SOUTH VIET NAM THE BUDDHIST CRISIS IN SAIGON'S HUGE XA LOI PAGODA, 
BUDDHIST MONKS AND NUNS WERE HOLDING A 48-HOUR HUNGER STRIKE AGAINST 
THE REGIME OF SOUTH VIET NAM'S PRESIDENT NGO DINH DIEM . 
EXPECTING TROUBLE, POLICE SEALED OFF NEARBY STREETS WITH BARBED WIRE . 
TO PREVENT A REPETITION OF THE RITUALISTIC SUICIDE LAST MONTH, WHEN 
A PROTESTING BUDDHIST MONK BURNED HIMSELF TO DEATH ON A SAIGON 
STREET CORNER, TWO FIRE TRUCKS WERE ON HAND . SUDDENLY, ABOUT 
500 SAFFRON-ROBED BUDDHIST PRIESTS, LAYMEN AND WOMEN EMERGED FROM A NEARBY 
ALLEY AND STARTED TO RUN TOWARD THE PAGODA TO JOIN THEIR 
FASTING FELLOW-BUDDHISTS . STYMIED BY WIRE AND POLICE, THE DEMONSTRATORS SAT 
DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET . RIOT SQUADS ARRIVED 
. ARMED WITH A WALKIE-TALKIE RADIO, TWO SPORT-SHIRTED AMERICAN C.I.A . 
MEN DELIVERED A RUNNING COMMENTARY ON EVENTS TO HEADQUARTERS . A 
MONK WITH A PORTABLE LOUDSPEAKER REPEATED : " WE HAVE BEEN 
DECEIVED MANY TIMES AND WE NO LONGER HAVE ANY FAITH IN 
THE REGIME . " GOVERNMENT SECRET POLICE IN CIVILIAN CLOTHES YELLED 
BACK THAT THE BUDDHISTS WERE BEING EXPLOITED BY THE COMMUNISTS . 
THEN THE POLICE CHARGED THE PEACEFUL SEATED CROWDS, CAUSING ONE OF 
THE UGLIEST SCENES IN SOUTH VIET NAM'S THREE-MONTHS-OLD BUDDHIST CRISIS . 
AT GUNPOINT . WITH RIFLE BUTTS, CLUBS AND TOMMY-GUN CLIPS, THE 
COPS BATTERED THE DEMONSTRATORS . WOMEN WHO HAD FALLEN TO THE 
PAVEMENT IN THE FIRST POLICE RUSH WERE SAVAGELY KICKED . A 
YOUNG GIRL HAD HER HEAD SPLIT OPEN WITH A CARBINE BUTT, 
AND AS BLOOD STREAMED INTO HER EYES, SHE WAS CARTED AWAY 
IN A POLICE VAN . FROM THE WINDOWS OF A BROTHEL, 
GIRLS SHOUTED INSULTS AT THE POLICE UNTIL FORCED INSIDE AT MACHINE-GUN 
POINT . THROUGHOUT SOUTH VIET NAM, GOVERNMENT FORCES CRUSHED BUDDHIST DEMONSTRATIONS 
WITH SIMILAR VIOLENCE, ARRESTED NEARLY 300 MARCHERS IN SAIGON ALONE, FOLLOWING 
ORDERS TO " USE ANY MEANS " TO DISPERSE BUDDHIST DEMONSTRATIONS 
. TOP U.S . EMBASSY PEOPLE IN SAIGON WERE " SHOCKED 
AND DISGUSTED " BY THE DIEM GOVERNMENT'S ACTION . ONE MONK 
DELIVERED A PROTEST NOTE TO THE EMBASSY, URGING THE U.S . 
