Final_Judgment

264 The Twain Shall Meet [203]
Oswald's "leftist" and "pro-Castro" activities in New Orleans during the
summer of 1963, operating a "Fair Play for Cuba Committee" out of
Banister's intelligence operation at 544 Camp Street.
What is additionally intriguing is that, according to former ADL general
counsel and intelligence chief Arnold Forster, much of the ADL's "fact
finding" (i.e. spying) utilized agents "employed by an outside investigative
agency operating as an independent contractor." 578 So, in light of the close
association between Botnick and Banister, it seems quite likely Botnick
contracted out ADL work out to his fellow anti-communist.
What's more, according to the ADL's Forster, many of the ADL's factfinders
were "retired local or federal government investigators" 579 —such as,
perhaps, a likely former American intelligence agent named Oswald who had
once done covert work in the Soviet Union.
We can only wonder if, in fact, Lee Harvey Oswald's "left wing"
activities were actually being financed by the ADL. Was Oswald, indeed,
being utilized to infiltrate left-wing groups by Banister ostensibly as part of
what appeared to be a fact-finding mission for the ADL but which actually
was an intelligence operation with an ulterior motive?
It is thus not so extraordinary to suggest that perhaps Oswald was being
"sheep-dipped" as a "pro-Castro" agitator by the ADL (under the guise of ADL
"fact finding") which was functioning as a conduit for the Mossad and its
CIA allies. Quite convenient indeed.
A 'THIRD FORCE'?
Although he does not pinpoint the ADL as a force behind Banister's
activities, respected JFK assassination researcher Peter Dale Scott has lent
credence to the possibility that there was much more to Banister's
operations than would seem to meet the eye. According to Scott:
"Disagreement arises . . . as to who was paying for Banister's anti-
Communist activities: governmental intelligence, the New Orleans Mafia,
or some third force allied with both together." [emphasis added]
Those stressing the intelligence angle, notes Scott, point to Banister's
FBI and CIA and Office of Naval Intelligence connections while those
stressing the "Mafia" point to Banister's connections, through David Ferrie
and others, to New Orleans Mafia chief Carlos Marcello.
As Scott notes, however, "a third and more likely possibility is that
both Oswald and Banister were working for what was in effect a third force:
an intelligence-Mafia gray alliance, rooted in the deep political economy of
New Orleans." 580 And as we have seen in this chapter and elsewhere, the
ADL did indeed have a strong root in the deep political economy of New
Orleans, even indeed in the Clay Shaw connection.
"As to the story that Oswald was an FBI informant," writes Scott, "I
doubt that Oswald was directly on the FBI payroll. A more likely
possibility is that he worked for a private security agency which in
turn reported to the FBI, the way that ex-FBI and ex-Official of Naval