NODULE X7 OSWALD IN MINSK AND THE U2 DUMP: JANUARY ...

I never heard of the U-2 when OSWALD came to the Embassy. I never
heard about it until after Francis Gary Powers was shot-down. Where
would the suspicion arise? How do you attach the U-2 to OSWALD? I had
no knowledge OSWALD was a radar operator in Japan, at the time. I had
no knowledge that they were running U-2 operations out of Japan over
China until it came out in the press, long after the Francis Gary Powers
trial. There was no link in my mind - OSWALD being a radar operator -
which is not a very lofty position. Remember, it is very clear now, which
wasn't so at the time, that OSWALD thought - and he was probably right -
that he was speaking for Russian ears when he was talking to me. The
Embassy had been penetrated - we all knew it at the Embassy. There was
only one safe room and that was upstairs. It had been specially built.
OSWALD was trying to impress the Soviets of his sincerity. He may
declare this in his diary also. This was kind of a last chance, last ditch
effort on his part, to get the Soviets to accept him. They had rejected him
and said, 'We're not going to give you residence.' I didn't dwell on that
point. It became clear later on, in reading his diary...I reported it back to
Washington. I was in no position to evaluate whether the guy really knew
anything or was bluffing. I had no way of evaluating if he knew anything
about radar.
Richard E. Snyder was asked if OSWALD could have been a Soviet Agent:
I can't imagine any possible scenario in which the Soviets would go
through this kind of charade to make and agent out of OSWALD. The
complexity of the charade. Any serious intelligence organization would be
out of their minds to trust OSWALD. He was a real flake. That's my own
feeling about him. Certainly his attempted suicide marked him as
emotionally unstable. The KGB had a considerable time to look at him in
the hotel. They had his interviews with Priscilla Johnson. They must have
had a pretty good line on the guy. [After he defected] his use as an agent
would have been damaged because he was listed by every American
intelligence agency. To use a guy like that to assassinate the President
would make no sense. This rules out any Soviet involvement.
The possibility that OSWALD was dispatched then activated to sabotage the summit
was suggested to Richard E. Snyder. He commented,
This is really farfetched stuff, this is stoned stuff. It fits in with the whole
conspiracy industry. There is no evidence. Imagination will do if you're
writing stuff like this and making money.