Word: saigon
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...cease-fire agreement also called for the creation of a National Council of Reconciliation and Concord (composed of representatives of the Saigon government, the Viet Cong's Provisional Revolutionary Government, and "neutrals") that would be the forerunner of a coalition government in Saigon. But attempts at reconciliation quickly degenerated into hopeless name-calling, and the council was never formed...
Though some top U.S. officials in Saigon still describe South Viet Nam as a "free society," South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu in the past year has gathered most of the reins of power into his hands. He so manipulated last August's Senate elections that a pro-Thieu majority was chosen. This gave him control of both the Senate and the National Assembly, and so Thieu had no trouble changing the constitution to eliminate its two-term limit, enabling him to run in October 1975 for a third five-year term. His intimidation of political opponents...
...Thieu's undoing. One year ago there was heady talk about implementing a massive economic reconstruction program in both North and South Viet Nam, financed mostly by the U.S. So far, America has taken no serious steps toward aiding Hanoi, and has even been reluctant to help Saigon. For 1974, the U.S. AID mission requested $475 million for South Viet Nam; Congress appropriated only $320 million. Without a great deal more assistance from the U.S., the Thieu government probably will have to limit and reduce the availability of consumer goods by restricting imports and increasing taxes even more than...
...Western intelligence analyst in Saigon has warned that the Communists may use the economic malaise to alienate the South Vietnamese from their government. Thieu's monopolization of power could make him vulnerable to this Communist tactic because, as former Ambassador Robert Komer (head of the pacification program in South Viet Nam from 1967 to 1968) has observed: 'Thieu is progressively isolating himself from the mainstream of Vietnamese politics by running things by cronyism...
...could extricate itself from Viet Nam. While that judgment may be too cynical, the fact is that only about 5,000 U.S. Government employees and Department of Defense contractors remain in Viet Nam; U.S. casualties in the past year totaled only one. However, one American was captured during Saigon's recent naval battle with the Chinese (see following story...