Thanks go to Bill Simpich for calling to our attention the
documentary film “Sound Track for a Coup d”etat” about the assassination
of Patrice Lumumba. This compelling documentary has been nominated for
an Academy Award, and won the Sundance Prize for documentaries this
year. Watching the film I was reminded of the key role played by US
Ambassador to Belgium William A. M. Burden, who advocated for the destruction
of Lumumba’s government. Burden seemed to call upon levels of influence
to move beyond US policy of the moment and push events in the direction
of elimination of Lumumba.
I was moved to do additional research on Ambassador Burden and
found that he was a longtime close associate of General Jimmy
Doolittle. They worked on research and development for US air power at
the highest levels of the government. Recent releases of JFK
assassination records have revealed that Doolittle was a member of the
President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB) under the
Kennedy administration, where he chaired the CIA panel. JFK had tasked
the PFIAB with reforming the CIA, and at the time of Kennedy’s
assassination Doolittle was tasked with finding out why CIA had not
implemented Kennedy’s reforms.
Doolittle was a substantial friend and safari partner of the owner
of the Texas School Book Depository D. Harold Byrd. For what it is
worth my research revealed that Ambassador William Burden’s grandmother
was a Virginia Byrd and thus a relative of D. H. Byrd.
General Doolittle’s presence in these core events suggests a yet
unknown meaning. Ambassador Burden’s success in causing the death of
Lumumba suggests access to high power.
Dan Alcorn