TO FORCE DIEM TO RELENT ; U.S . AMBASSADOR FREDERICK E 
. NOLTING TELEPHONED VIETNAMESE OFFICIALS AND GOT ASSURANCES THAT THE MAN 
WOULD NOT BE MOLESTED . BUT NO SOONER HAD THE MONK 
LEFT THAN SECRET POLICE AGENTS TRIED TO SPIRIT HIM AWAY IN 
A WAITING TAXI . THE PRIEST FOUGHT THEM OFF AND RACED 
BACK TOWARD THE U.S . EMBASSY . A U.S . OFFICIAL 
DRAGGED HIM TO SAFETY THROUGH THE DOOR AS A HUSKY MARINE 
GUARD PEELED A VIETNAMESE COP FROM THE PRIEST'S BACK . MORALITY 
CRUSADE . IRONICALLY, THE CRISIS INVOLVES ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST 
DOCILE RELIGIONS . YET, IN A SENSE, THAT VERY QUALITY MAKES 
BUDDHISM A PROBLEM . SINCE IT KNOWS NO SENSE OF SIN, 
AND HENCE NO REPRISAL FOR ERROR, IT IS, AT LEAST BY 
WESTERN STANDARDS, PASSIVE, BACKWARD AND NEUTRAL . BUDDHISM, SAYS THEOLOGIAN PAUL 
TILLICH, " GIVES NO DECISIVE MOTIVES FOR SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION, AND THUS 
PROVIDES A NONPOLITICAL OPPORTUNITY FOR AN INVASION OF BUDDHIST EAST ASIA 
BY THE COMMUNIST QUASI-RELIGION WITH ITS HOPE FOR A TRANSFORMED WORLD 
. " ALTHOUGH THE RED CHINESE ARE WOOING THE BUDDHISTS EVERYWHERE, 
THERE IS NO REAL EVIDENCE SO FAR THAT THE REDS ARE 
USING SOUTH VIET NAM'S BUDDHISTS, AS THE DIEM GOVERNMENT CHARGES . 
ON THE OTHER HAND, DIEM HAS NOT SUCCEEDED IN USING THEM 
EITHER UNLIKE THAILAND'S STRONGMAN SARIT THANARAT, WHO HAS SHOWN THAT,WHEN HANDLED 
PROPERLY, THEY CAN BE A SOLID, ANTI-COMMUNIST FORCE . UNTIL RECENTLY, 
THE BUDDHISTS IN SOUTH VIET NAM HAD NO REAL CASE AGAINST 
DIEM . SINCE THE BUDDHISTS WERE SOUTH VIET NAM'S DOMINANT GROUP 
FOR CENTURIES AND RESENT ROMAN CATHOLICISM AS THE RELIGION OF THEIR 
FORMER FRENCH MASTERS DIEM HAS TAKEN PAINS NOT TO SHOW OBVIOUS 
FAVORITISM TOWARD FELLOW CATHOLICS . ONLY THREE OF 19 ARMY GENERALS 
AND FIVE OF 17 CABINET MINISTERS ARE CATHOLICS . THOUGH NEARLY 
HALF OF THE 123-MEMBER NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IS CATHOLIC, THIS IS LARGELY 
BECAUSE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS TURN OUT BETTER EDUCATED GRADUATES THAN BUDDHIST SCHOOLS 
. MOST VIETNAMESE NEVERTHELESS BELIEVE THAT DIEM'S CATHOLIC RULING FAMILY HAS 
SHOWN BIAS . PRIMARILY MIDDLE-CLASS LANDOWNERS, VIETNAMESE CATHOLICS ARE ECONOMICALLY FAR 
MORE ADVANCED THAN THE BUDDHISTS . THOUSANDS OF BUDDHISTS HAVE BECOME 
CONVERTS TO CATHOLICISM IN THE HOPE THAT THIS WOULD HELP THEM 
PROFESSIONALLY OR ECONOMICALLY . BUDDHISTS CLAIM THAT THE GOVERNMENT GIVES CATHOLICS 
BETTER LAND FOR SCHOOLS AND CHURCH BUILDINGS AND DISCRIMINATES AGAINST BUDDHIST 
STUDENTS IN GRANTING STATE SCHOLARSHIPS . UNLIKE OTHER RELIGIOUS GROUPS, BUDDHISTS 
MUST HAVE SPECIAL GOVERNMENT PERMITS TO HOLD LARGE MEETINGS . " 
THIS PUTS US IN THE SAME CATEGORY AS THE TRADE UNIONS, 
" SAYS ONE BUDDHIST PRIEST . WITH THEIR FREE AND EASY 
MORES, BUDDHISTS ALSO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE MORALITY CRUSADE OF MME . 
