Customer Reviews

Triangle of Death: The Shocking Truth About the Role of South Vietnam and the French Mafia in the Assassination of JFK

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This book, "Triangle of death" is a shocking new book on the Assassination Conspiracy of President Kennedy.
Not many people know this, but a very dangerous assassin, who had connections to the CIA and the Mafia, was in Dallas on the afternoon that Kennedy was shot. This assassin left the country within 48 hours of the murder. The FBI was trailing this man and they lost him on the morning of the assassination of Kennedy.
Again, it cannot be overstated. Professional killer. In Dallas when Kennedy was killed. Left country very soon afterwards. The French government also admits that this man was indeed in Dallas when Kennedy was killed, and they essentially say that he was involved in the Conspiracy. This could be the key to the entire assassination Conspiracy, and this new book, "Triangle of Death" claims to present the shocking truth using actual US government documents.
I must say however, that the authors were WAY off concerning the directions from which the shots came. They dont believe that a shot came from the Grassy Knoll, and most researchers know full well that atleast two shots came from the knoll, based on the evidence. That is why I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5. But this book doesnt claim to give us expertise about the shots and from which direction they came, they only wanted to discuss the French Killer who was in Dallas when Kennedy was killed.
Was the Corsican Mafia involved with elements of the CIA in killing Kennedy?
All Americans owe it to themselves to learn as much of the truth as we can. This book is a great place to start.

Triangle of Death
The 'Foreword' reminds us that President Kennedy authorized the overthrow of the South Vietnamese dictator Ngo Dinh Diem, the "democratically elected, constitutional president" (p.ix). Three weeks later JFK was assassinated. The "lone gunman" theory was "designed to placate the American public and distract them from the facts of the case" (p.x). The authors use recently declassified federal documents to claim that the murder of JFK originated by "a partnership between the U.S. Mafia, the French heroin syndicate, and the government of South Vietnam" (p.xi). O'Leary was involved in politics for over 25 years, is president of Associated Television News, and a host of his own radio show. Seymour is a writer and author of fifteen novels.

John F. Kennedy never lost an election. He brought hope for a better future in a time of tumult, founded the Peace Corps, signed the first nuclear test ban treaty, cut taxes for an economic stimulus. Most of all he had charisma that few other politicians had. But Vietnam would overshadow his policies. The Vietnamese fought against foreign domination for centuries. Millions died during the WW II famine when Japan supplanted the French (p.4). But the Viet Minh were able to defeat the French and gained freedom for part of their country (p.5). Later America replaced the French as rulers of South Vietnam. Diem became the new ruler (pp. 8-9). But this new ruling class created a rebellion among the rural farmers (p.11). Ngo Dinh Diem acted like a new Hitler, persecuting the majority Buddhists using violent means (p.12). All this was possible because of American money, guns, and lawyers. Was such persecution also done by Winston Churchill (p.13)?

Chapter 5 explains how the Ngo family became important to opium exports to Marseilles, which became heroin for the U.S. Mafia. Chapter 6 explains how the turmoil in 1963 South Vietnam led to the overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem. They were killed to silence them (p.30). Diem was put into power during Eisenhower's first term (p.39). The authors believe that JFK would have acted like LBJ (p.51). Many books, and Oliver Stone's "JFK", have educated Americans about the problems in the Warren Commission Report (p.53). This Report was "designed solely to mislead the American people" (p.55). Many, many books have been written to try to solve the assassination; some are listed in the Bibliography.

Chapter 9 starts with declassified document 632-796, about the deportation of Jean Rene Souetre, who was in Dallas on 11-22-1963. France wanted to hold Algeria and its oil fields, but was pressured by America to allow others access (p.67). De Gaulle used SDECE to neutralize the threat from the OAS (Chapter 11). Chapter 15 tells how heroin was imported by concealment in automobiles. Chapter 16 tells how a government tolerated heroin production in return for favors. Chapter 18 presents the story of Christian David: Marseilles gangsters shot JFK. Chapter 23 presents the truth about JFK and Cuba (p.145).

