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5 comments about Dragon Fire: A Novel.

1. As a Frederick Forsyth fan, I give high compliment to William Cohen.
   I loved this book. I tried to read it slowly so it would last longer, but alas, I couldn't put it down. Please write another, Mr. Cohen!!



2. It's frightening to think that such things occur in the shadows of society but they do. This work of "fiction" might just as well have come from the diary of someone's life or from memories and fears chosen to be put to paper before fading into the darkness of old age.
   
   From the Situation Room of the world's most powerful nation to the spys and operatives in the field, the reader will be kept on the edge wondering what will happen next; how will this one turn out? Plan to be entertained, thrilled, puzzled and frightened at the thought of such things actually happening. Could they, have they, or will they? Perhaps this story is a compilation of facts instead of a mere creation of the author's fantasy. Fantasy or disguised facts, I still wonder which is true but you must decide for yourself. Certainly a worthwhile read.



3. As a career soldier, I was disappointed and angry that a former SECDEF knew so little about the military and how it works at the operational level. The plot was so improbable as to warrant reclassification from thriller to fantasy. Another reviewer described his writing style as clunky; that's an understatement. Mr. Cohen would do well to stick to politics and leave the book writing to the book writers.



4. Written by President Clinton's last Secretary of Defense William Cohen (prior to that a Republican Senator from Maine), I thought a nice fiction book about a SecDef might offer some realistic insider accounts of how things work in the Pentagon. I'm thinking not so much on the realist part, but it was still a lot of fun. Perhaps this shouldn't be a surprise, but the hero of the story is a former two term senator who comes on board to help a president by serving as SecDef. Low and behold, the SecDef is basically James Bond on steroids. (Perhaps Barry Bonds is the better comparison.) Anyway, real or not, it was fun.



5. I bought this book based upon the reviews on the cover. They made it sound like a grand slam homerun. I also thought that a true political insider would be able to construct a taut, suspenseful page-turner that I would not be able to put down. However, I found this tome to be a wordy, disjointed, exercise in futility (much like the Clinton administration itself). The monotonous, continuous, cumbersome, seemingly endless tangents that Cohen takes us on were mind-numbing. I kept reading thinking it had to get better and "take off" at some point, but it never did. There was no climax, no hero that one could root for, and to this day, I'm not sure what the plot was.
   
   I agree with another reviewer who wondered if the book would have been published had the author not been in the President's cabinet. I would have to hope not. Although Cohen was the token Republican in a leftist administration, it seems that he wasn't able to avoid the infection of Clintonian loquaciousness. Inasmuch as the former president couldn't shut up in prime time, it seems the former secretary couldn't shut up in fiction. Do not waste your time with this book.

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1 comments about The Assassination of President Kennedy: November 22, 1963 (Dates With History).

1. "I heard a shot and several seconds later I heard two more shots. I knew that the shots had come from directly above me, and I could hear the expended cartridges fall to the floor. I also could hear the bolt action of the rifle. I saw some dust fall from the ceiling of the fifth floor and I felt sure that whoever had fired the shots was directly above me." -- Via Harold Norman's 12/4/63 Affidavit
   
   ========================================
   
   Does anyone truly think that John F. Kennedy assassination witness and Texas School Book Depository employee Harold Norman was lying through his teeth when he claimed to hear a rifle's bolt being worked directly over his head on 11/22/63 during the shooting of JFK?
   
   And was he telling more lies when Norman said he heard exactly three shots fired and heard three rifle shells hitting the plywood floor directly above his position in the southeast corner of the Depository's fifth floor?
   
   Mr. Norman's testimony in all of the above "three-shot" regards provides an additional (and, IMO, very important) layer of evidence leading toward Lee Harvey Oswald's guilt in the JFK murder (coupled with all the other ballistics, witness, fingerprint, and fiber evidence that back up LHO's guilt as well).
   
   Because if Norman was dead-wrong about everything he heard going on directly above his 5th-Floor location within the Book Depository, it would certainly be an incredible coincidence that he would be WRONG, but in such a "THREE SHOTS WERE FIRED FROM THE SIXTH FLOOR" fashion....which is a scenario that is backed up by lots of other evidence (and witnesses), besides just Mr. Norman.
   
   And if conspiracists want to paint Norman as yet another in a series of "liars" and/or Warren Commission "shills" after the assassination, it only adds one more ludicrous and unproven "He Was Lying" allegation to the already-silly length of such a list that has been created by some CTers over the years since 1963.
   
   And it's interesting to note in the Warren Report, that all seven Warren Commissioners (in three separate re-creations of bullet shells hitting the floor above Norman's position on the TSBD's 5th Floor) were each easily able to hear the cartridge cases hitting the floor.
   
   In addition, there's also the test that was conducted by WC counsel member David W. Belin. To quote Belin directly on this matter.....
   
   "We scheduled the testimony of Harold Norman on March 24, 1964. Before he testified, we wanted to interview him on the fifth floor of the TSBD Building and check whether these sounds {of the rifle shells hitting the floor and of the rifle's bolt being worked by the gunman} could be heard.
   
