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I cannot believe that JFK, having been snookered into the Bay of Pigs, would have personally approved of the murder of a pro-Catholic President of Vietnam. This is text from a recorded statement JFK made about the assassination on Nov. 4, 1963:

"(President Kennedy): I was shocked by the death of Diem and Nhu. I'd met Diem with Justice Douglas many years ago. He was an extraordinary character. While he became increasingly difficult in the last months, nevertheless over a ten-year period he'd held his country together, maintained its independence under very adverse conditions. The way he was killed made it particularly abhorrent."

JFK'S MEMOIR DICTATION ON THE ASSASSINATION OF DIEM

The other information that has been brought up since Nov. 22, 1963, is that at the time of his death, JFK , was planning on eventually withdrawing all U.S. troops from Vietnam. From a 2003 article by James Kenneth Galbraith, which he bases on the meticulous work of John M. Newman. "Newman was a Major in the U.S. Army, an intelligence officer last stationed at Fort Meade, headquarters of the National Security Agency. As an historian, his specialty is deciphering declassified records—a talent he later applied to the CIA’s long-hidden archives on Lee Harvey Oswald."

Exit Strategy: In 1963, JFK ordered a complete withdrawal from Vietnam

The article states that from October 2nd, 1963, Kennedy was planning on withdrawing U.S. troops, after receiving a mission report completed by Robert McNamara and Gen. Maxwell Taylor. The article also states at that same meeting: "At Kennedy’s instruction, Press Secretary Pierre Salinger made a public announcement that evening of McNamara’s recommended timetable for withdrawal."

Newman made a chronological summery of the decision to withdraw troops, based on documents, info, etc. His second point is interesting, because:

"On October 5, Kennedy made his formal decision. Newman quotes the minutes of the meeting that day:

'The President also said that our decision to remove 1,000 U.S. advisors by December of this year should not be raised formally with Diem. Instead the action should be carried out routinely as part of our general posture of withdrawing people when they are no longer needed.'"

So this decision was focusing on December, and Kennedy was under the impression in early October, that Diem would still be in power in December, but that they wouldn't discuss the withdrawal with him before-hand.

So why assassinate the President of a country, you are planning on withdrawing your troops from? I do not believe that John Kennedy authorized the assassination of Diem, his younger brother, or the secret police chief, all at the same time. and in the way it was conducted. Because Diem was considered an embarrassment, and Kennedy's administration was staffed by people who hated Ngo Dinh Diem who saw him as nothing more than a corrupt Asiatic despot. Kennedy was fully aware that Lodge was meeting with Minh and other members of the military in talks of a coup and receiving support from people like Harriman. The only thing Kennedy didn't sign on was the idea that they would be executed, which quite frankly was a delusional thing to expect on his part. He honestly believed that a regime change would lead to democratization of the government in Saigon and popular legitimacy and for America to be able to cut its commitment in the region.

It appears to be monumentally stupid because it was monumentally stupid.