THE RIM OF HELL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000200750009-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 22, 1999
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: September 6, 1965
• Content Type: MAGAZINE

THE N A T I O N
Sanitized - Approved~g~sa~,e~,~~tA-RD
STATINTL
~t''1G~ ~tiii Yl O~ ~G~~f
~;PYRGHT
~~oe c art y was on is flank and Cardinal Spellmazt
Joseph P. Kennedy, the Luce Uublicatinnc ~nA a hncr
;' Scheer's pamphlet, ,"How the. United States Got In? ~ "`C ?rusaae against the Ho Chi~Minh regime and the
~j voh~ed in Vietnam" (Center for the Study of Demo- ` Sdath Vietnamese peasants was in full career, although
`~ rratic Institutions Box 4068 Santa Barbara Calif..' Eisenhower conceded that 80 per cent of the South
:3103, sample copy free.), the outlook for they future;. Vietnamese would have voted for union with North'
of mankind would be considerably less gloomy. Scheer ` t~cetnam had the United States and Dicm allowed the
shows how easy it is for a private pressure grou to i e,ection agreed upon' at Geneva to be Held.
hoodwink most of the people of a technologically ad-
oi' Michigan' State University as a cover for the
:tnd ' in the orgazzization of a South Vietnamese
jJ Ull^
vanced, highly literate country like the United States ,,~,iA
country and its neighbor to the north. awton ollrns and Dzem. After two years Fishel "sur?
', Scheer has interviewed many of the key participants'! faced," in CIA terminology, and became head of the;
' in ,the Vietnam trammed includin I MSU program in Vietnam, which employed fifty-font' ,
. the CIA operative and Air k~Qrce major general twholxs! professors and 200 Vietnamese assistants to organize
'iiow taking a second try t persuading tie Vietnamese ; a South Vietnamese FBI and perform other services '
peasantry .that though Uncle Sam comes laden with ~ for the freedom-Loving people. The head of the MSU
School of Police Administration trained Diem's paI~tce .
nn.l~r,~lm and high explosives, their welfare' is close to ;guard, which was supplied with guns and ammunition
l;is i;c~;irt. '1'hc activities of William C. l3ullitt, Cardinal ;.from the U.S. Military, Assistance Advisory Group. "In=
S~~c?lrnan, Joseph P. Kennedy; John F. Itennedy, Leo : terviews with some members of the project," Seheer~
Chcrue and a host of others are documented. Wesley :writes, "revealed that involvement in a high priority '
1'.isl~i~1, :r young professor at the University of Cali- ;program gave them a heady feeling of glamour and
fotnia at Los Angeles, was the first to promote Ngo prestige." And good jobs.
hinlz Diem as the man to overturn the Geneva Agree- ~ Diem received a tremendous build-up in the United i
rr,ents between the Viet Minh and th
F
h
b
h
lf
this was and is carried on under the cloak of godliness ; t]zereupon became a power in both South Vietnamese
and patriotism, and ends up with the advanced country.~and American politics. FisheI asserts that for months ;
z.zsing its superior technology to devastate the small ; Le was Ce only effective contact between Ambassador .
?~-ernment. rrstret had left UCLA for MSU, which
i ward, largely illiterate country like South ~lietnam. AlI ~ `'
e
renc
on
e
a
oi' the Americans. He was joined by many liberals and
ez-liberals. Justice William O. Douglas introduced
Diem to Senators 711ike ~Ylansfield and John F. Kn-
nc?dy, who were likewise impressed with his qualifica-
. tions. Leo Chea~ne; active in tl;e cold war as president
of the International Rescue Comn~ittce, sent Joseph
Iuttinger, a former leader of the Social Democratic
~p7rty in Austria, to set up a refugee office in. South
., Vietnam. Lansdale introduced Buttinger to the Diem
entourage . in Saigon.' President Eisenhower was re~
Iu~tant ao involve. the:Unit~d..$tateg deeply, but Sen,
CPYRGHT
States as the savior of Vietnam, but since his only
domestic support came from his co-religionists and the '
xnandarinate, he was finally thrown aside and assas-
~sinated. The subsequent series of pseudo-governments .;
is recent history. ;:~e late Dr. Tom Dooley, whose role
in these events has been celebrated in book and movie, ~~
turknowingIy summed it up when he called the 17th
.Parallel "the rim ~ of He11;' with "the demons of Com- '
munism stalking outside and holding the -upper half
of their country in. their strangling grip;' Hell now
"blankets both North and South Vietnam, ,and the end
yn .-. ..r ... ... ,..L ..
.Sanitized, -Approved For Release ;.CIA-RDP75-001498000200750009-2