CHAOS IN SAIGON BASES WAR CRISIS
According to a February 22 dispatch from Saigon, the latest set of puppets have offered a reward of $100,000 (yes, that's American: dollars) for the capture, "dead or alive," of fourteen officers involved in the coup dtetat of February 19. The fourteen, headed by Col. Pham Ngoc Thao and Gen. Lam Van Phat, were "at large," The New .. York Times LFebruary 22 international, edition] raised the "suspicion," that ‘the Vietcong may have infiltrated the | highest councils of the Vietnamese armed forces."
It was not reported whether Saigon had put the name of Lieut. Gen. Tran Thien Khiem on the list of malefactors. He should be easy to capture since he is Saigon's ambassador to Washington. He hailed the coup d'état and was ready to head the new "government,"
With the downfall of this clique, came the downfall of Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Khan, who was ousted from office by the loyal forces after they "saved" him from the plotters. And among the waltzing generals, President Johnson, from the most feared head of government in the world, was rapidly becoming the most. ridiculous.
-How could Johnson, with the government in Saigon clearly in the shape of a crumbled cookie, go ahead with his monstrous. threat to "defend" it by extending the war into North Korea? Exactly what was he defending?