u/LandLubby

From my understanding, more recent scholarship
—coming from a less american-centric approach— has put forward the idea that South Vietnam was more independent than previously thought. If this is true why did the Pentagon Papers state “We must note that South Vietnam (unlike any of the other countries in Southeast Asia) was essentially the creation of the United States.”. Was the US wrong or right in its statement and why did they believe it to be true? I haven’t read the full pentagon papers so am I maybe quoting the papers out of context?