"Family Or Country? – Diem Must Choose'

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30215, 21 August 1963, Page 15

"Family Or Country? - Diem Must Choose'

(N Z.P.A -Reuter—Copyright)

WASHINGTON, August 20. President Ngo Dinh Diem, of South Vietnam, might be at the point where he would have to choose between loyalty to his family and loyalty to his country in the feud with the Buddhists, the Washington “Post” said today.

The newspaper said in an editorial that it was apparent that ‘‘the United States would not indefinitely prop up a regime that flouted the principles of freedom and seemed to be afflicted with a suicide complex.”

“As the new Ambassador to South Vietnam, Henry Cabot Lodge, journeys to his post in Saigon, the American people are earnestly hoping that the Government of Ngo Dinh Diem will be able to overcome its difficulties and to defeat the continuing Communist aggression,” the “Post” said. “It is all too evident, however, that confidence in the regime has reached a low ebb. President Diem has allowed his relations with the huge Buddhist majority to go from bad to worse. In the present state of affairs the new assaults launched

by the Communists could be very perilous indeed. “The depth of the papular feeling in South Vietnam against the Diem regime is unmistakable. People do not make torches of themselves unless they and their compatriots are suffering from a profound sense of injustice. “Nor do thousands assemble for public fasting and wildly cheer condemnation of the Government for ’barbarism’ unless they have lost faith in their rulers,” the newspaper said. “The continued demonstrations of the Buddhists, the revolt of both Buddhist and Catholic students at Hue University following the dismissal of the Catholic rector, and the apparent concern of Roman Catholic authorities in both Saigon and at the Vatican ought to give President Diem some serious hours of soul-search-ing.

“President Diem may still have a chance to save his regime from the wrath of his own people, but it seems im-

probable that he can save it with all its major liabilities. Family Liabilities “High on the list of these liabilities are the inflammatory Mrs Ngo Dinh Nhu and her husband, the President’s brother, who seem determined to whip up the controversy with the Buddhists instead of alleviating grievances.

“President Diem may be at the point where he will have to choose between loyalty to the members of his family who have so flagrantly infiltrated the Government and loyalty to his country and the rank and file of its people."