Article about Madame Nhu [Trần Lệ Xuân's]

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derivative filename/jpeg

363-07475 to 363-07481.pdf

Digital Object Identifier

363-07475 to 363-07481

Title

Article about Madame Nhu [Trần Lệ Xuân's]

Description

Original title: "madame", Article draft about Madame Nhu's (Trần Lệ Xuân's) opinions on the Buddhists, for the New York Herald Tribune

AI Usage Disclosure

Draft transcripts were automatically generated via Google Document AI and are currently under review. Please report significant errors to Archives & Special Collections at archives@unl.edu.

Transcript

deepe madame--1 march 4, 1965 SAIGON--Yes, Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu was probably right about the Buddhists. But no one will ever know for sure. When the lovely spitfire sister-in-law of [deletion: the] former President Ngo Dinh Diem labelled the militant Buddhist monks as “Reds in yellow robes,” she caused an internal and international furor. And her attacks indirectly aided the monks--who were later to spark the overthrow of the Ngo regime [deletion: 15] 16 months ago--by [deletion: creating for them an already unpopular] becoming a target they needed symbolically to attack. Her vitriolic remarks also [deletion: effected to sabotage] resulted in sabotaging the attempts to compromise between the Buddhist militants and her brother-in-law the President. (More) deepe madame--2 Observers here believe no one will ever really know if the Buddhist politico-priests are “Reds in yellow robes.” They would never carry a Communist Party card. Vietnamese politics are so obscure that a ranking Buddhist leader would never at this time be caught in a meeting with Communist cadres. “And even if they are Communist agents,” one ex-Communist explained, “they will selflessly sacrifice themselves and fade into oblivion once the Communists have taken over.” But anti-Communist elements in Vietnam instead view the Buddhist militants “as playing the game of the Communists” because of their past actions, their present policy and their “anarchistic” tendencies which have shrivelled the effectiveness of every government since the fall of Diem. And without an effective competing government, [insertion: the] Communist political subversion and organization [deletion: have] has mushroomed in size and strength. From this viewpoint, the Buddhist militants have obviously aided the Viet Cong Communists. In the past three weeks, the Buddhists have reached an important turning point. They have apparently entered a new phase. These are the new developments since the February bombings of North Viet Nam: deepe madame--3 march 4, 1965 one--Except for the Viet Cong Communists, the militant Buddhists organization is the most important power grouping in [deletion: the] Vietnam. Their potential power now appears to overshadow that of both the [XXXX indicating deletion] country’s government and armed forces, which [deletion: is] has become since the February 19th coup attempt more divided and less politically [XXXX indicating deletion] oriented. Neither the armed forces nor the government appears prepared to resist the growing strength of the Buddhist militants. two--During the Diem regime, the militant Buddhists were a clandestine, [XXXX indicating deletion] semi-underground political dissident movement, which used religious persecution as their battlecry. Since [insertion: [illegible]] the fall of Diem, however, they have become a political movement of protest, which successfully neutralized or spearheaded the toppling of each of the successive governments. Now, as of mid-February, they have become part of the government of Prime Minister Phan Huy Quat--and have [deletion: acquired] [illegible] a sizeable chunk of that government. three--at least momentarily, the Buddhists appear to have ended their period of protests against the government--since they have become part of that government. However, they now have [deletion: manufactured] [illegible] a new issue--peace. Their [XXXX indicating deletion] current appeals for peace may in the future become protests for peace, which will again increase the Buddhist power over the masses. deepe madame--4 four--[deletion: for] [illegible] the past [deletion: 15] 16 months [deletion: since] [illegible] the fall of Diem, the Buddhists [deletion: have] [illegible] been a third government--operating between the Saigon government and the [XXXX indicating deletion] political backbone of the Viet Cong guerrillas, the National Liberation Front for South Viet Nam. In an important position paper, a leading monk said the militant Buddhist movement was against both the Communists and the anti-Communists, which he described as the Catholics and the Americans. It was clear from their policy that their immediate enemy was the Saigon government--and not the Viet Cong. Now, however, that they have become [XXXX indicating deletion] a substantial part of the Saigon government, it would appear [deletion: to be the] [illegible] time for them to declare war on the Communists. But, they have not. Instead in mid-February they launched their peace offensive, which