Spy Saga: Lee Harvey Oswald and U.S. Intelligence, written by Philip H. Melanson, promises to be an expose, but ends up being an enigma. The book -- about the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, an event which continues to haunt the body politic -- is a perplexing mix of good research but overextended analysis, unsubstantiated conclusions, and admitted uncertainties about key matters. The author tries to extract too much meaning from incomplete and limited sources of information. Melanson expects the reader to agree with his interpretation of the evidence, which he recognizes is circumstantial; and he expects the reader to reach the same conclusions, even though his own review of the record raises doubts about the credibility and veracity of some of the information on which his conclusions are based.

Spy Saga resurrects the charge that the Kennedy assassination was organized by U.S. intelligence agents and that it has been systematically covered up by the agencies (and a host of officials) for nearly three decades. The conspiracy remains protected, moreover, despite investigations into possible CIA participation, conducted by several executive and legislative panels: i.e., the Rockefeller Commission (1975) reporting about CIA domestic activities, a temporary Senate select committee (1976) looking into intelligence agency abuses, and the House Select Committee on Assassinations (1979) specifically inquiring into JFK and Martin Luther King murders. None reported any credible evidence to support the accusation of CIA involvement in Kennedy's killing; and the House Committee on Assassinations explicitly rejected this allegation. For Melanson, these investigative units were incompetent, duped, or biased in a way as to preclude their being able to uncover the whole truth or, indeed, any part of it connected to CIA complicity.

Melanson, who has authored books about the U.S. Secret Service and about the Martin Luther King murder, states his principal interpretations boldly, even though they harbor uncertainties about important points: "This analysis will reach a conclusion about the conspiracy in John F. Kennedy's assassination, although it does not seek to establish Oswald's innocence or the existence of a second gun. Instead, it will demonstrate that Oswald's movements were still being choreographed by his handlers in U.S. intelligence -- however fringe or renegade they may be-at the time of the assassination" (p. xvii). Melanson adds that "there is extensive circumstantial evidence that Oswald was in fact an agent" (p. 2) and that "Oswald was framed to appear leftist and guilty . . . . This occurred while he was doing intelligence work in Dallas . . ." (p. 145). Finally, the operation has remained hidden because of extensive, long-term "cover-ups," led by the Central Intelligence Agency, which, he maintains, "has continuously obstructed pursuit of the truth about Oswald and . . . has been both deceptive and recalcitrant in answering questions posed about Oswald's links to U.S. intelligence and his associations and activities at the time of the assassination" (p. 129).

The book's structure, however, rests on weak and shifting ground. The most critical failing is the evidence, which the author admits is circumstantial (pp. 2, 5). This, however, is only one of several problems with the information. It is also incomplete and limited. The records from the CIA, FBI, Rockefeller Commission, and congressional committees investigating the assassination, for instance, have not been fully disclosed. Indeed, one of the contributions of Melanson research, especially in Chapters 10 and 11, is that it indicates what is missing from the public record and points out the limitations surrounding the various investigations. This disclosure, however, reveals the inadequacies of the author's own sources. It is also possible that additional information in these secret files might support conclusions which differ from Melanson's about the assassination and any underlying conspiracy.

Furthermore, key connections lack independent and sufficient corroboration and substantiation. Melanson's main point-that Oswald was being intentionally used or set up by intelligence agents and not just under surveillance- - is not proven. Moreover, it begs other questions: whether Oswald was a direct participant or framed, whether Oswald was working for intelligence agencies or unwittingly manipulated by them, whether his "handlers" were "fringe or renegade" vis-a-vis other types, and what their motives were.

The author also notes that the CIA, among other intelligence units, has lied about various covert operations; he uses this to reject the Agency's denial about any participation in JFK's assassination. The CIA's denial, however, does not necessarily mean that it is covering up any complicity in the crime. Melanson (p. 147) himself recognizes other reasonable explanations for the Agency's failure to provide a full public accounting. The Agency may be legitimately protecting other programs, operations, activities, or intelligence sources and methods from disclosure; or it may be trying to avoid embarrassment and adverse political ramifications for not having done enough to prevent the assassination or to aid the initial investigation conducted by the Warren Commission.

Melanson does a good job of ferreting out what information has become available since the Warren Commission reported in 1964 and calling attention to the weaknesses of the major investigations. He also used the Freedom of Information Act, he tells us, to obtain additional documents and materials from the agencies and investigating bodies. The author could have used these finds to shed light on the other conspiracy theories surrounding Kennedy's assassination. These include the allegation that Oswald was used either by organized crime figures or by pro-Cuban or pro-Castro groups, each seeking revenge against the President for different reasons.

Instead, Spy Saga forces the information into a single conspiracy theory. Melanson, in addition, reads more than is justified into an incomplete and otherwise limited public record. As a result, the charge- that U.S. intelligence agencies used or framed Oswald for Kennedy' s assassination and have covered up their involvement for 28 years- continues to lack the credible evidence necessary to render a guilty verdict.

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By FREDERICK M. KAISER Congressional Research Service

Copyright 1992 by Center for the Study of the President. Text may not be copied without the express written permission of Center for the Study of the President.

Kaiser, Frederick, Book reviews.., Vol. 22, Presidential Studies Quarterly, 06-01-1992, pp 579.