   "We had with us the equipment necessary to make the test. A Secret Service agent with the bolt action rifle stood with Joe Ball in the southeast corner window on the sixth floor of the TSBD Building. I stayed with Harold Norman on the fifth floor directly below.
   
   "Before giving the signal to conduct the experiment, I waited until a train passed on the nearby railroad overpass so there would be plenty of street noise. In addition, at that time, several large trucks were moving down Elm Street. I then yelled to have the test begin.
   
   "I smiled, for I really did not expect to hear anything. Then, with remarkable clarity, I could hear the thump as a cartridge case hit the floor. There were two more thumps as the two other cartridge cases hit the floor above me.
   
   "The Secret Service agent then worked the bolt of the rifle back and forth, and this too could be heard with clarity.
   
   "When we re-assembled after the re-enactment, I said to my colleague, 'Joe, if I had not heard it myself, I would never have believed it'." -- David Belin; Pages 139-140 of Belin's 1973 book "November 22, 1963: You Are The Jury"
   
   ~~~~~~
   
   Now, either Harold Norman was an amazing liar, or somebody fired three shots from just above Norman's 5th-Floor Depository position on 11/22/63 (with three shells hitting the floor too).*
   
   * = And Norman confirmed he did hear precisely THREE shells/("hulls") hitting the plywood floor directly above him during the shooting. He confirmed this fact in 1986 when he was being questioned about the matter by lawyer Vincent Bugliosi during the television Docu-Trial "On Trial: Lee Harvey Oswald".
   
   Here is some of the verbatim testimony given by Harold Norman at that TV Docu-Trial in 1986:
   
   VINCENT BUGLIOSI -- "So you heard a total of three shots?"
   
   HAROLD NORMAN -- "Yes sir."
   
   MR. BUGLIOSI -- "Did it sound to you like a rifle was being fired directly above you?"
   
   MR. NORMAN -- "Yes sir."
   
   MR. BUGLIOSI -- "Was there any OTHER reason, in addition to the sound of the rifle, any other reason why you believed the shots were coming from directly above you?"
   
   MR. NORMAN -- "Yes sir."
   
   MR. BUGLIOSI -- "And what is that?"
   
   MR. NORMAN -- "Because I could hear the empty hulls--that's what I call them--hit the floor; and I could hear the bolt action of the rifle being pushed back and forward."
   
   MR. BUGLIOSI -- "You're familiar with a bolt-action rifle?"
   
   MR. NORMAN -- "Yes sir."
   
   MR. BUGLIOSI -- "And by 'hulls', you mean cartridge casings?"
   
   MR. NORMAN -- "Cartridges."
   
   MR. BUGLIOSI -- "How many did you hear falling to the floor?"
   
   MR. NORMAN -- "Three."
   
   MR. BUGLIOSI -- "Is the sound of that bolt action, and the ejection of the cartridge casings, and their falling to the floor something that you're going to remember for the rest of your life?"
   
   MR. NORMAN -- "Yes sir."
   
   MR. BUGLIOSI -- "One more question....at any time on the morning of the assassination did you see any stranger or strangers in the Book Depository Building?"
   
   MR. NORMAN -- "No sir."
   
   ~~~~~~
   
   Many CTers think the three shells were "planted" in the Sniper's Nest after the shooting. But Norman heard the shells dropping to the floor DURING THE SHOOTING, not several seconds AFTER the gunfire ceased.
   
   Do some CTers think that the plotters had a guy standing in the Sniper's Nest dropping shells to the floor IN REAL TIME during the actual 8 seconds when the assassination was taking place on November 22nd?
   
   "Real Time, As-It's-Happening Shell Planting"! Now THAT'S Patsy-Framing organization and efficiency, for damn sure! :)
   
   So, if Norman's not a liar (and there's absolutely no reason to think he is), then three shots WERE definitely fired from that southeast corner window of the Book Depository's sixth floor. Period. Which is something that very few conspiracy theorists I've ever talked to actually believe occurred that day.
   
   And -- Harold Norman's testimony, all by itself, makes CTer Robert Groden's crazy "No Shots Were Likely Fired From The Oswald (SN) Window At All" theory look even MORE ludicrous than it already is.
   
   ---------------------------------------------------------
   
   THE JFK ASSASSINATION....IN VERSE:
   
   A one-patsy plot featuring more than one gun?
   Why would that plan be needed to get the job done?
   
   Did the plotters get lucky when Oswald wouldn't crack?
   Or could it be true that Lee really did kill Jack?
   
   The Z-Film, the photos, the gun, and every shell...
   Is there ANYTHING in this case that kooks think doesn't smell?
   
   A plot of this size was a pretty big job...
   How many were there -- an Army-sized mob?
   
   Is there any coherence to any kook's plots?
   I kinda doubt it -- they've got from 4 to 12 shots!
   
   Did Badge Man really fire the head shot that day?
   And if he did -- where's the BOH spray?
   
   I have a strong feeling the conspiracy end is near...
   Because Bugliosi is coming -- and he's an LNer kooks should fear.
   
   David Von Pein
   July 2006
   October 2006
   January 2007

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