SOUTH VIET NAM THE CRACKDOWN OVER AND OVER, THE DESPERATE VOICE SHOUTED 
INTO THE TELEPHONE : " THEY ARE BREAKING INTO XA LOI 
PAGODA . THEY ARE BREAKING INTO XA LOI PAGODA . " 
IN THE BACKGROUND, GUNFIRE MINGLED WITH THE CONFUSED SCREAMS OF BUDDHIST 
MONKS AND NUNS AND THE CLANGING ALARM OF THE HUGE BRASS 
GONG THAT HANGS IN THE BELL TOWER OF SAIGON'S LARGEST PAGODA 
. SUDDENLY THE PHONE CONNECTION FROM THE TEMPLE WENT DEAD . 
IT WAS 12 : 20 A.M . USING THEIR RIFLE BUTTS 
AS CLUBS, SQUADS OF TOUGH, RIOTTRAINED " SPECIAL FORCES " SMASHED 
INTO THE PAGODA, BATTERING A PATH THROUGH A SMALL GUARD OF 
YOUNG BUDDHIST MONKS . THE TROOPERS HAD A LIST, AND EACH 
MONK ON THE LIST WAS CONSIDERED TO BE A " COMMUNIST 
IN DISGUISE . " ON THE TEMPLE'S SECOND FLOOR, ONE MONK 
TRIED TO RESIST AND WAS THROWN BODILY FROM A BALCONY TO 
THE COURT-YARD 20 FT . BELOW . OTHER MONKS AND NUNS 
WERE ROUTED FROM BEHIND A FLIMSY BARRICADE OF WOODEN BENCHES AND 
FORCED OUTSIDE BY TEAR GAS AND GUNSHOTS . SACKING THE PAGODA'S 
MAIN ALTAR, THE RAIDERS CARTED AWAY THE CHARRED HEART OF BUDDHIST 
MARTYR THICH QUANG DUC, WHO LAST JUNE WAS THE FIRST OF 
FIVE BUDDHISTS TO BURN HIMSELF TO DEATH IN PROTEST AGAINST THE 
DIEM GOVERNMENT'S ANTIBUDDHIST DRIVE . BUT THE BUDDHISTS MANAGED TO SPIRIT 
OUT OF THE BUILDING THE RECEPTACLE HOLDING QUANG DUC'S ASHES . 
" THE ASHES ARE HOLY, " SAID ONE MONK . " 
WE WOULD GIVE 15 LIVES TO DEFEND THEM . " TWO 
OTHER MONKS ESCAPED OVER THE BACK WALL OF XA LOI (PRONOUNCED 
SAH LOY) INTO THE GROUNDS OF THE ADJOINING U.S . AID 
MISSION, WHERE THEY WERE GIVEN TEMPORARY SANCTUARY . TO THE DIEM 
GOVERNMENT, THE CRACKDOWN OBVIOUSLY SEEMED NECESSARY TO PROTECT THE REGIME AND 
ENFORCE THE LAW OF THE LAND AGAINST BUDDHIST DEFIANCE . BUT 
IT WAS BRUTAL, NONETHELESS, AND IT AROUSED A STRONG NEW WAVE 
OF SYMPATHY FOR THE BUDDHISTS . IT ALSO PUT U.S . 
