Word: thieu
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Nixon therefore devised an intricate strategy directed at Hanoi and the National Liberation Front. By meeting with South Viet Nam's President Nguyen Van Thieu and spelling out the common ground between Washington and Saigon, he tried to underline the solidarity of the two governments in the face of Communist efforts to divide and conquer. In giving more combat responsibility to the South Vietnamese, Nixon advertised U.S. confidence?such as it is?in the combat readiness of Saigon's forces. He aims to convince the Communists that they must negotiate with Thieu and not hold out in the expectation...
This maneuver may strengthen the N.L.F.'s bid for a role in a coalition government in South Viet Nam before elections are held?one of the ten N.L.F, points announced May 8. Creation of the provisional government may also embarrass Thieu. He has reluctantly offered to talk with the N L.F , but he might renege if it meant dealing with a self-proclaimed regime that purports to be more legitimate than his own. Thieu denounced the N.L.F, move as "a fabrication concocted by a group of people who take cover in jungles without daring to disclose their location...
...same time, Secretary of State William Rogers posed a scarcely concealed threat to Thieu. Rogers, while still a novice in the nuances of diplomacy, is a canny attorney who is not given to ill-considered statements. "We are not wedded to any government in Saigon," he said in a Washington press conference. He added that "the only principle to which the Administration is wedded is free choice," suggesting that the U.S. could accept any government that resulted from free elections in South Viet Nam; he did not insist that Thieu be included...
...more immediate question, how ever, is not the regime that will result from elections but the regime that will be in charge until elections are held. Thieu wants the U.S. to back him in opposing any coalition government that includes the N.L.F., now or later, and he has repeatedly proclaimed that he will give up U.S. support rather than submit to a coalition. In the long run, Saigon may find that President Nixon -under growing pressure from his own electorate-will have to abandon Thieu in order...
...expects the South Vietnamese to begin taking over some of the combat burden borne by U.S. troops. "I have no doubt that the government of South Viet Nam is moving in this direction," he said. "They are willing to take over more of the responsibility." As Nixon met with Thieu last weekend, the urgency of that change was inescapable...