Word: thieu
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...public -reeks of sell-out and disaster. Merely discussing it is against the law in South Viet Nam.* A number of South Vietnamese are in jail for suggesting no more than Nixon did. The Saigon regime fears that once the Communists were in the government, they would swallow up Thieu & Co. and eventually seize power. Asked in Seoul about the prospects for a coalition, Thieu said firmly: "I would like to give the shortest answer of this press conference. Just one word. Never. Are you satisfied...
...Dilemma. The U.S. must face up to the question of whether the Thieu government is becoming a roadblock to peace. The first part of the problem concerns the Communists: Will they deal with Thieu? They vow that there will never be peace so long as Thieu sits in the presidential palace. This position might change in the course of negotiations, but at present it does not seem likely. When the Communists talk of a coalition, they are not thinking of a coalition with Thieu, because to join one would be to recognize his legitimacy. The second part of the problem...
...other hand, the Thieu regime is the strongest that South Viet Nam has had in the past six years. Even if the U.S. wanted to abandon Thieu-and there is no sign whatever that it does -it might not be able to do so for lack of a substitute. "If the Americans destroy Thieu," says one high-ranking foreign diplomat in Saigon, "the government of South Viet Nam will collapse utterly. This is the Communists' strategy." While Thieu cannot be expected to cave in on the coalition issue, it would obviously be impossible to achieve a settlement...
...Time. Actually, the President of South Viet Nam may not be quite so obdurate as he seems. Says TIME's Saigon bureau chief: "In private conversation, Thieu and Vice President Ky talk about eight months ahead of the way they talk in public. Thieu today expresses his appreciation of the political facts of life in the U.S. and of the necessity for serious negotiations with the Communists." Short of outright coalition, which the U.S. does not now advocate anyway, he might accept one of the other formulas that have been proposed. One solution, for example, might...
Even while he was saying "Never" in Seoul, Thieu was perhaps hinting at yet another formula: the inclusion of leftists or Communists in his Cabinet. "At any time, any day, any week," he said last week, "when necessary, I have to change my Ministers to cope with the situation." The job Nixon now faces is to persuade the South Vietnamese President to accept the prospect of some kind of agreement with the Communists, without at the same time undercutting the fragile stability that Thieu has managed to build up in Saigon...