NGO DINH NHU, WIFE OF DIEM'S BROTHER AND CLOSEST ADVISER . 
MME . NHU HAS BANNED POLYGAMY, CONCUBINAGE, DANCING, AND EVEN FIGHTING 
FISH . HARD LINE . ALL THESE DISCONTENTS NEED NOT HAVE 
ERUPTED IF GOVERNMENT TROOPS HAD NOT STUPIDLY AND BRUTALLY GUNNED DOWN 
NINE BUDDHIST DEMONSTRATORS AT A RALLY IN HUE TWO MONTHS AGO 
. EVEN THEN, THE BUDDHIST CONTROVERSY WOULD PROBABLY HAVE DIED DOWN 
IF THE GOVERNMENT HAD OFFERED A PUBLIC APOLOGY, WHICH IS THE 
BUDDHISTS' CHIEF DEMAND, ALONG WITH SUCH PRACTICAL MATTERS AS FREEDOM OF 
ASSEMBLY, THE RIGHT TO FLY THEIR FLAG, BUDDHIST CHAPLAINS IN THE 
ARMY . BUT BROTHER NGO DINH NHU HAS ALWAYS URGED A 
HARD LINE . WHAT HE FEARS WITH SOME REASON IS THAT 
IF DIEM GIVES IN EVEN SLIGHTLY TO THE BUDDHISTS, IT WOULD 
ONLY CAUSE NEW DEMANDS THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY THREATEN THE GOVERNMENT'S WHOLE 
POWER STRUCTURE . BY WEEK'S END, HOWEVER, IN A BELATED ATTEMPT 
TO EASE TENSIONS, THE GOVERNMENT ORDERED THE RELEASE OF 267 BUDDHISTS 
ARRESTED DURING THE DEMONSTRATIONS . THOUGH HEAD PRIEST THICH TINH KHIET 
SAID THAT HE HAS LOST CONFIDENCE IN DIEM'S " HIGH VIRTUE, 
" NO TOP BUDDHIST HAS YET OPENLY ASKED FOR THE OVERTHROW 
OF THE DIEM GOVERNMENT . BUT A NEW TYPE OF BUDDHIST 
LEADER IS EMERGING YOUNG, WELL-EDUCATED, TOUGH, AND IMPATIENT WITH THE OLDER 
MEN'S RELATIVE RESTRAINT . AS PASSIONS MOUNT AND THE POLICE CRACK 
DOWN HARDER, BUDDHISTS ARE BEING PUSHED INTO A DANGEROUS ATTITUDE OF 
MARTYRDOM . " WE DON'T WANT A POLICE STATE, " SAYS 
A BUDDHIST PRIEST . " WE DO NOT WANT TERROR OR 
DISCRIMINATION OR STATE CONTROL . WE ARE LOYAL VIETNAMESE, BUT THE 
GOVERNMENT TREATS US LIKE COMMUNISTS . WE ARE WILLING TO SACRIFICE 
OURSELVES AND TO DIE TO BRING FREEDOM TO ALL THE PEOPLE 
OF SOUTH VIET NAM . " . . . (TRI-DOT) THE 
COMMUNIST VIET CONG WAS OBVIOUSLY TRYING TO CAPITALIZE ON THE BUDDHIST 
CRISIS . STEPPING UP THEIR ATTACKS, THE RED GUERRILLAS WOUNDED 14 
U.S . ADVISERS IN A MORTAR BARRAGE ON A U.S . 
COMPOUND IN CAN THO AND KILLED THREE AMERICANS WHEN THE REDS 
SHOT UP A U.S . MEDICAL CONVOY NORTH OF SAIGON . 
A FOURTH ADVISER WAS KILLED LATER IN THE WEEK WHEN JITTERY 
SENTRIES BEGAN SHOOTING AT EACH OTHER IN THE DARK . THE 
DEAD BROUGHT TO 89 THE NUMBER OF U.S . TROOPS KILLED 
IN THE WAR IN SOUTH VIET NAM . 