Ba?o DDa.i and Ngo Dinh Diem (Re : Quang Trung...)
kim nguyen
<tr...@CAE.WISC.EDU> writes:
>
>Johnson told the truth when he said: "Shit, he is the only boy we got
>out there." Why ? Because the Americans didn't know anybody else. Diem
>didn't do a thing for his country during the French war. He spent many
>years abroad, most of the time in a seminary. But he had connections
>because his brother Thuc was an archbishop. That's why Cardinal Spellman
>along with the Vatican and other Catholics in the USA worked together
>to make him a prime minister in Bao Dai government. He betrayed Bao Dai
>and made himself president by a rigged election. All of the above were
>facts.
Hi CTN,
In the book "Le Dragon d'Annam", former emperor Bao Dai cited that when
seeing a situation whereby Vietnam was falling to the hands of communists
- the French was going to hand North Vietnam to Ho Chi Minh, he went to
Cannes (France) to meet representatives of all current parties and
religions. There, Bao Dai thought that there would be a need for a new
way to get out of the danger; he had an idea to replace premier Buu Loc by
a new leader, Ngo Dinh Diem. All people applauded his suggestion. The
reason is Ngo Dinh Diem was the only man at the time who showed a
capability to govern a new and free Vietnam against a winning communist
movement in the North.
Bao Dai invited NDD to come and told him :
"Each time I need to change the government, I have to call you to serve,
but you refuse it all the times. However, the current situation is very
dangerous and the country can be cut in half. You should lead a
government."
Bao Dai let readers know that NDD refused again, but the former emperor
insisted on telling NDD that due to survival of the country, Diem had no
right to rebut the offer. At last, NDD had to accept the call. According
to Bao Dai, NDD had not been fixed by anybody or by a Cardinal Spellman
who brought NDD home for the presidency as American books often told
readers.
The only man in the political circle at the time the Americans knew of to
have a good record of integrity, knowledge of governing and anti-communism
was Ngo Dinh Diem and they supported the idea of Bao Dai. Diem had once
had a title equivalent to a premiership under Bao Dai's regime; he
resigned from the post when Bao Dai had been weak in reforming the country
due to French resistance. Diem did not like the French in Vietnam either.
NDD stepped into this dangerous period not because the Americans said so,
but because he accepted the request of Bao Dai to challenge a worsening
situation. Who esle dared taking that risk, CTN ?
Ho Chi Minh won at Dien Bien Phu but had no strength to widen his
influence to the whole country. With the pressure from China and the
former Soviet Union, Ho got the half, but the rest of Vietnam did not
accept the separation. When NDD set up a new government in the South,
demonstrations occurred everywhere against the splitting. Ho accepted
well the separation because he would want one part which belong to his
movement totally and transform it into a communist state at ease.
Ignoring the will of all Viets, the French still wanted to sign the accord
and gave the NVN to Ho Chi Minh. Due to this, the government Ngo Dinh
Diem had to accept the separation, but it did not sign the Geneva accord.
After that, Ngo Dinh Diem must get rid of French influence in the South by
rejecting pro-French elements and religious sects. The French withdrew
with anger. The American came in to replace the French not to oppress the
South Vietnamese like the French, but with the goodwill to helpe SVN
stabilize, set up social infrastures and modern machine of a republic; the
reason for this is to confront a socialist North Vietnam.
However, NDD would like to deal with Ho Chi Minh by his own term, not to
base on foreigners too much. His nationalism rised when in 1960, VC
started infiltrating the South (at least from 1957) and Johnson came to
Saigon requesting president Diem to let the American combattants land in
SVN against Viet communists backed by its bloc. Ngo Dinh Diem did refuse
the offer because he thought that South VN only needed aid and not the
American soldiers for now. The rebuttal made Johnson mad and hurt, so was
Kennedy. And they did find opportunity to replace Ngo Dinh Diem. The
"Pha'p Na.n 1963" was the ripe opportunity for Kennedy to make the plan
done. Ngo Dinh Diem was in the process to replace some French-trained
generals and officers in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. The
moderate monks only wanted their requests to be fulfilled and that was it,
but another force led by the Venerable Thich Tri Quang and his movement
had another agenda to shake hand with communists through the slogan
"Accord and reconciliation"; they insisted on making as much trouble as
they could so that NDD government must use stong measures to bring order.
With these incidents, TTQ created the word "oppression". This force did
want to replace Diem by another government which could make a deal with
communists for a "reunion". In brief, an anti-communist and truly
nationalist Ngo Dinh Diem must be eliminated. Diem died of the 3
mentioned forces.
The cow-boy styled president Johnson said the above mentioned words
reflected his past anger when Ngo Dinh Diem dared to refuse American
offer.