Final_Judgment

304 Double Cross in Dallas? [243]
communists in the DeGaulle government and in French intelligence—one of
Angleton's widely-documented preoccupations. 656 Angleton would have
been very much "in the know" as to Souetre's activities (and, indeed, may
have been actively collaborating with Souetre).
In Chapter 12 we noted that it was Souetre who was picked up in
Dallas on November 22, 1963 and expelled from the United States and who
was also CIA man E. Howard Hunt's OAS liaison.
It was Souetre who also maintained an informal OAS outpost at Guy
Banister's office at 544 Camp Street in New Orleans. What's more, Souetre
maintained ties with Meyer Lansky's allies in the Corsican Mafia. All of
this, certainly, suggests a very clear pattern which spells more than
coincidence. The plot thickens, however. As we saw in Chapter 12, there is
some question as to whether the individual picked up in Dallas was, in fact,
Souetre or someone using his name.
Souetre has suggested that it was another Frenchman, one Michael
Mertz, who may have been the guilty party who was actually in Dallas and
using Souetre's name. What makes this allegation most provocative is that
Mertz was a former French SDECE officer who had infiltrated the anti-
DeGaulle OAS and foiled a plot against DeGaulle's life. 657
(There is firm evidence that in at least one instance Israeli Prime
Minister David Ben-Gurion "foiled" an OAS "plot" against DeGaulle,
bringing the conspiracy to DeGaulle's attention. As a consequence,
according to Ben-Gurion's biographer, "Ben-Gurion now received
[DeGaulle's] gratitude." 658
(In this particular instance, however, the alleged conspirator was
released since there was not enough evidence to keep him in custody. 659
Was this "plot" perhaps—in reality—an Israeli operation designed to bring
Israel back into DeGaulle's good graces? We can only speculate. We can
only speculate, likewise, that perhaps Mertz's rescue of DeGaulle from yet
another "plot" may have also been a similar Israeli-orchestrated operation.)
In any case, Mertz's connections went much further. Mertz was also
engaged in the illegal drug racket, said to be Paris connection man for the
Lansky-Trafficante-Corsican Mafia network examined in Chapter 12. 660
Just shortly after the JFK assassination, Dr. Lawrence Alderson, a
Houston dentist, was questioned by the FBI. Alderson, who had struck up a
friendship with the real Jean Souetre while both were in their respective
country's armed services, said that he was told that "The FBI felt Souetre
had either killed JFK or knew who had done it." 661 And that could have
included the aforementioned Mertz.
Former CIA insider Robert Morrow, enmeshed in much of the intrigue
surrounding the activities of the Clay Shaw-Guy Banister operation in New
Orleans, contends it was Mertz who was on one of the assassination teams
that struck down John F. Kennedy in Dallas. 662 According to Morrow, Mertz
was on the Angleton-supervised CIA ZR/Rifle Team of foreign mercenaries
which included the mysterious assassin code-named QJ/WIN. Aside from
Mertz, among others put forth as possible French-connected