered, battered, highlighted all over, or covered with notes in the margins, so what? The one I read had cat p**s on it. It was =still= worth the effort.

While this book doesn't identify the actual shooters in the assassination of John Kennedy,it offers up an immense volume of information about the C.I.A.-mafia partnership regarding assassination attempts directed at Fidel Castro. The planning,execution,and failure of the Bay of Pigs operation are detailed. The book really focuses on the C.I.A.'s activities and participants,especially in the Caribbean. Air America and the Corsican mafia are also discussed. Various agency business connections and financial ties are detailed. You will read about characters such as Robert Maheu,Howard Hughes,E.Howard Hunt,Mitchell WerBell III,Frank Sturgis,"Maurice Bishop", and a myriad of other interesting people that were in some instances heavily involved in the intelligence community. In addition to that aspect, the authors investigate the mafia activities in Cuba and Haiti and how they particpated in projects with the Agency, sometimes without Kennedys knowing about it. The authors documented this book well. On the subject of the JFK assassination,this is one of the better books available. The details in the book make it an even better book on the subject of secret wars and how participants re-surfaced in the Watergate scandal and even later in politics.

In addition to what was written above, I'd like to add that this book would almost be funny if it weren't so depressing. When I say funny I mean this only for those who might find James Ellroy or Chandler's bleak wit funny. A bitter sarcasm tinges the language that fleshes out this strange corner of WW3. Unlike many history/expose books, Deadly Secrets is written with attitude, with a sharp perspective that is illuminating (Hinckle and Turner have clearly spent some time with many of the players). The oblique cold warriors (mafia, arms dealers, mercenaries, displaced patriots, displaced murderers, gamblers, right wingnuts, oil barons, cia officers, bad bankers,international corporations, drug traffickers and all those other types of people we don't like to think of as soldiers on the front lines of the cold war) aren't so oblique after reading this...Its a wonder we won the cold war because with friends like these who needs Soviets. Your taxpayer dollars have gone to interesting 'causes,' (schemes) and its not hard to imagine that these secret wars are no different today. If you are interested in the Cold War and how it bleeds into to "War on Terror" you should check this out. Also helpful for those interested in the continuity of the careers of those who pass through, in, and around 'Dallas,' Watergate, and the Iran/Contra affair. If you're hungry for more afterwards, other authors to look for are Jonathan Kwitny, Peter Dale Scott, Jonathan Marshall,Alan Block, Pete Brewton, whose bibliographies give up a bunch of great sources.

Although the original message was the CIA-Mafia complicity in President Kennedy's death, there is a more important message for 2005. Namely, Bush, far from being against terrorism, loves terrorists if they're anti-Castro Cubans. Our current president's father is the real villain, but our current Bush has done nothing to put the Miami Mafia terrorists in their place and bring them to justice. (...)

The Fish is Red is a compendium of CIA backed goings on in America's secret (and necessarily so) war against the Castro regime in Cuba up until the late 70's. Anyone of a mind to say the U.S. didn't try to dislodge the status quo in Cuba during those years will learn otherwise from a book whose publication was reportedly in jeopardy for conflicts with U.S. national security interests. Haitian coup attempts as well as "see bee ess" involvement are covered as well. Great read.(and true!)