NND Project Number: NND 63316. By: NWD Date: 2011
TOP SECRET SENSITIVE
I urged Ely not discount solution unless Vietnamese themselves reject it. Ely repeated that Diem remains in power only by our intervention. I said if his analysis was correct, an assembly would vote Diem out, and if an assembly did so, I believed U.S. would accept decision. Ely said he knew he could not prove his statement, but he believed that to maintain Diem against popular will would be to diminish validity of expression of popular will when elections become possible. I said that, on contrary, modified Thoai proposal would work only if accepted by considerable body of Vietnamese opinion. (#) Bao Dai is Franco-U.S. Choice. I said I did Not know whether proposal would work, that I intended to have further consultations today and only asked Ely not to prejudge outcome. Ely said that, in his view, no solution could appear to be more marked as Franco-U.S. Solution than maintenance of Diem. I said I could not agree with this since plan would not work unless good many Vietnamese agreed to it.
8. Ely said that he must mark this as a point of disagreement between us since if plan did work it would be because of my putting pressure on Vietnamese. I agreed that Thoai proposal, as modified, would work only if U.S. and France backed it, and if the basic elements were agreed to by Diem, Do, Quat et al and by Binh Xuyen. I reminded him Washington had not yet agreed to withdraw support from Diem, and that if it did agree to withdraw support, such withdrawal would be very hard for Secretary and me to explain to American people. Ely said he was unable to see how anyone was justified in maintaining Diem in office against best judgment of people on the spot. With respect to possible working out of proposal, I told Ely my guess would be that provisional assembly would vote diem out of office unless he had been brought to change his methods of operation. Ely said this was a difference of point of view between us, explained by fact that he has special responsibilities with respect to crisis which he feels cannot be solved as long as Diem is in office. He said situation is getting worse daily, and he attributes this wholly to Diem's influence. Situation is worsening in the center, and underground is growing. Only by surgery, that is removal of Diem, can country be saved. I said I did not