POLICY IN SOUTH VIET NAM, WHICH INVOLVES THE LIVES AND SAFETY 
OF 14,000 U.S . TROOPS, INTO AN AGONIZING DILEMMA . WHILE 
OFTEN UNHAPPY WITH DIEM, THE U.S . HAS PROCEEDED ON THE 
ASSUMPTION THAT IT WAS SAFER TO STICK WITH HIM THAN RISK 
THE CHAOS THAT MIGHT SURROUND A SWITCH TO A NEW, UNKNOWN 
AND UNPREDICTABLE REGIME . BUT BY HIS MOVE AGAINST THE BUDDHIST 
MONKS, WHO HAVE THE GROWING SUPPORT OF THE COUNTRY'S VAST BUDDHIST 
MAJORITY, ROMAN CATHOLIC DIEM MAY FINALLY HAVE SHATTERED HIS OWN POLITICAL 
USEFULNESS . HE ALSO OPENED UP THE POSSIBILITIES OF COUPS, COUNTER-COUPS, 
AND EVEN CIVIL WAR FROM ALL OF WHICH ONLY THE COMMUNIST 
VIET CONG COULD BENEFIT . BOOLA, BOOLA . UNTIL LAST WEEK, 
PRODDED BY THE U.S., DIEM HAD DISPLAYED AN APPARENT WILLINGNESS TO 
CONCILIATE THE BUDDHISTS . FEELING BETRAYED BY DIEM'S CRACKDOWN, ONE RANKING 
U.S . EMBASSY OFFICER SAID : " ALL THE TIME THEY'VE 
BEEN PREACHING CONCILIATION TO US, THEY'VE EVIDENTLY BEEN PLANNING JUST THE 
OPPOSITE . " THE BUDDHIST CRISIS HAD BEGUN AS A RELIGIOUS 
ONE, BUT GRADUALLY TURNED INTO A MAJOR POLITICAL CONFLICT . THE 
BUDDHISTS ARE FAR FROM PASSIVE MARTYRS . THEIR RELIGIOUS AND SOCIAL 
DEMANDS A FAIRLY MODEST PACKAGE DEMANDING FULL EQUALITY WITH THE COUNTRY'S 
ROMAN CATHOLICS HAD NEVER SOUNDED CRUCIAL, ESPECIALLY SINCE EVEN DIEM'S WORST 
ENEMIES COULD NOT POINT TO ANY REAL ANTI-BUDDHIST DISCRIMINATION OR PERSECUTION 
. BUT WHEN GOVERNMENT TROOPS STUPIDLY KILLED 13 BUDDHISTS IN A 
DEMONSTRATION IN HUE (PRONOUNCED WHEY) FOUR MONTHS AGO, THE BUDDHISTS MADE 
THE CLEARLY POLITICAL DEMAND THAT THE GOVERNMENT ACCEPT / RESPONSIBILITY " 
FOR THE INCIDENT . SINCE THEN, THE BUDDHISTS HAVE DEVELOPED INTO 
A SERIOUS OPPOSITION MOVEMENT . PAGODAS, SPORTING PROTEST SIGNS IN VIETNAMESE 
AND ENGLISH, BECAME COMMAND POSTS WHERE DUPLICATING MACHINES GROUND OUT HUNDREDS 
OF THOUSANDS OF MESSAGES, AND THE SOUND OF TYPEWRITERS AND TELEPHONES 
BLENDED WITH THE BOOM OF TEMPLE GONGS . APPEALS FOR AID 
WERE BROADCAST TO PRESIDENT KENNEDY, POPE PAUL VI, AND U.N . 
SECRETARY-GENERAL U THANT . AT A GRISLY, WELL-ORGANIZED PRESS CONFERENCE IN 
SAIGON, BUDDHIST LEADERS INTRODUCED A TINY, WITHERED BUDDHIST NUN AS A 
CANDIDATE FOR SELF-IMMOLATION IN PROTEST AGAINST THE DIEM GOVERNMENT . WHEN 
ONE BUDDHIST SPOKESMAN WHO HAD STUDIED AT YALE WANTED TO PASS 
OUT THE LATEST COMMUNIQUES FROM THE PAGODA, HE WOULD STROLL UP 
TO A YALE-EDUCATED U.S . NEWSMAN AND SAY : / BOOLA, 
BOOLA . / IN THE EARLY PHASES OF THE QUARREL, DIEM 
PROBABLY COULD AND SHOULD HAVE CONCILIATED THE BUDDHISTS . BUT HE 
VACILLATED . HIS BROTHER AND SISTER-IN-LAW, NGO DINH NHU AND MME 
. NHU, INSISTED THAT UNLESS THE BUDDHISTS WERE CRUSHED, THERE WOULD 
BE A COUP THREATENING THE VERY EXISTENCE OF THE FAMILY'S RULE 
. MME . NHU'S FIERY PHILIPPICS LENT IMPETUS TO THE BUDDHIST 
MOVEMENT JUST AS IT APPEARED TO BE FLAGGING . BY LAST 
WEEK, AFTER THREE BUDDHIST SUICIDES SPURRED NEW PROTEST DEMONSTRATIONS THROUGHOUT THE 
COUNTRY, IT WAS CLEARLY TOO LATE FOR CONCILIATION . EVEN IF 
DIEM HAD WANTED IT, THE BUDDHIST LEADERS THEMSELVES NO LONGER WANTED 
IT ; THEY WERE PLAINLY DETERMINED TO PRESS THEIR ADVANTAGE . 
AND SO THE GOVERNMENT EVIDENTLY YIELDED TO NHU'S GET-TOUGH POLICY . 