places them in the position of rising above both the other states--the Saigon government and the Viet Cong. It is reliably predicted that in the coming months, the Buddhists will move into the position of being the link--or “the hyphen” between between the Saigon government and the Viet Cong, thus paving the way for the coalition government which the Viet Cong have always wanted as part of their neutralization of the country. (More) deepe madame--5 five--the Buddhist [deletion: cone] concept of peace is openly, if not deliberately, ambiguous. One [deletion: pr] Buddhist priest gives one concept to Western and local correspondents, only to have it denied, contradicted or clarified by another priest. More significant than the official statements given to the press is the sermons which the Buddhist priests are giving to the masses, which is their source of power. Frankly, no one really knows what [deletion: their] they say in their sermons. The foreign embassies, the prime minister’s office, the secret police, the Catholics [deletion: [illegible]] and the foreign press [insertion: each] are [deletion: each] known to send a number of “reporters” to attend the Buddhist sermons. Each comes back with a different version and a different emphasis. “Each hears what he wants [insertion: to hear],” one journalist explained. This Buddhist peace offensive is now the talk of Saigon. It is openly considered [deletion: now] that the Buddhists are pro-neutralists--that their version of peace is closer to the Viet Cong’s peace than it is to the peace of the free world [deletion: position]. And while Saigonese now clearly see the true face of the Buddhists as being [deletion: [illegible]] pro neutralist, they see no cohesive anti-Communist element which is capable of stopping their [deletion: peace] offensive. Since mid-February the clear trend has [XXXX indicating deletion] developed to draw a sharper line between the [XXXX indicating deletion] anti-Communist military war and the political subversive war. deepe madame--6 Since the February 19th coup and dismissal of Lt. Gen. Nguyen Khanh as Commander in Chief, the armed forces, which [deletion: was] had been a supergovernment, has [insertion: now] less political power. The armed forces council since the beginning of the [XXXX indicating deletion] Buddhist peace offensive have taken a tough anti-Communist stand against the armed Viet Cong guerrillas, but have virtually ignored the subversive element. The newly-formed government of Prime Minister Phan Huy Quat has taken a tough stand against both the Viet Cong guerrilla and the Communist subversive. But the government has [XXXX indicating deletion] deliberately chosen to ignore the Buddhists as a partial subversive movement. During his first press conference, the Prime Minister [deletion: himself] interrupted one translation, took it upon himself to become the spokesman of the Buddhist position and carefully explained that the Buddhists were for “nationalistic” sort of peace. This “soft” stand on the Buddhist issue is one of the most important developments since the departure of Lt. Gen. Nguyen Khanh. Since the fall of Diem, the rise of the militant Buddhist movement has been the most important single development in the turbulent [deletion: 15] 16 months of Vietnam’s history. [insertion: Immediately] Following the toppling of Diem, the Buddhists held a mass conference in which they re-grouped their strength, unified their position and mapped out their future strategy. They had already launched a whispering campaign against [deletion: the first] Prime Minister [deletion: of the] Nguyen Ngoc Tho of the first military junta. deepe madame--7 However, before the Buddhist politico-priests could marshall their forces, Maj. Gen. Nguyen Khanh seized power as prime minister. Throughout the year, the armed power of the armed [deletion: [illegible]] forces skirted the growing mass power of the pro-neutralist Buddhists. Throughout the year, mostly in behind-scenes intrigue the two contenders for power were Lt. Gen. Nguyen Khanh and the Buddhist politico-priest named Thich Tri Quang [insertion: who had spent 64 days in the American Embassy during Diem regime]. In August, Khanh and Tri Quang collided; the priest won momentarily as pro-Buddhist demonstrations toppled Khanh from the [deletion: [illegible]] Presidency. But Khanh, with brilliant maneuvering, quickly re-established himself as the strongman--until February 20 when pro-Buddhist generals allied themselves with pro-Catholic generals to vote for his dismissal. Khanh then left Viet Nam. Now the strong man in Vietnam is Thich Tri Quang [deletion: and] backed up by his subordinates.

Date

1965, Mar. 4

Subject

Vietnam (Republic), 1961-1975; Buddhism and politics; Vietnam (Republic)--Politics and government; Trần Lệ Xuân, 1924-2011

Location

Saigon, South Vietnam

Coordinates

10.8231; 106.6311

Size

20 x 26 cm

Container

B4, F10

Format

dispatches

Collection Number

MS 363

Collection Title

Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers

Creator

Keever, Beverly Deepe

Collector

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