Word: thieu
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...that he fears that Congress will not continue to give enough money to South Vietnam. He is afraid that an "economic takeoff" by the Saigon government towards independence from U.S. aid will be impeded by a "Hanoi-inspired propaganda campaign" which aims at turning Congress against the Nguyen Van Thieu government...
...major focus of Hanoi's alleged campaign to "force the American congress to limit economic aid" is the widely held charge that Thieu is holding 200,000 civilian political prisoners and is engaging in systematic mental and physical torture. The thrust of the strategy is to create the impression that "if you're against evil, torture and repression, as most Americans are, then we don't want to give aid to a regime like this," Martin said. He claims that the Hanoi campaign has engaged already the enthusiasm of American peace groups, some journalists, and some aides on Captial Hill...
...battled for world-wide prison reform both as a public servant in the New Deal and in the Foreign Service, Martin insists that the allegations against the Saigon government are not true. He said he ordered his embassy staff to conduct a through study of all accusations against Thieu shortly after he took over last year. According to Martin the investigation showed that South Vietnam's civilian prison population is about 35,000--roughly the same per capita population as found in U.S. prisons...
...story created little stir in Washington, where many of the facts are well known. Ironically, the Thieu government seemed pleased by the article, broadcasting excerpts over state radio and TV as evidence of the regime's solid U.S. backing. But Martin was splenetic and framed a 4,600-word rebuttal, which he cabled to Washington. He concluded: "Embassy believes the Shipler story and this response might well be made available to the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism as a case study of propaganda under the guise of 'investigative reporting...
This clanging rhetoric drowns out certain facts. As has been universally reported, both the Communists and the Thieu forces have regularly violated the ceasefire. Nor is there any question that American equipment and know-how are still of help to Saigon's military machine. TIME Saigon Bureau Chief Gavin Scott concludes that "on balance, Martin's elaborate rebuttal does little to demolish the Shipler story's central theme." Scott points out, though, that Shipler might have chosen one key word more carefully. It is difficult to prove that U.S. assistance "directly" supports violations, as Shipler argued...