Word: saigon
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...committee composed of Saigon government and P.R.G. representatives to take on the formidable task of organizing a caretaker government. In this government, the main political factions in South Viet Nam-Communist, neutralist and the Thieu government-would be represented, but not necessarily equally. Which groups would have how large a share in the caretaker government-and therefore to some extent in the elections and constitution that ensue from it-would be subject to negotiations between the representatives of the Saigon government and the P.R.G. on the committee. This provision meets Nixon's demands that he not have to participate...
...complex package had been worked out by Kissinger and Hanoi's Le Duc Tho in Paris apparently without Thieu's approval, and Kissinger's arrival in Saigon with the agreement spurred Thieu into a frenzy of defensive activity. Emerging from his near imperial isolation, he began reaching out for public support. He turned up at a Saigon youth rally to rail against "henchmen of the Communists." He gave dinners for a variety of officials and legislators, some of them opposition figures he normally scorns-or jails. He ordered banners placed in Saigon bearing his contention that...
Whether that would be perceived by the U.S. public as an abandonment of an oft-repeated Administration commitment is unclear. Doubtless, the White House is aware that with its profusion of committees and procedural steps-not to mention the possibility that negotiations between Saigon and the P.R.G. on the caretaker government could slog on for years-the plan would make it tough for anyone to judge with any certainty whether or not Nixon had made good on his pledge not to "join our enemy to overthrow our ally...
...narrow sense at least he would have kept that vow. Whatever happened to Thieu and to the makeup of the Saigon government-the complexities of Vietnamese life after so many years of war are such that few foresee any sudden Communist "takeover"-the Administration could argue that it had "imposed" nothing on the country, that it was all "up to the Vietnamese themselves...
What, in fact, are the chances for a ceasefire? As Kissinger flew into Saigon last week, State Department officials were quoting 80-20 odds against an announcement before the U.S. election. Kissinger has told friends with apparent sincerity that Nixon has never pressured him to speed up or slow down the pace of negotiations because of the election. In conversations, he has suggested that he personally expects events to unfold gradually...