Aug. 28, 1963 - The United States has decided that South Vietnam’s President Ngo Dinh Diem (right) must get rid of his powerful brother and his spitfire sister-in-law, Ngo Dinh Nhu (second from right) and Madame Nhu (second from left), or leave office himself, sources said today. This was described as official U.S. policy following the Diem government’s suppression of Buddhist opposition. Despite U.S. pressure, however, there were no signs that Diem would bow. U.S.-South Vietnamese relations have sunk to their lowest point and give no sign of improving. Nhu, head of South Vietnam’s secret police, is still regarded by U.S. officials as having masterminded the crackdown on Buddhists and students, despite his denials. Barring the departure of the Nhus, American officials now see a military coup against the regime as the only alternative. Such a development would pose the danger of civil war, or at least chaos, thereby imperiling the war against the Communist Viet Cong in which 14,000 American “advisers” are participating.
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