THE latest cache of declassified documents from what are known as the ‘Kennedy files’ have not really impressed the small global community of assassination buffs, or, for that matter, the considerably larger community of conspiracy theorists. What they do seem to have done, though, is to offer a rare glimpse into the workings of the CIA and its activities around the world. The release of over 60,000 documents related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy this past Tuesday had kicked off a global race to uncover new information that could help shed light on the popular American president’s mysterious and quite public murder during a rally in November 1963. As it turns out, the truth about the files seems to be much stranger than the fictions conjured up about it. As one article in the New York Times recently pointed out, the decades of secrecy around the Kennedy files may have had to do with the fact that they were hiding CIA secrets and not, as conspiracy theorists long believed, a second gunman.

“This is a big one,” US President Donald Trump had said while teasing their release, “Everything will be revealed.” As with much about Mr Trump, that proved nothing but, to put it politely, a load of rubbish. Instead, his administration, likely inadvertently, has lifted the veil off one of the most notorious entities in the world, evidence of whose misdeeds are peppered throughout the pages. There are references to the CIA overstepping its mandate, conducting illegal surveillance, attempting coups, interfering in elections, poisoning Cuban sugar, attacking Chinese nuclear facilities, and just generally behaving exactly like overseas conspiracy theorists have long accused it of behaving. There could be more to follow, with classified files on the assassination of another longtime target of American intelligence agencies, Dr Martin Luther King Jr, to be released soon. As the empire unravels, one might as well enjoy the spectacle.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2025