9. The United States helped South Vietnam ignore the provisions of the Geneva Settlement
The Geneva Settlement which divided Vietnam in two included the provision that an election be held in the country in 1956. In the south, at the time of the Geneva Settlement, the government was centered in Saigon. Elections were held in the North and the Viet Minh prevailed. In the south, Ngo Dinh Diem overthrew the prevailing government and established himself in control, with CIA support. The United States and Diem’s government did not recognize the elections held in the North. Diem did not hold elections in the South. The Pentagon Papers revealed, “Without the threat of US intervention, South Vietnam could not have refused to even discuss the elections called for…without being immediately overrun by the Viet Minh armies.
In the south Viet Minh insurgents became known as the Viet Cong. Under the Diem regime, over $40 million dollars ($330 million in 2018) were spent by the United States to train the ARVN and Civil Guard to fight the Viet Cong. The Pentagon Papers also presented US Army General Edward Lansdale, a veteran of the OSS working for the CIA. It was he who led the establishment of Diem as President of South Vietnam, reporting to his superiors in 1961, “We (the US) must support Ngo Dinh Diem until another strong executive can replace him legally”.