JFK Facts Whitewashes the Diem Coup
On Nov. 1, 1963, President Diem and his brother, a top advisor, would be overthrown and murdered by Vietnamese military officers. The members of the junta that replaced them had been in close contact with U.S. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. and the CIA. JFK was aghast at the killings, having never wanted anything worse than exile for Diem.
Yes, Kennedy might have been upset that Diem was murdered, but he clearly authorized the coup.
The cable bounced through a slipshod approval process. Michael Forrestal of the National Security Council staff called Kennedy directly. Kennedy told him to get a senior administration official to approve it. Hilsman, Forrestal, and Averell Harriman then obtained approvals from senior officials who seemed under the impression that JFK had already approved it. Kennedy, hearing that his advisers had approved it, then gave his own approval.
So, JFK definitely approved the Green Light Cable. But not in the serious deliberative fashion you might imagine. The implications of a coup, you might say, were not thought through.
The cable told Lodge that Diem had to be given a chance to remove Nhu. If Diem refused, Washington would have to face the possibility that Diem himself “cannot be preserved.” Lodge was instructed to consider alternative leadership in case Diem was ousted.
To be clear, the Kennedy administration and the CIA didn’t overthrow Ngo Dinh Diem, as it is sometimes claimed. Rather, they simply gave a green light to South Vietnamese generals who were plotting the overthrow. The wink and nod from Cable 243 was all they needed to proceed.
Here is what JFK dictated on November 4, 1963: (1:15)
I feel that we must bear a good deal of responsibility for it, beginning with our cable of early August in which we suggested the coup. In my judgment, that wire was badly drafted. It would never have been sent on a Saturday. I should not have given my consent to it without a roundtable conference in which McNamara and Taylor could have presented their views. While we did redress that balance in a later wire, the first wire encouraged Lodge along a course to which he was in any case inclined.
It's hard to believe that Nagle could conclude his post like this:
Personal aesthetics afford some leeway for stylistic preferences, but “lackadaisical encouragement” feels like a bridge too far in the field of rhetorical acrobatics. In any case, there is no evidence that JFK encouraged the “fatal overthrow” of a U.S. ally, only that he didn’t stand in the way of the plot to remove him from power.
Fatal, no. But JFK did approve Diem's overthrow.
I would also add that the memo showcased the large divisions within the White House on Vietnam and that JFK"s managerial style was ill-suited to the differences.
Previous Relevant Blog Posts on Jefferson Morley's Substack articles
An article written by Mark Bujdos paints Lee Harvey Oswald as someone who was "kind and thoughtful."
Pearcy sounded more like a conspiracy theorist than a historian in his speech in Indiana.
An analysis of Pearcy's interview on Indiana radio.
Here are the actual reports from Gaeton Fonzi about his interviews of DRE leaders.
It's not clear what he will be doing.
I get under Morley's skin.
JFK's secretary thought the JFK assassination was a conspiracy. Who cares?
Morley misinterprets a Soviet document.
A supposed CIA whistleblower wasn't very curious.
How many times must Morley repeat this story?
It wasn't hard to find evidence that Charles Niles worked for the FAA.
The truth about FAA credentials.
A rebuttal to Good regarding Ruth Paine.
Morley presents several conspiratorial allegations about Ruth Paine.
I don't even have law degree!
A new CIA file on Herminio Diaz does not sustain allegations that he was a grassy knoll gunman.
Richard Russell always believed that Oswald was the lone gunman.
An article by Chad Nagle, on Morley's Substack, gets it wrong on Hoover's testimony.
My latest article for Quillette.com
The recent segment on CBS about Morley and JFK documents was not journalism.
Morley's list of six CIA operations does not prove that Oswald was under surveillance.
Morley claims the SpyTalk authors are working as pro bono lawyers for the CIA.
The CIA was just quoting from a State Department memo.
SpyTalk replies to Jefferson Morley.
Gerald Posner on the Joannides file.
Gus Russo and Michael Isikoff on the Joannides personnel file.
Now that the entire personnel file of George Joannides has been released, Jefferson Morley has now published his unified theory of nothingness.