The authors claim of a Saigon link to the assassination is plainly wrong, and avoids the fact that JFK canceled a trip to Miami in October, before the coup in Saigon. I think it would take many months to plan a successful assassination (p.147). Blaming Saigon assumes that a puppet can pull the strings (p.150). The authors' claims are exaggerated (pp.152-153). Colonel Pavlotsky's solution doesn't explain the cover-up (pp.154-155). The 'Afterword" discusses related topics. It seems to be the best part of this book. This book is a supplement to other books that provide far more details on the case.

This book is actually worth reading, because it provides some worthwhile information about people related in one way or another to the assassination drama such as Jean Rene Souetre (sometimes accused but not actually a player in it) and Carlos Marcello (one of the players). The book is worth while for what the reader can learn about those individuals and their role (or lack thereof). But I can't give it more than two stars because the thesis of this book just isn't accurate, and there really isn't much in the way of evidence presented to support the authors' conclusions about the root cause of the conspiracy that killed President Kennedy. Nevertheless, if you'd like to know some things about Souetre and Marcello that would be hard to find elsewhere, then check out this book.

Chapter 2 of this poorly written fiction opens with a quote.
"All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights".
The authors allow the reader to believe the origin of the statement to be from Ho Chi Minh.
Sorry, Boys Ho Chi Minh did not write the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence. If I recall and please correct me if needed, The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman.
However, as the authors clearly explain much of information exposed in this book is new and hitherto unpublished.
To paraphrase a previous reviewer of this book, junebug who wrote a fine review...

"I'd advise anyone with an interest in historical accuracy and in the politics of the era to avoid this one like the plague"!

Triangle of Death attempts to determine the nature of the conspiracy to kill JFK but is unsuccessful in doing so due to poor research, unsubstantiated claims, and unsupported generalizations. The authors agree that the Warren Commission (WC) was nothing but a whitewash, that Lee Harvey Oswald (LHO) was not the shooter, and that the government has covered up the events in Dallas ever since, but they offer nothing new on the subject.

The book spends much time vilifying JFK and painting him as a virtual murderer for his roles in attempting to assassinate Castro and for sponsoring the coup to remove South Vietnam's corrupt Diem brothers. The authors do not debate this subject objectively, only present their one side, and their arguments are simplistic at best.

The best part of the book are the details surrounding Jean Rene Souetre aka Michel Mertz who both worked for the OAS at some time. The interview with Souetre was worthwhile, but it is the only positive aspect of this work. Through the rest of the work the authors fail to convincingly connect Mertz to participating in the assassination and fail to convince the reader that the mob running the French heroin trade and its Vietnamese allies had the motivation to kill the President.

The authors dismiss other more convincing ideas-that other elements in U.S. society had targeted the President-with a mere sentence or two of dismissal. The actual book itself has only 157 pages in an attempt to convince the reader - and falls short. Other authors have written 500 page works that show true depth in research and objectivity, which this book sorely lacks.

Read this book if you want to learn about Mertz and Souetre, otherwise you will most likely be disappointed.

What this book adds to the mix of JFK assassination books is a Viet Nam angle from a foreign policy standpoint. The idea that South Viet Nam president Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother (Ngo Dinh Nhu) could have participated in the plot before being assassinated themselves sounds far-fetched....until you consider the "Iron Triangle" and his brother's connection to the heroin industry.

A major divisive issue is what exactly was JFK's role in the coup that overthrew Diem?
To be fair; whether JFK approved of the executions or simply abandoned Diem, would it make much difference as a motivating factor for retaliation?

This all leads to the constant player in this cast- the U.S Mafia.
They did business with the Marseilles syndicate of the now famous heroin "French Connection". So their motivation could very well have been on a business level in addition to a personal vendetta.

Some things that I found really interesting in TRIANGLE OF DEATH:

* The KGB's own investigation into the shooting and their opinion of Oswald as a potential agent and sniper.
* Debunking Christian David's identification of the "assassins".
* The identity of the assassin who was deported within days after JFK's murder. The authors did a lot of research on that particular topic!
* The French intelligence agency's query about the deportation of that assassin.

