LBJ Admits Murder of Diem

If I were Nuri al-Maliki, I'd be more than a little concerned that George Bush is starting to draw lessons from the Vietnam War for the current conflict in Iraq. In the early part of the Vietnam War Ngo Dinh Diem was "our man in Saigon" but by late '62 he was viewed as ineffective by many in the U.S. and a liability by the White House, more or less the way Maliki is now. Diem's fate has important health implications for Maliki. The White House had him murdered.

It is a rare thing to actually hear a U.S. President actually admit to participation in murder, but that is eactly what President Lyndon Johnson does in a very frank 1966 discussion with Eugene Carthy: