08-05-2011, 08:58 PM
I referred to the pertinent paragraph in Jim's review regarding Halberstam's depiction of Lodge:
He clearly tries to imply that this meeting was between only Johnson and Saigon ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge. (Halberstam, p. 298) And that Lodge had returned to Washington to give a report on deteriorating conditions in Vietnam. Not so. Kennedy brought Lodge back to Washington for the express purpose of firing him. (James Douglass, JFK and the Unspeakable, pgs. 374-75) Part of the reason for the termination was Lodge's role in the demise of Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother Nhu. This is a continuation of Halberstam's misrepresentations about Lodge. For he also says that Kennedy appointed him ambassador so as to involve the GOP in what could end up as a disaster. (Halberstam, p. 260) False. Kennedy didn't want to appoint Lodge at all. He wanted his old friend Edmund Gullion as Saigon ambassador. This was vetoed by Dean Rusk who wanted Lodge appointed. (Douglass, pgs. 150-52)
with the single sentence:
Halberstam plays Mickey the Dope about Lodgewho appears as a defiant mutineer in Unspeakable as the fires of war glow on the horizon.
The hissy retort crying "bullshit" fails.
The criticism of Halberstam stands.
Lodge was defying JFK in the handling of the Diem crisis. In Douglass may be seen Lodge in full unapologetic gloat, Kennedy shocked by the assassination and acting to remove Lodge.
Yet Halberstam pastes in a caricature of Lodge as servant of policy, providing continuum.
What was the function of the now-banned?
Throwing wooden shoes (sabots) into the mill gears, hence, sabotage.
He clearly tries to imply that this meeting was between only Johnson and Saigon ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge. (Halberstam, p. 298) And that Lodge had returned to Washington to give a report on deteriorating conditions in Vietnam. Not so. Kennedy brought Lodge back to Washington for the express purpose of firing him. (James Douglass, JFK and the Unspeakable, pgs. 374-75) Part of the reason for the termination was Lodge's role in the demise of Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother Nhu. This is a continuation of Halberstam's misrepresentations about Lodge. For he also says that Kennedy appointed him ambassador so as to involve the GOP in what could end up as a disaster. (Halberstam, p. 260) False. Kennedy didn't want to appoint Lodge at all. He wanted his old friend Edmund Gullion as Saigon ambassador. This was vetoed by Dean Rusk who wanted Lodge appointed. (Douglass, pgs. 150-52)
with the single sentence:
Halberstam plays Mickey the Dope about Lodgewho appears as a defiant mutineer in Unspeakable as the fires of war glow on the horizon.
The hissy retort crying "bullshit" fails.
The criticism of Halberstam stands.
Lodge was defying JFK in the handling of the Diem crisis. In Douglass may be seen Lodge in full unapologetic gloat, Kennedy shocked by the assassination and acting to remove Lodge.
Yet Halberstam pastes in a caricature of Lodge as servant of policy, providing continuum.
What was the function of the now-banned?
Throwing wooden shoes (sabots) into the mill gears, hence, sabotage.