(Cont'd.)
"In their place stands a corps of young officers, often incompetent and more often corrupt. Weary of the war and cynical towed it, many work a four-and-a-half-day week, leaving their troops at noon Friday and departing to Can Tho or Da Nang or Saigon in search of diversion", Mr. Apple contrasts them with the N,.L.F, and North Vietnamese fighter:- "the enemy continues to fight with tenacity, imagination and courage, and no one knows when he will stop". About the forthcoming 'elections' in South Vietnam, Mr, Apple says:- .."the military's old habits persist; it would be unrealistic not to expect them to, At the generals’ insistence, the only serious peace candidate, Au Truong Thanh, was ruled off the ballot...". "The remaining candidates - a collection of middle-aged and middle-class conservatives seem to offer no real alternatives...". "So the outlook, four weeks before election day, is for a ratification of the Thieu-Ky regime, with all that would mean: a 'legitimised' but essentially unchanged central government, continuation of heavy handed police tactics, the same generally corrupt officials in the provinces, the same dispirited army, more war", When American journalists in Saigon can see this much, it re-enforces the N.L.F. and North Vietnamese statements on the war. As socialists we should follow these up by referring to the Hanoi weekly, Vietnam Courier as often as possible.*
[*Available via V.S.C.49 Rivington St. E.C.2/