Word: thao
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...reasons for Diem's election success in the hinterland is a lean exCommunist named Colonel Pham Ngoc Thao, 39. Last year he accosted President Diem, told him that the reason the Communist Viet Cong guerrillas were scoring success after success lay in the shortcomings of Diem's own soldiery. "Our soldiers need social and political education," said Thao. "Their discipline is poor. They have no consideration for the people." Their "bad habits"-stealing rice, pigs and girls -were driving the villagers to the Communist cause...
Election Toll. Diem responded by handing Colonel Thao command of vital, rice-growing Kienhoa province in the Mekong River delta, where previous commanders had failed. There Thao has cut the guerrillas down to size with skill and daring at their own nighttime jungle tactics. "When there is too much light, you can see nothing," says Thao. "The truth is in the night...