General Thi's followers in Hue and Danang, in the northern part.of south Vietnam, called for demonstrations. There was an imme-. : diate response to this. It is not likely that the big turnout was due to any personal popularity won by General Ky's twin. The masses. seized the opening, the apparent rift:in the ruling circle, to press .fforward. What was demonstrated was the high unpopularity of the Saigon regime and the readiness of the masses: to move against it ‘given any: kand.: of | lead. . : Lo a
The first plan in removing General: Thi as a possible rival to: Johnson's favorite puppet, was.to send him to:-the United States, either as Saigon's diplomatic representative or for treatment of.a. "sinus condition." Once in: the United States, the ambitious general. might not find it So easy to return. pe,
Ky, however, proved incapable ‘of getting. ‘the masses. out. of the streets of-Hue and. Danang and back into their homes. In fact, it. appeared that the chances were rather high that the demonstrations might touch off similar actions in other areas, including Saigon. For the people in south Vietnam to express their true’ feelings. about the. Saigon regime and the Johnson administration in such a dramatic way . would, of course, be a disaster of the: first magnitude: to the Penta-.. gon, State: Department and White House. There was no: choice.but to reconsider what to do. with General. Thi. a
The result was another gamble. General Thi was given the. assignment: of assuaging the masses in Danang and Hue. He. was provided with an armed guard of such size that it was hard to determine whether it was meant to protect him or just to make sure he returned to Saigon, and he was flown to Danang.
There Ky" s twin received an enthusiastic welcome that was not diminished by the sly references he made to the Americans and their. more . abject lackeys. ‘These could only be interpreted in Washington. as. smacking of un-Americanisn and requiring a still bigger question’ mark to be placed over the “anti- ‘Communist qualifications of this, ‘general. . . ne
Meanwhile in Saigon, the leaders of the Buddhist religion took advantage of Ky's temporary loss of face to press demands for an end to dictatorial military rule and the installation of a civilian regime. This appeal for at least a semblance of democratic trappings naturally caused consternation throughout the Johnson adminis-
tration. What could it signify if not the danger that General Ky _ might be sent bouncing, tail over end, in the gutter? And Washington was long ago scraping the bottom of the barrel for suitable Puppets . to set. up as the Saigon government.
However, having exacted some concessions "about ‘speeding ‘up the application of 4t least.a little democratic whitewash, the. Buddhist leaders drew back again, disclaiming any attention whatsoever to overthrow anybody. The sigh of relief in the Johnson administration. “was audible around ‘the earth.
‘But: the ten days that shook Jehnson' Ss favorite puppet Pron vided ‘fresh: proof, if any were needed, that the Saigon government | dangles on very weak threads and that. it is becoming increasingly — difficult for Washington to strengthen them.
FREI