ANOTHER COUP D'tETAT IN SOUTH VIETNAM
The Central Intelligence Agency appears to be getting expert in setting up new governments in South Vietnam, each of them publicized as an improvement on the previous one in "rallying the masses" for an Nall-out struggle against Communism,”
On January 350 Maj. Gen. Nguyen Khanh overthrew the military junta that liquidated the Diem regime last November 2, The new puppet is advertised by the New York Times as "a tough, skillful commander who has pledged himself to smash the Communists and rally the people behind him to fight for freedom,"
General Khanh gave as his reason for toppling the regime of Maj. Gen, Duong Van Minh that the junta was "soft on Communism" and that it had virtually betrayed the struggle by thinking of turning toward "neutralism" and seeking to negotiate an end to the dirty war. He also alleged that the "plot" was "backed by the French,"
The latter accusation is a refreshing variation on the "Communist plot" theme, It has not been heard very much in the United States
since what went down in American history as the "French and Indian War « The novelty of again bringing into American propaganda the picture of the "wily French," should give State Department propaganda | a more palatable taste than’ it has had for a long time.
In Paris, however, the coup d'état is explained more simply, Writ~ ing in the conservative Le Figaro [January 31], Max Clos said that two currents existed among the crew of officers who overthrew the Diems,. One wing, headed by Duong Van Minh, Tran Van Don and Le Van Kim, had a French background, having studied in France and learning the military . trade in the French army, "Their thought, their culture, their outlook. are certainly more French than Vietnamese." ' So, naturally, they were suspected by the Americans, particularly when it became clear, with . French recognition of China, that de Gaulle was serious about getting French imperialism back into. voutheast Asia,
American imperialism considers itself to be the heir of the French empire, Theytve picked up the “white mants burden" in South Vietnam and they intend to hang on to it. So, naturally, against the French-minded generals they backed "Amer ican’! "Vietnamese generals trained in military schools in the United States, These are not. near~ ly so "moderate," according to Max Clos..
The French-minded wing feel that the war is lost. They want to establish a “position of strength" and then open up negotiations, "In the eyes | of the Americans, such an attitude is equivalent to a kind of treason," For the past months the American "instructors" have been fighting this "softness," The end of it was another palace revolution,
"The program of the new masters of Vietnam appears to be total war against the Vietcong," says Clos, "Tt is evident that the Ameri-~ cans.are behind them, It remains to be seen to what extent the ultras will be able to do better than their predecessors,"
HIGH