S2 Ep5: The Path to the Second Indochina War (Part Two): The CIA, the NLF and Ngo Dinh Diem

In 1954 a CIA officer named Edward Lansdale arrived in Saigon to help build a country. What he helped build was a police state run by one Catholic family in a Buddhist nation, and within a decade the United States would arrange its destruction.Time Period Covered: 1954 to 1961How did a succession of US administrations become stuck in Vietnam? How did Diem's policies create the conditions for insurgency? What did the early activities of the NLF look like?In part two of our exploration of the path to the Second Indochina War, we focus on early American efforts to create a stable regime in South Vietnam. The activities of the CIA and Edward Lansdale in the aftermath of Geneva introduce this relationship, as well as the growing realisation in some quarters that perhaps Diem was not the best person for the job of leading the country. We look at the 'paradox' of Vietnam, why escalation slowly continued in the face of private doubts. NLF operations in the Mekong Delta are discussed from the point of view of those staging these actions, as well as those civilians affected by the authoritarianism of Diem and the intimidating tactics of those who wished to overthrow him. SourcesChristopher Goscha Vietnam: A New HistoryFredrick Logevall The Embers of WarEdward Miller The Vietnam WarNeil Sheehan The Pentagon PapersGeoffrey Warner The United States and Vietnam 1945-1965 (International Affairs October 1972)Show Contenthttps://www.shadowsofutopia.com/dramatis-personae.htmlSupporthttps://www.shadowsofutopia.com/support.html