Where this book may have come up short:

- I agree with the opinion that Matthew DeLuca stated in his review of this book about the direction of the fatal headshot. It came from the front. The author's argue that it came from behind.
- They also reference Bill Bonanno who suggests that Oswald killed officer J.D. Tippitt. Too many eyewitnesses to the Tippitt murder contradict Bonanno's theory.

From page 157 the authors wrote about something that gets overlooked sometimes-
"Ultimately, of course, no book written on the Kennedy assassination will ever be more than a writer's hypothesis."
That's true and there is no shortage of books available on this subject.
Some of the material covered in this book is new, specially CIA document 632-796. I think that some of this new information (some released in 2003) may fill in some blanks. Will we ever really know all of the details? Maybe not, but we may get a clearer picture over time. This book provides some interesting theories to consider.

Researching the JFK assasination is vital for anyone who wants to get a grasp of cold war history and the paths of geopolitical events.
"Triangle of Death" is recommended reading for any JFK researcher who wants to consider the French/Vietnam Connection.
Determining motive is always the first question for an investigator. This book does an excellant job describing the US relationship with South Vietnam and how U.S. meddeling with Vietnamese power, daisy chained into the French mafia's drug running business with the American mob.
The usual supects are trotted out and we find the FBI was helpful in deporting a French assassin from Dallas on November 24, 1963.
Copies of CIA documents are included in the appendices that support the authors conclusions. Important pieces to a complex puzzle.

There are so many things wrong with the basic assertions in this book it is hard to know where to start, but here goes:

The main premise of this book rests upon the assumption that JFK had Ngo Diem, leader of south Vietnam, assasinated and that it was this which precipitated his own death. This lie has been doing the rounds for years despite the fact that there is documentary evidence to the contrary. The murder of Ngo Diem was AGAINST JFK's express wishes - he backed the coup admittedly but almost all reports suggest that he DID NOT want Diem killed. There is much proof of this, for instance, General Maxwell Taylor wrote that upon learning of Diem's death JFK "leapt to his feet and rushed from the room with a look of shock and dismay on his face" while Senator George Smathers reported that JFK blamed the CIA for Diems death and felt that he would have to strip them of their exorbitant powers.
Even if you doubt such witness testimony there is the most pertinent fact of all. The CIA had tried to mislead the public into believing that they had his approval for assasination since the 70's at least. JOHN DEAN, the WATERGATE whistle blower, on opening E Howard Hunt's safe, found, among the other documents, bogus telegrams, prepared by Hunt, falsely linking JFK with the assasination of Diem!!!! Showing their desire both to discredit the Kennedy's (and the Democratic party) and to cover up their errant behaviour (This is not a conspiracy theory this is well documented fact).

Finally O'Leary and Seymour's assertion is based mainly on the 'new' evidence of the Johnson phone tapes! Johnson by this time was heavily involved in a v.unpopular war in Vietnam it was in his interests to shift the blame to Kennedy - certainly as he openly despised the brothers. Are we really meant to believe that a proven lie of the last 3 decades has suddenly become true because Johnson stated it??
Elements of the CIA are now known to have been in the habit of operating beyond government knowledge (for instance their involvement with the mafia at this time)and were not averse to disrupting presidential plans. While the CIA (certainly covert elements) are heavily implicated in JFK'S own assasination.

The great tragedy of this is that certain propagandistic rumours aimed at discrediting JFK have found their way yet again into the public arena as 'fact'. I'm not a 'fan' of Kennedy's - he had his drawbacks. But this kind of thing is not just unfair it is historically inaccurate.

For anyone genuinely interested in the assasination or in U.S. foreign policy there are no credible answers here.
I'd advise anyone with an interest in historical accuracy and in the politics if the era to avoid this one like the plague!

Plenty of interesting ideas and some new takes on old information but otherwise a very badly written book in serious need of editing and counseling. Material is repeated and re-examined endlessly throughout the book giving the impression the authors initially finished at 88 pages and realized they desperately needed to pad the thing to get it published.

