BD-
JFK recognized his complicity in the Diem assassinations.
Lodge, in a recorded conversation, warned JFK the Big Minh-led coup was likely to be lethal.
CIA'er Lucien Conein, acting on direct orders from Ambassador Lodge, who was hand-selected by JFK, gave Big Minh large amounts of cash to perp the lethal coup.
The CIA station in Saigon backed the Diems, as did the previous Ambassador Nolting. It was DC dilettantes who wanted to appease NYT op-ed pages who wanted the Diems dead.
Conein asked for air transport to get the Diems out of SV. He was refused. Told no planes were available--despite the US having the large air base at Danang.
In a twist of fate, Madame Nhu was in the US at the very time the Kennedy Administration was having the Diems assassinated. She angrily hinted at reprisals. She was very tight with Lansdale. She was a remarkable woman, by all accounts.
The Diem assassinations destabilized SV.
I happen to be a JFK fan. But history is history.