ROPE TRICK . THE CRACKDOWN IN SAIGON WAS DUPLICATED ALL OVER 
SOUTH VIET NAM, AND MORE THAN 1,000 PEOPLE WERE IMPRISONED . 
IN THE BUDDHIST STRONGHOLD OF HUE, THE APPROACH OF GOVERNMENT TROOPS 
WAS SIGNALED BY THE BEATING OF TEMPLE DRUMS AND THE CLASHING 
OF CYMBALS CALLING FOR HELP . BEATING POTS AND PANS TO 
ROUSE THEIR NEIGHBORS, THE ANGRY POPULACE POURED FROM HOMES AND RACED 
TO DEFEND THE CITY'S TEMPLES . AT TU DAM PAGODA, MONKS 
TRIED TO TURN THE COFFIN OF A PRIEST WHO HAD BURNED 
HIMSELF ALIVE IN THE BUDDHIST SUICIDE PROTEST WAVE . BUT GOVERNMENT 
SOLDIERS, FIRING M1 RIFLES AS THEY ADVANCED, OVERRAN THE TEMPLE, SNATCHED 
THE SMOLDERING COFFIN AWAY, AND SMASHED A STATUE OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA 
. FROM THE TEMPLE'S TREASURY THEY TOOK AN ESTIMATED $30,000 AND 
LEFT THE PAGODA A GUTTED RUIN . NEAR HUE'S DIEU DE 
PAGODA, THE GOVERNMENT FORCES MET THEIR FIRST DETERMINED RESISTANCE . AS 
TROOPS TRIED TO STRETCH A BARBED-WIRE BARRICADE ACROSS THE BRIDGE LEADING 
TO THE TEMPLE, A MOB TORE IT DOWN WITH BARE HANDS 
. WITH FISTS, ROCKS AND SHARPENED STICKS, THE CROWD FOUGHT THE 
HEAVILY ARMED TROOPS FOR THE BRIDGE . TEAR-GAS GRENADES THROWN BY 
THE SOLDIERS WERE CAUGHT AND THROWN RIGHT BACK AT THEM . 
WHEN TROOPS TRIED TO CLEAR A WAY THROUGH THE BRIDGE DEFENDERS 
WITH THEIR RIFLE BUTTS, THE CROWD TORE THE WEAPONS FROM THEIR 
HANDS AND JABBED THE SOLDIERS IN THE GROIN . AFTER A 
FIVE-HOUR PITCHED BATTLE, THE GOVERNMENT FINALLY WON CONTROL OF THE BRIDGE 
AT DAYBREAK BY DRIVING ARMORED CARS THROUGH THE SCREAMING, SPITTING, SWEARING 
MOB . THE DEFENSE OF THE BRIDGE AND THE TEMPLE COST 
THE TOWNSPEOPLE AN ESTIMATED 30 DEAD AND 200 WOUNDED . TEN 
TRUCKLOADS OF BRIDGE DEFENDERS WERE CARTED AWAY TO JAIL, MANY STREAMING 
BLOOD, AND AN ESTIMATED 500 PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED THROUGHOUT THE CITY, 
INCLUDING 17 OF THE 47 HUE UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS WHO HAD RESIGNED 
EARLIER IN THE WEEK IN PROTEST AGAINST THE FIRING OF THE 
SCHOOL'S RECTOR, A CATHOLIC PRIEST AND AN OPPONENT OF DIEM'S BROTHER, 
ARCHBISHOP NGO DINH THUC . THOUGH A 24-HOUR CURFEW WAS CLAMPED 
ON HUE, THE CITY'S RESIDENTS WERE STILL DEFIANT . ONE BUDDHIST 
MONK FLED THROUGH THE STREETS HOTLY PURSUED BY THREE GOVERNMENT TROOPERS 
. THE PRIEST RACED DOWN AN ALLEY AT WHOSE ENTRANCE SAT 
AN AGED VIETNAMESE WOMAN . AS THE SOLDIERS TURNED INTO THE 
ALLEY, THE WOMAN PULLED TIGHTLY ON A ROPE STRETCHED ACROSS THE 
STREET, BRINGING ALL THREE SOLDIERS TUMBLING DOWN . THEN SHE SCUTTLED 
AWAY TO SAFETY . ARTICLE 44 . AT 6 A.M., RADIO 
SAIGON CRACKLED TO LIFE AND PRESIDENT DIEM CAME ON THE AIR 
. " UNDER ARTICLE 44 OF THE CONSTITUTION, " HE SAID, 
" I DECLARE A STATE OF SIEGE THROUGHOUT THE NATIONAL TERRITORY 
. I CONFER UPON THE ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC OF VIET 
NAM THE RESPONSIBILITY TO RESTORE SECURITY AND PUBLIC ORDER SO THAT 
THE STATE MAY BE PROTECTED, COMMUNISM DEFEATED, FREEDOM SECURED, AND DEMOCRACY 
ACHIEVED . " UNDER THE MARTIAL LAW PROCLAMATION, THE ARMY WAS 
GIVEN BLANKET SEARCH-AND-ARREST POWERS AND EMPOWERED TO FORBID ALL PUBLIC GATHERINGS, 
RESTRICT PRESS FREEDOM, AND PROHIBIT THE CIRCULATION OF ALL " PRINTED 
MATERIAL AND OTHER DOCUMENTS HARMFUL TO PUBLIC ORDER AND SECURITY . 
