Word: buddhists
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Overshadowed by the political and diplomatic turmoil in Saigon, the all but forgotten war against the Viet Cong continues on its ugly, bloody and wearisome course. The drive against the Communists has not diminished in recent weeks; in fact, it has intensified. Fears that the Buddhist controversy might damage morale among Vietnamese troops have so far been groundless. If last week's battles were any criterion, the government soldiers are fighting better than ever against a Communist foe that is exacting a hideous price in blood in the flooded paddies of the South...
...military front seemed a million miles from Saigon last week. Four weeks after the crackdown on South Viet Nam's Buddhist opposition, an atmosphere of watchful waiting hung over the city. Still fearful of a coup, the government stationed secret police outside the homes of suspect officials; top military officers were ordered to sleep at military headquarters so that a check could be kept on their whereabouts. With the Buddhist opposition lulled for the moment, Saigon's student population feebly tried to raise protests against the government. Pelted with chairs and desks thrown from classroom windows, government troops...
...light it shed, the news that U.S. newspaper readers got from Saigon might just as well have been printed in Vietnamese. Was the war being won or lost? Was the Buddhist uprising religiously inspired or Communist-inspired? Would the government fall? Only last month, the New York Times threw up its hands helplessly and, beneath an editorial apology, printed two widely divergent accounts of events: one presented the picture as viewed from Washington, the other as viewed from Saigon...
...stupid, dominated by his brother and sister-in-law. As a result, the correspondents have taken sides against all three; they seldom miss a chance to overemphasize the ruling family's Roman Catholicism. The press corps' attitude automatically assigns justice and sympathy to the side of the Buddhists, who are well aware of their favored position. Before the first bonze set fire to himself, the leaders of the Buddhist uprising tipped off a Western reporter in advance. When a young Buddhist girl tried to chop off her hand in protest against government repressions, there were reports that...
...story is quickly dismissed as the fancy of a bemused observer. Many of the correspondents seem reluctant to give splash treatment to anything that smacks of military victory in the ugly war against the Communists, since this would take the sheen off the theory that the infection of the Buddhist troubles in Saigon is demoralizing the government troops, and weakens the argument that defeat is inevitable so long as Diem is in power. When there is a defeat, the color is rich and flowing; trend stories are quickly cranked up. Last week, after one battle, A.P. gave credit to government...