Kennedy himself admitted he didn't just "fail to prevent" the coup, he actually consented to it.
<<< Audio tapes of John F. Kennedy show the former U.S. president gave approval for the 1963 Saigon coup which resulted in the assassination of South Vietnam President Ngo Ninh Diem and his brother Nhu. "I feel we must bear a good deal of responsibility for [the coup]. I should never have given my consent to it..." Kennedy says on tape. >>>
flipside.org
And, Kennedy & Co. are known to have been drawing up plans for that coup:
<<< By the end of August, JFK and his most dovish advisers (Averell Harriman, Roger Hilsman, George Ball) agreed that the client government should be overthrown. On August 28, the President "asked the Defense Department to come up with ways of building up the anti-Diem forces in Saigon." He called for actions "which would maximize the chances of the rebel generals" and said, "We should ask Ambassador Lodge and General Harkins how we can build up military forces which would carry out a coup." Harriman said that without a coup, "we cannot win the war" and "must withdraw." Hilsman "agreed that we cannot win the war unless Diem is removed," as did Ball, while Robert Kennedy also called for efforts to strengthen the rebel generals. Secretary Rusk warned JFK that "Nhu might call on the North Vietnamese to help him throw out the Americans." Hilsman urged (August 30) that if Diem and Nhu make any "Political move toward the DRV (such as opening of neutralization negotiations)," or even hint at such moves, we should "Encourage the generals to move promptly with a coup," and undertake "military action" if the DRV tries to counter our actions, letting them "know unequivocally that we shall hit the DRV with all that is necessary to force it to desist," bringing in "U.S. combat forces to assist the coup group to achieve victory," if necessary. "The important thing is to win the war," Hilsman advised McGeorge Bundy; and that meant getting rid of the Saigon regime, which was dragging its feet and looking for ways out. The President concurred that "our primary objective remains winning war," Rusk cabled to the Saigon Embassy.
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zmag.org
So, here we have conclusive proof that the U.S. was not "supporting the government of Vietnam" (as you called it). In fact, we were actively trying to overthrow it.
Tom |