" IN SAIGON THE ARMY IMPOSED A TIGHT 9 P.M.-TO-5 A.M 
. CURFEW . CARRYING AUTOMATIC WEAPONS AND RIFLES WITH FIXED BAYONETS, 
TROOPS IN FULL CAMOUFLAGE BATTLE DRESS GUARDED EVERY MAJOR BRIDGE AND 
INTERSECTION . TIGHT CENSORSHIP WAS CLAMPED ON ALL OUTGOING NEWS, AND 
REPORTERS WERE FORCED TO GIVE THEIR STORIES TO TRAVELERS FLYING TO 
NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES OR TO FLY OUT THEMSELVES WITH THEIR COPY . 
TELEPHONE SERVICE IN THE HOMES AND OFFICES OF ALL U.S . 
MILITARY AND EMBASSY PERSONNEL WAS CUT OFF . THE POLITICAL REPERCUSSIONS 
BEGAN AT ONCE . PROTESTING THE GOVERNMENT'S ACTION, FOREIGN MINISTER VU 
VAN MAU QUIT HIS POST, SHAVED HIS HEAD AND ANNOUNCED THAT 
HE WOULD GO TO INDIA TO BECOME A CONTEMPLATIVE BUDDHIST MONK 
. SOUTH VIET NAM'S AMBASSADOR TO WASHINGTON, TRAN VAN CHUONG, WHO 
IS MME . NHU'S FATHER, ALSO QUIT, WITH A SHARP DENUNCIATION 
OF HIS DAUGHTER'S POLICIES AND OF THE DIEM GOVERNMENT FOR " 
COPYING THE TACTICS OF TOTALITARIAN REGIMES . " AS LONG AS 
DIEM STAYS IN POWER, HE ADDED, THERE IS " NOT ONE 
CHANCE OF WINNING THE WAR AGAINST THE COMMUNISTS . IN SAIGON 
MORE THAN 500 UNIVERSITY OF SAIGON MEDICAL STUDENTS BOYCOTTED CLASSES AND 
HELD TURBULENT ANTI-GOVERNMENT MEETINGS . WHEN A PROFESSOR TRIED TO RIP 
DOWN A PRO-BUDDHIST POSTER, HE WAS STONED BY STUDENTS . THROUGHOUT 
THE CITY, MARTIAL LAW POSTERS WERE SURREPTITIOUSLY DEFACED OR TORN AWAY 
. STUDENTS JEERED AT SOLDIERS PATROLLING THE STREETS : " WHY 
DON'T YOU GO BACK TO FIGHTING THE VIET CONG ? " 
THE GOVERNMENT RETALIATED AGAINST STUDENT UNREST BY CLOSING ALL SAIGON'S SCHOOLS 
. THE UGLY AMERICAN . THE CRACKDOWN IN SOUTH VIET NAM 
CAUSED CONSTERNATION IN WASHINGTON . IN A BLUNT CONDEMNATION THE STATE 
DEPARTMENT SAID THAT SAIGON'S STRONG-ARM TACTICS REPRESENTED " A DIRECT VIOLATION 
BY THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT OF ASSURANCES THAT IT WAS PURSUING A 
POLICY OF RECONCILIATION TOWARD THE BUDDHISTS . THE U.S . DEPLORES 
REPRESSIVE ACTIONS OF THIS NATURE . " THE MOVE AGAINST THE 
BUDDHISTS WAS OBVIOUSLY TIMED TO BE OVER AND DONE WITH BEFORE 
U.S . AMBASSADOR HENRY CABOT LODGE ARRIVED IN SAIGON . WHEN 
IT HAPPENED, LODGE WAS IN JAPAN . ON THE WAY OUT 
FROM SAN FRANCISCO BY COMMERCIAL JET, HE HAD FOUND HIMSELF ACROSS 
THE AISLE FROM NOVELIST EUGENE BURDICK, CO-AUTHOR OF THE UGLY AMERICAN, 
AND THAT SELF-APPOINTED EXPERT ON U.S . ERRORS IN THE FAR 
EAST OFFERED THE AMBASSADOR A HALF-HOUR BRIEFING, TO WHICH LODGE LISTENED 
