INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS-Last Stage of Imperialism

October 5, 1974 IN a delightful book on the myths and realities of the Kennedy era David Halberstam recounts an interesting conversation between Vice-President Lyndon Johnson and Stan Karnow of the Saturday Evening Post. Johnson, who was on a whirlwind tour of Asia in 1961, described Diem of South Vietnam as the ''Winston Churchill of South-East Asia". Stan Karnow asked him if he really believed that about Diem. "Shit, man", Johnson answered, "he is the only boy we got out there''. This about sums up US foreign policy. It is remarkable that the world has