I'm still stuck on "Mortal Error"--the book that gives a whole different take on part of the assassination, that the last shot was an accident. That book, right or wrong, has very interesting explanations of a lot of material and the author is a ballistics expert.

The Kennedy Assassination was not an isolated event--as the public and even conspiracy theorists like to view it--but a "systems" event of astonishing complexity. This book, despite its huge flaws, is one of the best to tap into that mentality. There explanations of French politics of those years in regard to Algeria and Viet Nam and subsequently the assassination are cogent. I just think a systems approach was a bit beyond the authors.

We need to understand, especially today, that an assassin, or anyone else, can be a terrorist, a double-agent, a patriot, a mobster, a politician, a drug dealer, a compassionate and loving parent, and a number of other things somewhat simultaneously. There is a front office world and a deep dark back office world and unfortunately that back office world, especially since WWII, is really what's now driving the modern world. One can find a straightforward conspiracy or two behind Lincoln's assassination or simple motives behind Garfield's or McKinley's but Kennedy's will always be elusive. It gnaws at us, whether we realize it or not, because it was the first major global event to publicly, even if for a few moments, reveal the workings of that hidden world.

The assassination did not go off as planned. As the authors state, Officer Tippet was certainly supposed to have killed Oswald and Oswald would have been yet another kook killer in the history books. Case closed. Jack Ruby was pure desperation and subliminally we all caught that. That single moment in the basement was the point of ignition for doubt. It looked and smelled so wrong. If the last shot was also a dumb mistake then this one probably had even the insiders panicked for a few days until the information got sorted out. No triangulation--one shooter, one patsy.

Don't blame the Warren Commission--all nice guys who weren't about to rock the boat. They looked at all the info, realized what it meant, and did the best PR patch job they could. Nobody had to say boo to them, they just all had to be individuals who knew how the system worked, not even active participants in that system. What was to be gained by the truth? Nothing but disruption, nothing but wearing on the nerves of a lot of content and sleeping people. What was to be gained by letting Kennedy live? Less than nothing--the man was a major liability on too many fronts alive and a major asset to too many people--even his own party--dead. This wasn't about anti-communism or oil or even heroin, as the authors speculate. All that is linear-think. This was about the maintainence of a smoothly functioning global system.

I thought this book was going to be a great one. WRONG!!!!! To start with, bear in mind (which I didn't realize when I bought it or I wouldn't have wasted my money) that one of the authors is (or maybe by now WAS) "president of Associated Television News in Los Angeles." For everyone who has done any SERIOUS reseach into the assasination, that says it all right there! The PRESS!!!

My take on this book is that it is the government's (through their friend the media) concession FINALLY that of course, as all the rest of us have known for years, it was NOT Oswald that shot President Kennedy and that it WAS a conspiracy! But we can't tell the TRUTH!!! Let's find someone to blame it on and whitewash government involvement! The findings have now evolved WAY beyond "who" did it! The best hypotheses out there show several shooters (none being Oswald) from several different locations. The most sensible thing starts to look like they were all involved separately and not familiar with the others (except for maybe a couple point people). There are several scenarios out there that show very likely looking assasins and would be assasins, in place and shooting.

But the story is NOT about them anymore! The "who" ceased to be important long ago. The importance now is on who HIRED them and how they were able to get away with what they did and the coverup and the lies that have taken place continuously for the last 40 years, and the fact that our whole government and way of life is a sham, and will be until we know the truth! Of course we KNOW it was a conspiracy! That was proven when people saw someone who identified himself as "secret service" when it was later proven there WERE no secret service in that area! You need nothing more than that fact to prove conspiracy! So now they're finally going to come down and say yeah, well probably it WAS a conspiracy after all, but the blame all needs to be on this guy over here (or the French Mafia). (Did they HIRE that little guy, and forget to tell you that part????)

I truly think this book is no more than a ploy to try to draw off people and send them off in the wrong direction--away from those who are truly guilty!

THIS BOOK SHOULD HAVE ZERO STARS!