DIPLOMATICALLY . THE GIST : DON'T RELY ON EMBASSY OFFICERS, CONSULT 
SEASONED NEWSMEN, BEWARE OF COMMUNICATIONS BLOCKS IN THE EMBASSY, GET FIGHTER 
COVER FOR THOSE COMBAT HELICOPTERS . ON ORDERS FROM PRESIDENT KENNEDY, 
LODGE CUT SHORT HIS STAY IN JAPAN, AND BY HASTILY COMMANDEERED 
U.S . AIR FORCE DC-6 PROCEEDED AT ONCE TO SAIGON, WHERE 
HE WAS MET BY A VIETNAMESE PROTOCOL OFFICER, EMBASSY OFFICIALS AND 
GENERAL PAUL HARKINS, COMMANDER OF THE U.S . TROOPS IN SOUTH 
VIET NAM . AS IF TO DRAMATIZE U.S . DISAPPROVAL OF 
THE GOVERNMENT ACTION, LODGE WENT TO THE U.S . AID MISSION 
BUILDING TO TALK TO THE TWO MONKS WHO HAD BEEN GIVEN 
SANCTUARY . IGNORING DEMANDS THAT THE MONKS BE TURNED OVER TO 
VIETNAMESE AUTHORITIES, LODGE ORDERED THE U.S . STAFF TO GET SOME 
VEGETABLES FOR THE VEGETARIAN PRIESTS . ANTI, ANTI, ANTI . WHAT 
TO DO NEXT WAS A QUESTION THICKLY CLOUDED FOR BOTH LODGE 
AND WASHINGTON BY CONFUSION OVER PRECISELY WHO WAS IN CONTROL OF 
THE SITUATION IN SOUTH VIET NAM . DIEM STILL SEEMED IN 
COMPLETE CHARGE AND IN A CABLE TO THE NEW YORK HERALD 
TRIBUNE'S MARGUERITE HIGGINS HE DECLARED, " I TRUST IN THE ARMY 
AND IN FACT I MAINTAIN CONTROL OVER THE SITUATION . " 
BUT IT LOOKED INCREASINGLY LIKELY THAT THE KEY FIGURE BEHIND THE 
GOVERNMENT'S MOVE HAD BEEN BROTHER NHU, HEAD OF THE 10,000-STRONG SPECIAL 
FORCES AND SECRET POLICE . FOR WEEKS THERE HAD BEEN HINTS 
THAT HE MIGHT TRY A COUP OF HIS OWN SUPPOSEDLY TO 
FORESTALL THE ANTI-DIEM COUP THAT HE KEPT PREDICTING UNLESS THE BUDDHISTS 
WERE PUT DOWN . ANY CHANGE IN GOVERNMENT POLICY, HE HAD 
WARNED, WOULD BE " ANTI-BUDDHIST, ANTI-AMERICAN, ANTI-WEAKNESS . / THE CRACKDOWN 
IT WAS NHU'S SPECIAL FORCES THAT SACKED THE PAGODAS ; REGULAR 
ARMY TROOPS WERE ONLY CALLED IN AFTER THE JOB WAS DONE 
TO HELP KEEP ORDER . THEORETICALLY, UNDER THE MARTIAL LAW PROCLAMATION, 
IT IS NOW THE ARMY THAT RUNS THE COUNTRY, AND, AGAIN 
THEORETICALLY, DIEM PLACED TOP AUTHORITY IN MAJOR GENERAL TRAN VAN DON, 
46, A HIGHLY RESPECTED, ONETIME CORPS COMMANDER WHO HAS HAD GREAT 
MILITARY SUCCESS AGAINST THE VIET CONG . BUT DON MAY MERELY 
BE A FIGUREHEAD HOSTILE TO THE GOVERNMENT, HE WAS PULLED OUT 
OF HIS FIELD COMMAND LAST DECEMBER AND KICKED UPSTAIRS TO A 
STAFF JOB, WHERE HE WOULD HAVE NO TROOPS AT HIS DISPOSAL 
IN CASE THE THOUGHT OF A COUP EVER CROSSED HIS MIND 
. DIEM AND NHU EVIDENTLY INTENDED TO VEST REAL MILITARY POWER 
