A Trial for Patience

Could anyone--in Saigon or in the U.S., in the rice fields or in the Pentagon--stand still another coup in South Viet Nam? Obviously, the answer was no. But last week the little country hovering between tragedy and farce produced two coups in one, and any number of others might happen next. Things had reached the point where talking about "strongmen" in South Viet Nam was ridiculous; no one was strong. As for that other favorite cliche, "the man of the hour," could anyone really last an hour any more?

The visible instigator of last week's events was one Colonel Pham Ngoc Thao, a Catholic with a checkered political career--he fought with the Communist Viet Minh under Ho Chi Minh, now President of North Viet Nam, then swung to the right, served briefly as a public-relations man for General Nguyen Khanh after Khanh seized power a year ago. One day last week, troops appeared in the streets of Saigon, and Colonel Thao popped out of a tank turret, explaining: "This operation is to expel Nguyen Khanh from the government." With Thao was Catholic ex-General Lam Van Phat, who led an abortive September "coupette" and had been on the lam ever since.

The real mover behind it all, declared Thao, was General Tran Thien Khiem, South Viet Nam's ambassador in Washington. But the timing of the revolt evidently came as a surprise to the ambassador, who was sound asleep in his Maryland home at the time. Hurriedly, Khiem cabled Thao pledging "total support." He should have stayed in bed.

Missed Mother. The aim of the largely Catholic, largely right-wing rebels was to halt what they considered a drift toward neutralism in South Viet Nam, and they even extolled deposed, murdered President Ngo Dinh Diem. Whatever the rebels' motives, had they succeeded, the Buddhists would have instantly taken to the streets. As it turned out, the rebels did not succeed--but who did was far from clear.

Thao's forces failed to catch Khanh, who had departed 30 minutes earlier in his Alouette helicopter for Cap St. Jacques. They also missed Air Force Commander Nguyen Cao Ky, as well as Ky's wife, who roared off seconds ahead of them in a sports car with her mother. Khanh ordered three battalions of loyal troops to move on the capital, while Ky dispatched a loudspeaker plane, which droned overhead, pleading, "Brother must not fight against brother." Next morning the rebels fled before a volley of three rifle shots that whizzed harmlessly overhead; not a drop of blood was spilled.

Whereupon those who saved Khanh --including Airman Ky--turned on him themselves. The Armed Forces Council reportedly voted a no-confidence motion against Khanh. General Nguyen Chanh Thi, commander of the northernmost I Corps, was proclaimed chief of the capital's "liberation forces." For the moment, the winners seemed to be Thi, Ky and IV Corps Commander General Nguyen Van Thieu.

Medicine Cabinet. The temporary victors announced that they would retain as civilian Premier Dr. Phan Huy Quat, a mild-mannered physician who had just formed a fairly broad-based civilian government that included four other doctors and hence earned the nickname of Medicine Cabinet. Mos cow's Tass sneered: "The farce will go on," ridiculed U.S. "military gambles" and Saigon's "bankrupt politicians and warriors." It was easy to laugh or to despair at the situation in Saigon. Actually, a certain amount of routine administration--and routine fighting against the Reds--continues throughout all coups. Each of these upheavals could bring about the ultimate collapse and install a government committed to neutralism, and yet each could leave things just as they were before.

It is true that, as is widely maintained, the U.S. is desperately handicapped in Viet Nam unless Saigon establishes "political stability." But it is also true that stability in Saigon depends on what the U.S. does militarily about North Viet Nam. Said one veteran political observer about Saigon's new civilian government: "If the U.S. air strikes against the North continue, morale will remain fair for some time, and the government's chance for survival will increase. If, however, there is a kill and a reversion to the tedious slogging match between the government troops and the Viet Cong, then the Buddhists and their drive for neutralization will grow strong again."

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