Post by John Corbetthttp://youtu.be/mQX4cBV5Kfw
He was speaking into a dictaphone about the coup and assassination of Diem
on 11/4/63. In it he indicates there was division within the
administration as to whether or not Diem should have been removed and
seemed to be appalled at that he was assassinated. In the middle of the
dictation John Jr. comes in and they have a short conversation before he
resumes the dictation.
JFK would have been quite naive to think that Diem could be overthrown and
then the coup makers would let him (and his powerful brother) live. They'd
be inviting a civil war one - retaliation by Diem's supporters - that they
couldn't be sure of defeating.
From my reading, the administration was hesitant to support a coup because
they were worried that it would fail not because it would succeed or that
things would be made worse if it worked. If it failed - and the US was
seen as complicit by Diem and his supporters - then the whole situation
would blow up.