IN ANOTHER, VERY DIFFERENT OFFICER, WHOSE LOYALTY THE NGO FAMILY CAN 
COUNT ON, COLONEL LE QUANT TUNG, COMMANDER UNDER NHU OF THE 
SPECIAL FORCES . A DEVOUT CATHOLIC, TUNG COMES FROM CENTRAL VIET 
NAM, BIRTHPLACE OF THE NGO FAMILY, APPARENTLY HAS NO POLITICAL AMBITIONS, 
AND WAS ONCE A TOP OFFICIAL IN NHU'S SECRET ORGANIZATION, THE 
CAN LAO PARTY . AS LONG AS A MONTH AGO, LARGE 
UNITS OF SPECIAL FORCES WERE MOVED INTO SAIGON UNDER COLONEL TUNG'S 
COMMAND . THE BIG QUESTION IS WHETHER TUNG CAN KEEP CONTROL 
AND WHETHER THE REGULAR ARMY WILL GO ALONG OR WILL TURN 
AGAINST THE REGIME . THE COURSE OF EVENTS . AFTER NINE 
YEARS OF ABSOLUTE POWER, THE NGO FAMILY HAD TAKEN A CONSIDERABLE 
RISK IN LETTING SO MUCH AUTHORITY SLIP FROM ITS HANDS UNDER 
THE MARTIAL LAW PROCLAMATION . TAKING OVER THE FUNCTIONING OF ALL 
GOVERNMENT MINISTRIES, THE ARMY FOR THE FIRST TIME HAS A VIABLE 
POWER STRUCTURE OF ITS OWN . IT MAY WELL STAY LOYAL 
AS LONG AS DIEM REMAINS IN THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE, BUT NHU 
IS VASTLY UNPOPULAR WITH MOST OF THE MILITARY COMMANDERS EXCEPT TUNG 
. THE ARMY IMMEDIATELY TRIED TO DISSOCIATE ITSELF FROM THE BUDDHIST 
CRACKDOWN . ALL OFFICIAL BULLETINS FROM THE ARMY-CONTROLLED GOVERNMENT INFORMATION CENTER 
POINTEDLY MENTIONED THAT NHU'S SPECIAL FORCES, AND NOT THE ARMY, HAD 
WRECKED THE PAGODAS . BUT HAVING DISCOVERED THAT AN OPPORTUNITY FOR 
POWER NOW EXISTS OUTSIDE THE NGO FAMILY, VARIOUS MILITARY FACTIONS MAY 
WELL BEGIN TO JOCKEY FOR SOLE AUTHORITY . AT WEEK'S END, 
ACCORDING TO ONE REPORT, THIS FEAR WAS REALIZED AT THE SMALL 
TOWN OF MY THO, JUST SOUTH OF SAIGON, WHERE BUDDHIST AND 
CATHOLIC TROOPS TURNED ON EACH OTHER . IN THE FIELD, ACTION 
AGAINST THE VIET CONG HAS COME TO A VIRTUAL STANDSTILL . 
" THIS WRECKS THE ARMY'S EFFORTS AGAINST THE REDS, " SAID 
A SENIOR U.S . INTELLIGENCE OFFICER . " THEY'RE TOO BUSY 
ENFORCING CURFEWS TO FIGHT . HOW THE REDS MUST BE LOVING 
THIS . " MORE THAN EVER, DIEM'S GOVERNMENT OR ANY OTHER 
IN SOUTH VIET NAM DEPENDS ON U.S . BACKING . YET 
EVEN IF WASHINGTON SHOULD OFFICIALLY DECIDE THAT DIEM HAS BECOME A 
LIABILITY IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE VIET CONG, THE U.S . 
WILL NOT SUPPORT A CHANGE IN GOVERNMENT WHILE THE POWERS IN 
SAIGON ARE STILL SETTLING ACCOUNTS AMONG THEMSELVES . SAID ONE WASHINGTON 
OFFICIAL : " WHEN THE RUMBLING OF OPPOSITION STARTS WITHIN A 
REGIME OF THIS SORT, YOU CAN'T TELL WHERE EVENTS ARE GOING 
TO TAKE IT . / 