Word: phoumi
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...Jarres airport were Red Prince Souphanouvong and his halfbrother, Neutralist Prince Souvanna Phouma, who traveled from their nearby headquarters aboard a Soviet-made Hound helicopter. Twenty minutes later a transport from Vientiane touched down, and out stepped anti-Communist Prince Boun Oum and his obdurate Defense Minister, General Phoumi Nosavan. Members of the three delegations crowded into a small, tin-roofed army club raised on stilts above the ground...
...Phoumi Nosavan set up a militant, conservative party, and Red Prince Souphanouvong was jailed for treason. Iri the rigged national elections of 1960, Phoumi's group gained a sweeping majority. On the surface, a relatively tough U.S. policy of containing Communism seemed to be an overwhelming success...
...bands began raiding in the north. Red Prince Souphanouvong not only walked out of jail, but took most of his prison guards with him. In August 1960, an obscure paratroop captain named Kong Le staged a military coup in Vientiane and returned Souvanna Phouma to power as Premier. General Phoumi Nosavan, with his CIA advisers, retreated to his southern stronghold of Savannakhet...
...coalition of the opposing forces in the country. But the CIA and the U.S. military mission in the field disagreed, opposed dealing with any Laotian leader who seemed soft on Communism. They argued that the U.S.-trained and equipped Royal Laotian Army of 28,000 men under General Phoumi was the only bulwark against a Red takeover. The Pentagon generally backed the CIA, but with the proviso that, under no conditions, should U.S. armed forces be plunged into the landlocked, trackless jungles of Laos...
With U.S. encouragement, Phoumi Nosavan in December 1960 launched a northward drive against Kong Le's paratroop battalion in Vientiane. It was about the only victory Phoumi Nosavan had ever won. Kong Le retreated to the strategic Plaine des Jarres, joining forces with the Pathet Lao. The Soviet Union poured in supplies by air, and Communist North Viet Nam contributed tough guerrilla cadres. When Phoumi's army advanced, it was badly beaten in a series of noisy but largely bloodless battles. Phoumi got a breathing space when, in the spring of 1961, the government eagerly agreed...