The events which happened in south Viet Nam over the last two years have irrefutably proved that the ruling circles’ plan dubbed ‘plan for exterminating the Viet Cong just as in a state of war’ has been carried out point by point. The state of war has been deliberately created in accordance with an elaborate plan. The people have been refused any possibility of leading the quiet life they are longing for. The ever-mounting opposition to the Ngo Dinh Diem administration’s ferocious policy of repression and reprisal, has reached a climax, since the plan for creating a ‘state of war’ was carried into effect.
Indignation has spread to all strata of the people from the countryside to the towns, from the man in the street to armymen and civil servants. It was the deep cause of the November 11, 1960, coup d’etat staged by Colonel Nguyen Chanh Thi and Lieutenant-Colonel Vuong Van Dong, commanding the paratroops, which involved over 4,000 paratroops and part of the Navy, the Air Force and the police. As a number of leaders did not rely on, but showed hostility to, the people, and lined up with the U.S.A., the coup d’etat failed although its forces had been able to seize control of the whole city of Saigon. But from that moment, Ngo Dinh Diem’s policy of terror has taken new features. In cities, and especially in the army and the administrative apparatus, the so-called ‘Committee of struggle against the rebels and the communists’ has made every effort to fabricate slanderous charges, to make arrests, and at least to take some intimidating measures. Mass arrests were effected; thousands of suspects run the risk of being jailed at any time. This Committee, endowed with the most extended powers, and led by elements well-known for their cruelty, can be said to have the power of life and death over everybody including members of the south Viet Nam ‘government’. In face of the people’s opposition to its despotic acts, it has recently taken the new signboard of ‘People’s Unity Front against the rebels and the communists’; its fascist character has, however, remained unchanged. Mere slanderous charges of ‘communism’, or of ‘relations with the rebels’ have in the past given, and will still in future give to the south Viet Nam ruling circles sufficient pretexts for arrests and even murders.
During the days of the coup d’etat, all strata of the people, a considerable number of communal officials and many district officials were given an opportunity to show their political attitude towards Ngo Dinh Diem: tearing up of the latter’s portraits, and pulling down of the flag of the ‘regime’ may be regarded as common incidents throughout south Viet Nam. That is why mopping-up operations have been marked this time by more indiscriminate persecutions.
On the other hand, fearing the persistent possibility of a new coup d’etat, the Ngo Dinh Diem administration has been compelled to keep ready a certain force to cope with it. This has resulted in a contradiction between the requirements of terrorization in the countryside and the possibilities of mobilization of troops. The Ngo Dinh Diem administration has tried to solve this contradiction in two ways:
a) To enlarge the present scale of the south Viet Nam army as has been declared by Ngo Dinh Nhu, Adviser to the south Viet Nam administration, and Nguyen Dinh Thuan, Assistant Secretary for Defence. In fact, the authorities have decided to stop all demobilization, and to call reservists to active service. (This fact has another significance, being connected with the U.S. and their agents’ manœuvres of armed intervention in Indo-China, but it is not our intention to deal with this point).
b) To intensify air raids against the areas to be terrorized. As was said above, the Ngo Dinh Diem administration repeatedly sent its air force to strafe and bomb the people in former resistance regions. But now, the situation has become much more serious. Following are a few instances:
In early November 1960, the south Viet Nam air force carried out strafings and bombings (including napalm bombings) against:
- The region North and South of the Qui Nhon — Pleiku road.
- The regions of L. Lola, Kon Ro Leng, Kon Rong and Kon Mahar (Kontum province).
- The regions of Rang Rang, Chanh Hung, An Binh, Bung Tre and Thuoc Nghia (Bien Hoa province).
- The villages of Phu My and Khanh Binh, the area along the Song Ong Doc, the district of Cai Nuoc, the area along the Song Dong Cung, the region of Rach Cai Doi, and Mui Ba Quan (Ca Mau province).
On November 17 and 18, 1960, the region South-East of Go Quao, An Bien, U Minh (Rach Gia province), Cao Lanh, Go Ba, Phuoc Long (Kien Phong province), and a number of other regions in Bien Hoa, Kien Tuong and Ca Mau provinces were repeatedly strafed and bombed.
More recently in late November 1960, south Viet Nam planes once again strafed and bombed the provinces of Rach Gia (Tra Tien and U Minh Thuong regions), Chau Doc (Hong Ngu region), Ca Mau (Nam Can and Cai Nuoc), and Bien Hoa (the region along the Song Be).
Operations of reprisal, air raids, and persecutions under the signboard of ‘fighting against the rebels and the communists’ are still being carried out in south Viet Nam. A great tension is now prevailing there, no guarantee exists for the people’s life.
Previous: 6. REORGANIZATION OF THE ADMINISTRATION, REMOVAL OF VILLAGES, AND CONCENTRATION OF THE INHABITANTS
Next: THE U.S.A. HAS BEEN, AND IS ENCOURAGING AND SUPPORTING NGO DINH DIEM’S DICTATORIAL REGIME