Word: quat
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This one, according to Premier Phan Huy Quat, was instigated by the same group of dissident Catholic army officers who engineered the abortive coup d'état of Feb. 19-an upheaval that failed in its main purpose, but ultimately led to the ouster of goateed General Nguyen Khanh. Quat claimed that "rebels" this time had infiltrated his bodyguard and planned to assassinate him. Less believable was the government charge that two Viet Cong battalions were standing in the wings, ready to move into Saigon during the confusion that certainly would have followed...
...Whether Quat's charges were true or not, one thing was sadly certain: the coup attempt and mass arrests shattered the fragile filigree of stability that had marked Quat's 14-week-old civilian regime and ended the restless truce between South Viet Nam's warring Buddhists and Catholics. Quat was forced to postpone the Cabinet reshuffle, planned for last week, that would have eliminated the last two military members of his government. At week's end the capital seethed with plots and counterplots, and few doubted that there would be an encore...
...Quat's travels through the countryside have taken him from Hué in the north to the tip of Camau Peninsula, talking to peasants and regional politicians in an attempt to show Saigon's interest in their problems. Also of importance: the Premier's relations with the U.S. embassy are much better than were Khanh...
Waiting for Rain. For all his efforts, Quat has no real authority over his Cabinet ministers, who show little team spirit, spend far too much time on petty jurisdictional squabbles. As much as anything, Quat's longevity is based on the simple fact that the Armed Forces Council is currently split into four or five groups-none seemingly powerful enough to bring off a coup at the moment. Many of the generals seem too bored with the Council to attend its meetings, and last week there was even talk of dissolving the body-an act which could upset Quat...
...familiar with South Viet Nam's topsy-turvy history could safely predict that Quat's regime will remain in power for another eleven weeks-or another eleven hours for that matter. And many military men believe the Viet Cong are currently lying low, waiting for the rainy season in order to launch an all-out attack in the central highlands. Their probable aim: to capture a provincial town like Kontum or Quinhon, declare it the rebel capital, and thus win an important psychopolitical victory that could topple the Saigon regime. But if they fail (and clearly U.S. policy...