View From Saigon

Item

derivative filename/jpeg

363-04875B.pdf

Digital Object Identifier

363-04875B

Title

View From Saigon

Description

Article published in the New York Herald Tribune about the political situation in South Vietnam, page 14

Transcript

--------------------
- Page 1
--------------------
Perplexity, Persuasion and Power Play
VIEW FROM SAIGON
By Beverly Deepe
A Special Correspondent
SAIGON.
The biggest question in
South Viet Nam is when Maj-
Gen. Nguyen Khanh will re-
turn to power. He has been
Armed Forces Commander
since stepping down as Pre-
mier three weeks ago.
A parallel question circu-
lating among Gen. Khanh's
enemies is: "How shall we
murder him?"
The 37-year-old Gen.
Khanh appears to be the
key that American policy-
makers hope to use to turn
the losing trend into victory
on the military front and the
disintegration into stability
on the political front.
The current civilian gov-
ernment headed by Premier
Tran Van Huong appears to
be marking time until it
falls. This leads to educated
predictions that Gen. Khanh
again will hold the reins of
government power, perhaps
while retaining his post as
commander-in-chief of the
Armed Forces.
Premier Huong, by impos-
ing martial law in Saigon last
Wednesday, has adopted his
policy of optimum strength.
Now he can only act in a
"more-of-the same" direc-
tion-more troops, more
blood, more arrests or longer
curfew hours.
Few observers expect this
policy to succeed, as Mr.
Huong's government is con-
sidered a stubborn one but
not a strong one. This again
throws the problem into the
hands of the Army--and Gen.
Khanh.
Yesterday, Saigon's mili
tary governor, Brig. Gen.
Pham Van Dong, threatened
to execute violators of the
martial law decree "on the
spot" in a move to protect
the government against re-
neval of the anti-Huong riot-
ing that raged in the capital
for four days last week.
The country's High Na-
tional Council meanwhile
published a resolution giving
grudging support to Mr.
Huong's 24-day-old govern-
ment, while at the same time
urging Cabinet changes that
would give South, Viet Nam
a regime capable of fighting
the Communist Viet Cong
guerrillas effectively.
A Buddhist leader yester-
day called on the council to
use its authority to oust Mr.
Huong on the ground that
the Premier "no longer has
the confidence of the people."
Thich Tam Chau, head of the
Buddhist Institute for Secu-
lar Affairs, told a Saigon
news conference that "if the
counell does not do this, then
we will do so ourselves by a
program of non-co-operation
and non-violence against the
government."
Lists of key political per-
sonalities are already being
drawn up for consideration in
a new government. There is
Speculation that second
civilian government will be
formed-and that it too will
fall-before Gen. Khanh re-
asserts himself in the political
limelight.
In this event it is feared his
enemies would resort to assas
sination.
That possibility has been
a worry to Gen. Khanh's
security officers since he en-
tered the Premier's office on
Jan. 30. However, in the
past, their chief fear was a
coup d'etat by the armed
forces, then headed by Lt.
Gen. Tran Thien Khiem and
by the Dal Viet political party
headed by Dr. Nguyen Tom
Hoan.
as
Since August, both Gen,
Khiem and Dr. Hoan have
Gen.
been virtually exiled.
Khanh.
chief of the armed forces, i
considered to be in a stronger
position now than when he
emerged on the political
commander-in-
scene.
However, not long ago one
of Gen. Khanh's chief secur-
ity aids warned him: "Anyone
can murder you at any time.
It's the simplest thing in the
world." Gen. Khanh replied
with a noncommittal shrug.
Since the late August pro-
Buddhist student demonstra-
tions that ended in Gen.
Khanh's step-down, the poli-
tical and military situation
has deteriorated sharply.
Even more distintegration
is predicted before Gen.
Khanh again emerges as a
strongman. The fall of the
Huong government is likely to
bring turbulence that would
ripple out to the provinces,
already enmeshed in fighting
the Viet Cong guerrillas, and
further reduce the already
low morale of the armed
forces and civil servants.
BUDDHISTS
The enemies of the Huong
government are pro-Buddhist
students, Buddhist move-
ment leaders and a few dis-
gruntled politicians. These
are the same forces that top-
pled Gen. Khanh and pro-
moted the overthrow of the
regime of Ngo Dinh Diem
last November.
This fact leads many ob-
servers to predict that these
forces possibly will attempt
to topple any future govern-
ment.
Many sources, including
Buddhist laymen, openly say
the Buddhist and student
movements are penetrated by
Communists.
Saigonese are taking seri-
ously the prediction of, the
Buddhist politico-priest Thich
Tri Quang that blood will
flow on the streets of Saigon
before the end of the year.
Buddhist leaders are also
saying they will call for a
ceasefire in the anti-Com-
munist war within the next
few months.
Among the arguments used
to oppose Mr. Huong, the
main one appears to be that
the boyish-faced 63-year-old
Premier has not set up the
machinery for selecting the
National Congress. The Con-
gress, supposedly to be estab-
lished in December, would in-
clude more than 100 mem-
bers who would confirm the
appointment of Phan Khac
Suuias chief of state and
would be responsible for
drafting the permanent con-
stitution by November, 1965.
Once the Congress is es-
tablished-if ever-pro-Com-
munist Buddhist leaders
would be given a legal source
of political power to influ-
ence the selection of future
governments and the general
prosecution of the war.

Date

1964, Nov. 29

Subject

Vietnam (Republic)--Politics and government; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Religious aspects--Buddhism; Buddhism and politics--Vietnam (Republic)

Location

Saigon, South Vietnam

Coordinates

10.8231; 106.6311

Container

B186

Format

newspaper clippings

Collection Number

MS 363

Collection Title

Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers

Creator

Keever, Beverly Deepe

Copyright Information

These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.

Publisher

Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries

Language

English