Word: thieu
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Despite the current troubles in South Viet Nam, Thieu's leadership does not appear to be in immediate jeopardy. His power base remains firmly rooted in the army, which, according to one Western diplomat. Thieu has successfully "neutralized" through his shrewd handling of promotions and assignments. Thieu is no longer obliged to listen to the views of the U.S. embassy as he once was. "The Americans have less control these days," says a senior diplomat in Saigon. "They are pretty much out of the business of advising." Nonetheless, many South Vietnamese assume that Thieu is still the Americans...
Still another reason for Thieu's durability in office is that he has no political opponents who are taken seriously as individuals-although the opposition movement has many followers (TIME, Feb. 17). "They are a lot of little men squabbling," says one European observer in Saigon. "A so-called 'third force' in politics simply doesn't exist." This is partly true because of Thieu's knack of alternately ignoring and circumventing the National Assembly set up 7½ years ago. He has managed to stalemate the Assembly for months over two important bills-one that...
...both soldier and politician, Nguyen Van Thieu has fought the Communist menace from the North, and it remains his abiding passion today. "We must be as patient as the Communists are," he mused last January. "My son, my grandson, my great-grandson must be patient." As for himself, Thieu added: "I will never desert. I may be overthrown, but I will never desert...
...startling pullout by South Vietnamese troops from the northern provinces and the Central Highlands took the world by surprise, and foreign journalists stationed in the country were no exception. Actually, President Nguyen Van Thieu acted with such secrecy that even his Joint General Staff did not know of his decision to abandon the provinces until they read about it in a Saigon newspaper. To find out what was happening, journalistic improvisation was in order...
However, in the confusion there was, surprisingly, no censorship or harassment of reporters by the Thieu regime -at least for the moment. Such freedom was a marked change from the secret-police tactic of beating up Western newsmen covering demonstrations, or the possibility that the Information Ministry might not renew the visa of any reporter writing an unfavorable story. It was almost old home week for the press in Saigon. But the shadow of defeat darkened the occasion...