I guess anyone staging a war wants it to be one-sided... in their favor. But you have to assume people will fight back. There is one reason that makes sense regarding Masseria's lack of awareness as to who his opponents were, and that would be the possibility that he was not behind Reina's and Bonventre's death. Has anyone considered that possibility? Other than that there is no excuse for being caught unprepared. Wasn't it Mafia tradition 101 that if someone murders your family, friend, partner, or associate you revege the death? The forces lined up against him were those who were close to Reina and Bonventre. It seems illogical to argue that he both had them killed and had no idea who his enemies were.
--- In americanmafia@yahoogroups.com, David Critchley <ukthesis@...> wrote:
>
> Reading Joe Bonanno's account, it seems like Masseria was launching at this stage a rather one-sided war against the Castellammarese, in which Reina and Bonventre were the casualties.  I don't really buy the story that this was entirely down to Masseria's greed, but anyhow.  What Masseria (and at first Maranzano) did not know was that a faction of the Gaglianos was also planning to kill Masseria, after the killing of Reina.  However, and this is where Vaalchi comes in, Masseria was unaware that the Gaglianos had joined Maranzano until November 1930.
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Ron T. <ront247@...>
> To: "americanmafia@yahoogroups.com" <americanmafia@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Monday, 13 February 2012, 17:05
> Subject: Re: [americanmafia] Re: Boss of Bosses
>
>
>  
> True on the timeframe. They drew first blood. Why would you not expect retaliation? If we are to believe that Masseria had Bonventre killed, then wouldn't it be a safe assumption to look behind the enemy lines that YOU drew to know who your enemies are? Dude picks a fight and then doesn't know who is swinging at him? 
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: David Critchley <ukthesis@...>
> To: "americanmafia@yahoogroups.com" <americanmafia@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 5:58 AM
> Subject: Re: [americanmafia] Re: Boss of Bosses
>
>
>  
> I've not re-read Bonanno on this point.  But the attack on Bonventre was in July, wasn't it?  And before any of Masseria's people were killed.  So this wasn't like the Maranzano people killed a Masseria and this was in retribution, with Luciano or Masseria knowing who was responsible.  In other words, it doesn't show that Masseria knew the forces that were starting to range against him.  These forces only got to work from that August, with Morello's murder.
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: ron <ront247@...>
> To: americanmafia@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Monday, 13 February 2012, 1:51
> Subject: [americanmafia] Re: Boss of Bosses
>
>
>  
> Psychic powers or the New York Times. The story about Bonanno being arrested buying machine guns should have raised a red flag. Also wasn't the killing of Bonventre an indication that they knew who they were fighting? Or he could have just consulted his aide Luciano who seemed to know exactly who to discuss peace terms with after Masseria's death.
>
> --- In americanmafia@yahoogroups.com, "Tom" <tphunt@> wrote:
> >
> > I really don't think it's that tough to read... Even the anti-Masseria forces themselves were not sure who was responsible for the attacks on Masseria. The "rebels" were fighting a guerrilla war. Masseria would have needed psychic powers to determine who was friend and who was foe.
> >
> > Certainly, Morello did not know the forces arrayed against him at the time of his assassination. I see no reason to believe that the murder of Morello suddenly made everything apparent.
> >
> > Gentile was a personal witness to Luciano's ultimatum to Maranzano. Luciano demanded that Maranzano take no further hostile action against anyone, and he threatened that a Maranzano action against even a Luciano enemy would cause Luciano to resort to an all-out war. If Masseria was incapable of fighting Maranzano, it is difficult to see how Masseria's lieutenant suddenly became so dangerous.
> >
> > - Tom
> >
> >
> > --- In americanmafia@yahoogroups.com, David Critchley <ukthesis@> wrote:
> > >
> > > The problem there is that these are simply hypotheses which can be read in other ways.  Although the Morello murder was clearly something Masseria was unprepared for, his feeble reaction to it, after finally knowing who was the enemy, suggests that he wasn't the force of legend.  He ordered his forces to disarm in 1931 simply because he knew the fundamental weakness of his position once his allies peeled away, as they had by then.  I'm not sure about an "ultimatum" from Luciano - where that comes in.  The fact of the matter was that in both Gentile and in Bonanno, Masseria is indeed shown to be trying to build his strength through making alliances.  If you read them, this comes through.  His hamfisted way of doing this in fact caused the tensions that contributed to the Cast. War.  From this, it can be argued that Masseria understood that if he tried to dictate from a position of relative
> weakness, wand ithout allies, he wouldn't get far.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ________________________________
> > > From: Tom <tphunt@>
> > > To: americanmafia@yahoogroups.com
> > > Sent: Sunday, 12 February 2012, 14:48
> > > Subject: [americanmafia] Re: Boss of Bosses
> > >
> > >
> > >  
> > > Dave,
> > >
> > > You have said this on several occasions, and I don't think the evidence supports it.
> > >
> > > Masseria was handicapped by his inability to identify those who opposed him. Reading Bonanno, it appears that Masseria thought Magaddino was his primary opponent. He had good reasons to believe that. Recall that he called for Magaddino to appear before him to settle matters, with no result. That was a violation of underworld protocol and clearly designated Magaddino an enemy of the boss of bosses.
> > >
> > > Masseria probably did not know that Maranzano led the opposition until too late. Recall that Maranzano accepted the boss of boss's invitation to meet - a sign of respect and obedience. In addition, the friction between Maranzano and Magaddino may have been widely known. The various Masseria opponents in the crime families Masseria interfered with remained secret throughout most of the war, operating behind the backs of Masseria-installed bosses.
> > >
> > > We also know that Masseria ordered his forces to disarm. This communicates that: 1. He did not fear a direct assault from his enemies; 2. He trusted (too much) his inner circle; 3. He was confident that the diplomatic process would yield a satisfactory result. In support of this final point, we also see no evidence that he contested the appointment of Messina as temporary boss of bosses to investigate the anti-Masseria charges.
> > >
> > > Finally, even after Masseria was assassinated, his crime family successor Luciano had sufficient remaining strength to successfully issue an ultimatum to the supposed Castellammarese War victor Maranzano.
> > >
> > > Masseria did not lack in strength. He lacked in vision and in knowledge of his enemy.
> > >
> > > - Tom
> > >
> > > --- In americanmafia@yahoogroups.com, David Critchley <ukthesis@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Masseria was something of a paper tiger, as shown by the Cast. War.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>