Encyclopedia of Opinion
Question
Who killed John F. Kennedy?
Position‹2 of 5›
The CIA killed JFK
Argument‹2 of 3›

The CIA disagreed with JFK

The CIA disagreed with Kennedy's politics prior to his assassination.

The argument

During his presidency, John F. Kennedy had numerous disagreements with the CIA. Their conflicting opinions for military operations could have led to the government assassinating the president. Kennedy and the CIA both blamed each other for the disastrous results of the Bay of Pigs invasion that occurred in 1961. Supposedly, after the operation JFK made personal changes that upset other CIA members. The growing resentment could have led to a plot to assassinate Kennedy. In addition, JFK disagreed with the CIA's plan to assassinate Fidel Castro and didn't want to allow the operation. This is another possible motive for the CIA to kill Kennedy. The former head of the CIA, Allen Dulles, was on the Warren Commission so had influence over what was included in the report.

Premises

[P1]JFK and the CIA had serious disagreements over operations like the Bay of Pigs invasion and the plan to assassinate Fidel Castro. [P2] These conflicts, along with personnel changes JFK made, created strong motive and resentment within the CIA against the president. [P3] Former CIA head Allen Dulles sat on the Warren Commission, giving the CIA influence to shape the official account of the assassination. [C] Therefore, the CIA had both the motive and the means to kill JFK, making it likely they were responsible.

Counter-arguments

Just because President Kennedy and the CIA had disagreeing opinions on military operations does not mean that the government would assassinate the president. Planning and performing that complex of an operation would have been near impossible to keep secret from Kennedy. The aftermath of the assassination was messy and was not beneficial enough to to the CIA to have been planned by them.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P3] These things are not enough to form a believable motive.