South Viet Nam: Reluctant Allies

Although South Viet Nam had braced itself for the inevitability of negotiations between the U.S. and North Viet Nam, last week's agreement to talk cast a pall of gloom over Saigon. The only official acknowledgment of the decision was a grudging communique issued by President Nguyen Van Thieu's Foreign Ministry, warning that the talks could be used by Hanoi "for propaganda purposes" and "to foster dissension between the Republic of Viet Nam's allies." Still, for nearly a month the South Vietnamese government has had a negotiations task force at work preparing Saigon's positions for possible talks. Foreign Minister Tran...