MEMO SAYS VIET CONG PREPARING FOR LONG WAR IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On December 3, 1962, Roger Hilsman, Jr.*, director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the U.S. State Department, sent a memo to Secretary of State Dean Rusk.
In the memo, Hilsman says the Viet Cong** (VC) are preparing for a long struggle in Southeast Asia while South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem has failed to win support of his own people.
The memo also says that if changes are not made in the Diem regime, there is the possibility of a coup.
JFK+50 NOTE
On Nov 1-2, 1963, the Diem regime was overthrown with "tacit" American encouragement. Ngo & his brother Nhu were assassinated. While JFK apparently approved of the coup, he did not expect the killings to be part of it.
*Roger Hillsman, Jr. (1919-2014) was born in Waco, Texas & served in the US Army & the OSS in WWII. RH served in the State Dept. during the Kennedy & Johnson administrations.
**Viet Cong was a communist guerilla force active in South Vietnam fighting against the Diem government & his American allies.
SOURCE
"VC Prep For A Long War," JFK+50, December 3, 2011, www.jfk50.blogspot.com/