More Morley Nothingburgers on the way
Morley is requesting more documents -- they will reveal nothing about the assassination.
Morley got the headlines he wanted to a complete non-story.
Joannides did not come out of retirement to work with the HSCA.
There is no mention of an "Oswald Operation" in the Joannides' personnel file.
Morley believes that Dr. Robert McClelland's recollections provides proof of a shot from the front. Here is the truth about McClelland.
A reply by Nicholas Nalli to Jefferson Morley.
Morley suspected a redacted file would reveal major secrets. It didn't.
Several months ago, I posted an article, in association with several researchers, which showed what was contained in the redacted section of Schlesinger's memo.
Morley somehow knows what is in the supposed 2,400 recently discovered FBI files.
Morley discusses Israel with Tucker Carlson.
Morley believes that the United States can never be great unless it solves the JFK assassination.
An analysis of the 13 documents Morley wants to see.
Morley claims I am a CIA apologist and then misquotes me.
It would be worthwhile for the CIA to release the Joannides file just to stop the incessant posts from Jefferson Morley.
Actually, Oswald stayed at two budget-priced hotels in Helsinki.
He keeps asking the same questions, and we keep posting the same answers.
Conspiracy authors are playing fast and loose with the facts.
There is no evidence that Diaz was involved in the JFK assassination.
There are clues as to what is in a redacted section of Schlesinger's memo.
Chad Nagle and Dan Storper's article on New Orleans gets everything wrong.
Believing Michael Kurtz is problematic.
Morley wrote that there are two redacted memos on CIA reorganization, but there is only one. He wrote about Goodwin's copy as if it was a different memo, rather than a copy of the Schlesinger memo.
The phrase 'who shot John' does not refer to the JFK assassination.
Only one word is redacted in Harvey's deposition.
There are no redactions in the Operation Northwoods document.
Kilgallen had nothing to tell.
An underwhelming interview of Marina Oswald.
Morley often repeats stories and changes their meanings.
Chad Nagle claims there was an assassination plot against JFK in Chicago in November 1963. One problem: There is no evidence of such a plot.
A response to Morley's Substack post alleging that I am a CIA apologist.
A rebuttal to Morley's response to my post Was Bill Harvey in Dallas in November of 1963?
There is no credible evidence Harvey was in Dallas in November of 1963.
Morley repeats the claim that Dulles was at a CIA training center during the weekend of the JFK assassination. He wasn't.
Morley's claims about Efron are all wrong.
Morley responded to my article "The Truth about Operation Northwoods." Here is my reply.
W. Tracy Parnell on Jefferson Morley
W. Tracy Parnell is one of the best JFK assassination researchers out there. Here is his look at Jefferson Morley with several important articles.
Operation Northwoods can only be understood as part of the Kennedys' war against Cuba and Operation Mongoose.
And a response from me.
There is no evidence that Dr. West petitioned the court to examine Jack Ruby before his trial.
There is absolutely no evidence that Dr. Louis Jolyon West interfered with Jack Ruby's case.
Jefferson Morley used a fake Oswald handbill in his press conference for the Mary Ferrell Foundation.
An examination of redactions in the JFK collection of documents.
Morley doesn't understand Alecia Long's arguments about homophobia and Jim Garrison.
Jefferson Morley asks why "what the CIA knew about Herminio Diaz is still off limits."
Morley misses that a lot of redactions are actually available.
Jefferson Morley's press conference presents evidence that belief in a conspiracy has dropped.
Previous Relevant Blogs Posts on Jefferson Morley's Congressional Testimony
An analysis of Congresswoman Luna's Congressional Hearings
An FBI memo that quoted James Angleton is used by Morley to reach an unwarranted conclusion.
Morley misreads Angleton's testimony before the HSCA.
Morley believes a document proves the CIA did not believe that a lone gunman killed JFK.
Additional documents relevant to Part Three.
Morley claims that there is some connection between the suicides of Gary Underhill, Charles Thomas, George de Mohrenschildt, and the overdose death of Dorothy Kilgallen.
Morley believes that Agustin Guitart was spying on pro-Castro forces in New Orleans.
