Final_Judgment

[328] Final Judgment 425
"Preserve Western Civilization by supplying the weapons of defense,
indeed, the weapons of salvation to the indomitable, courageous, and highly
skilled defense forces of Israel . . .
"If Mr. Nixon is interested in establishing peace in our time he will
provide arms, ammunition, and moral strength to every anti-communist
country which is willing to fight against Russian Communist imperialist
aggression. And the place for President Nixon to start is Israel." 828
These then were the words of Kent Courtney, the "right wing
extremist" that some JFK assassination researchers point to as evidence of
Guy Banister's "right wing extremist" connections. However, quite clearly,
we can also contend, based upon Courtney's ideological affinity for Israel,
that the evidence is just as logical that Courtney (and his friend Banister)
were sympathetic to the Zionist cause.
This is not to suggest that Banister was cognizant of a Mossad
connection ultimately behind the JFK assassination conspiracy. Far from it.
(Although he could have been.)
What it does suggest, however, is that Banister was very clearly
moving in circles that were sympathetic to the interests of Israel. And in
light of the standard picture that JFK researchers have presented about
Banister (and the Courtneys) the material that we've just analyzed does
indeed present a far different picture than we've ever seen before in any
studies of the JFK assassination conspiracy.
The Courtney theory regarding Israel (mirroring that of James Angleton at
the CIA) was adopted by many of those on the "right wing" in America and
it was—as we saw in our appendix on George Bush and his pro-Israel allies
on the CIA's "B-Team"—the guiding theory behind much of the United
States arms buildup during the Reagan era of the 1980s.
It is really neither here nor there as to whether or not the Courtneys
were actually paid ADL informants or assets, for there is no question (as we
have seen) that they shared the ADL's world view.
It is likewise of no relevance whether Mrs. Courtney (as alleged) was
related in some way to the Stern family of New Orleans. The fact is that
they were moving in the same circles—more so than many people realize.
In fact, in the end, there is really some question as to whether Edgar and
Edith Stern of New Orleans were really so "liberal" after all.
As we saw in Chapter 15 and in Chapter 17, it was the Stern's media
voice in New Orleans, the WDSU radio and television empire, that played a
critical part in promoting the theory during the summer of 1963 (and then,
later, after the assassination) that Lee Harvey Oswald was a "pro-Castro
agitator." What's more, it now turns out, the Sterns were members—and
major financial supporters—of the New Orleans-based Information Council
of the Americas, run by noted anti-communist, Dr. Alton Ochsner, Sr. who
himself had long-standing and intimate ties to the intelligence
community. 829 Ochsner himself served on the board of directors of the
Foreign Policy Association of New Orleans with the Stern's close friend,
Clay Shaw, 830 who also served on the board of the Mossad's Permindex
operation which was so central to the JFK assassination conspiracy.