Word: saigon
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...threat was discounted by U.S. authorities in Saigon and by most South Vietnamese politicians. The greatest restraining influence against a coup is the conviction in Saigon that the Americans would wash their hands of the commitment in Viet Nam if the politicians and generals undercut the country's fragile stability by staging another government overthrow...
...Saigon, American commanders were less optimistic. Their view was that all combat troops could be home by mid-1971, but they doubted that U.S. airpower and artillery support could be withdrawn for a long time thereafter. U.S. military men also pointed out that the South Vietnamese army (ARVN) has not yet proved itself in heavy combat. Last week, when North Vietnamese regulars inflicted heavy losses on ARVN units in a battle near Due Lap, a fortified strongpoint 131 miles northeast of Saigon, U.S. authorities hustled American correspondents, including TIME's Burton Pines, away from the scene. Conceded one American...
President Nixon pointed to the current low U.S. casualty rate as a sign that the war was winding down. In Saigon last week, the U.S. command reported that October's total of 409 battle deaths was the lowest monthly toll since 1966. Nixon stressed that a low "level of enemy activity" must accompany U.S. withdrawal. Even as he spoke, the enemy stepped up its activities in what U.S. officers described as the beginning of the winter offensive. Communist units launched scattered attacks, and Saigon's defenses were hit for the first time since September...
Coup Rumors. The contest for South Viet Nam could also be lost on the political front. Last week Saigon was once again alive with talk of a coup. The speculation started when South Vietnamese Senator Tran Van Don invited some 300 Vietnamese to his home in Saigon's Cholon section to toast the anniversary of the 1963 overthrow of the Diem regime. Among the guests was General Duong Van ("Big") Minh, a popular leader of the 1963 plot and an old Thieu rival, who is regarded as the possible leader of a coalition government. Asked about his plans...
Another inhibiting factor is that Thieu is becoming a more effective President. In his elation over Nixon's speech, Thieu last week journeyed into the countryside for the second time in five days. In Lam Dong province, north of Saigon, he made a presentation of land titles to two of 1,737 peasants being given acres under his accelerated land-reform program. At a stopover in the mountain resort of Dalat, he hosted a lamb barbecue for a group of foreign diplomats and journalists...