Word: ba
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...After the disastrous setbacks of the past month, there have been widespread calls for his resignation. Last week Thieu responded by naming yet another new government, this one a "fighting government of unity." Despite that description the new Cabinet included no members of the broadening opposition; the Premier, Nguyen Ba Can, is a bland labor unionist who can be counted on to do the President's bidding. General Duong Van ("Big") Minh demanded that Thieu resign before Saigon "becomes another Phnom-Penh," but the call was not likely to be heeded...
...Thieu's determination to hang on in Independence Palace was more ominous than the bombing. The reclusive President had lost almost all that remained of his popularity and credibility by his inept handling of the ARVN retreat from the Highlands. That was apparent by the trouble that Nguyen Ba Can, the new Prime Minister whom Thieu had charged with organizing a "fighting Cabinet," was having in recruiting new ministers. By week's end, the new Cabinet was nearly formed, but contained no new major figures capable of inspiring new confidence in the government. Nonetheless, the President is still...
Thieu's response was a characteristically confusing combination of compromise and repression. After remaining in virtual seclusion for most of the week, he announced that an entirely new Cabinet, what he called a "fighting Cabinet," would be formed. The new Prime Minister would be Nguyen Ba Can, speaker of the lower house in the National Assembly and known to be solidly in Thieu's camp. Can will replace the more independent and prestigious Tran Thieu Khiem, the most senior military officer in South Viet Nam, who, significantly, was expected to join the anti-Thieu opposition. Hours earlier, police had arrested...
...forces were deployed to try to block the exodus from the Central Highlands to the coast. On a stretch of road in Phu Bon province, a refugee column was harassed again and again by enemy fire, taking heavy casualties. At one point part of the column crossed the Song Ba River but soon ran into a Viet Cong blockade that stopped its advance. Perhaps as many as 50,000 people and 500 trucks found themselves jammed between the river and the Communists. On the other side of the Song Ba, meanwhile, the caravan began to pile up on itself...
About 30% of today's conscripts have passed the highly competitive ba-chot, which qualifies them to enter a university or specialized technical college. Nonetheless, they still spend most of their compulsory year of military service performing menial tasks. Unlike Dutch or West German soldiers, they are prohibited from wearing their hair long or engaging in any kind of political activity. Corporal punishment has been abolished, but the men are subjected to harsh discipline: an occasional kick in the pants from a sergeant is still used as a reprimand...