American Strategic Deception Bureau

　On January 7, President Ngo Dinh Diem, acting with his own will, signed an order punishing those involved in the self-immolation and ordering the arrest of Thich Tri Quang. Upon hearing the news, Thich Tri Quang attempted to seek refuge in the U.S. Embassy. Because the ambassador was absent, he was refused entry by embassy staff and subsequently arrested before he could escape Saigon.

　On January 10, news of Thich Tri Quang's arrest spread, sparking outrage among Buddhists throughout South Vietnam. A nationwide demonstration erupted. Monks led believers and citizens in streets across Saigon, Hue, and Da Nang, with a combined total of over one million people.

　Monks and social activists held loud speakers and cursed Ngo Dinh Diem from all angles, demanding new elections, the resignation of the Ngo brothers, etc.

　Faced with such an overwhelming wave of opposition, Ngo Dinh Diem still refused to give in, claiming that this was a conspiracy by the Viet Cong to commit civil unrest and attempt to overthrow the Republic, and that all participants were Viet Cong. He then declared martial law throughout the country, sent the presidential guard and some paratroopers to suppress the rebellion, and personally ordered "kill without mercy."

　Then, outside the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Saigon, also known as the Pink Church, the suppression troops encountered the marchers and immediately set up machine guns and began to fire. The unarmed citizens, Buddhists, monks and nuns immediately panicked and fled in all directions.

　After a round of strafing, the soldiers continued to pursue with their bayonets on their rifles, killing many more people and disemboweling the wounded on the ground.

　David Halberstam, a New York Times reporter who was at the scene, described the tragedy in a news release: "The church gate had become a living hell. Blood flowed like a river, corpses were scattered everywhere, and the air was filled with the stench of blood, gunpowder, and the sickening odor of human entrails. The snow-white icons were splattered with blood, which soon solidified into a gruesome black-red, like withered roses."

　In addition to Saigon, tragic bloodshed also occurred in other South Vietnamese cities such as Da Nang and Hue that day. In total, at least more than 5,000 Buddhists, monks and ordinary citizens were beaten to death, and even four foreign journalists were killed in the chaos.

　Next, Ngo Dinh Nhu, who was said to have gone insane from smoking opium, declared that he would "pursue the enemy with all his remaining courage" and personally led thousands of soldiers and police officers in armored vehicles to attack the "nest of infidels" at the Xa Loi Temple. He set fire to the headquarters of the South Vietnam Buddhist Association, arrested hundreds of monks in the Xa Loi Temple, and stole the sacred heart relic of Thich Quang Duc that was enshrined by the monks.

　On January 12, 1963, Ngo Dinh Nhu once again erected two thousand wooden stakes on both sides of Katina Street, the most prosperous street in Saigon, and tied up all the monks captured at the Xa Loi Temple, Viet Cong prisoners imprisoned in prison, as well as Buddhists and unlucky citizens who were randomly captured.

　An unlucky person was tied to each wooden stake, and their bodies were covered with tar and other flammable materials. The previously arrested Shi Zhiguang was among them.

　Presidential advisor Ngo Dinh Nhu, smoking opium from his pipe, jokingly announced that they would all be burned at the stake for treason. He then instructed a soldier to bring Thich Quang Duc's sacred heart relic, tear it into small pieces in front of the onlookers, and force the pieces into Thich Tri Quang's mouth.

　Then, Nguyen Dinh Nhu personally set Thich Tri Quang on fire, listening to his screams amid the blazing flames. The rest of the group was then set ablaze and died one after another. The remaining ashes and debris were ordered to be thrown into the sea to prevent "pagans" from preserving them as martyrdom relics.

　To prevent American diplomats from intervening at the execution ground, President Ngo Dinh Diem even sent troops to surround the U.S. Embassy in South Vietnam before the execution, cutting off the embassy's external communications. He also placed U.S. military advisers stationed in South Vietnam under temporary house arrest and even jammed the communications of U.S. troops stationed in Vietnam.

　After this incident, even the most reactionary American politicians could no longer tolerate this "Vietnamese monkey" who was so arrogant: on the one hand, they received huge amounts of US aid, and on the other hand, they showed no respect to the US! Can they still be considered as the little brother supported by the United States?

　The above atrocities, which once again refreshed the bottom line of "free countries", quickly spread throughout the world and once again caused global shock.

　In South Vietnam, the Cao Dai sect immediately rebelled and established its own territory in Tay Ninh Province, announcing its withdrawal from the South Vietnamese government. The Hoa Hao sect in An Giang Province also responded with an army.

　In late January, various religious groups and Vietcong guerrillas in South Vietnam launched several assassination attempts against President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother. However, due to bad luck and insufficient preparation, almost all of these assassination attempts failed.

　Only a group of armed Cao Dai believers

　The army massacred Diem's ​​hometown near Hue and killed Diem's ​​elderly mother, Pham Thi Thanh.

　In order to avenge his mother, the furious President Ngo Dinh Diem signed a presidential decree on January 30, announcing that Cao Dai and Hoa Hao were both peripheral organizations of the Communist Party of Vietnam, announcing the demolition of all Cao Dai temples in the country, and ordering all Cao Dai and Hoa Hao believers to convert, otherwise they would be treated as collaborators with bandits.

　Afterwards, he sent the air force to bomb the Cao Dai Church in Xining. At the encouragement of the president, Catholic militias across South Vietnam quickly launched a new round of "anti-Buddhist" operations, attacking Buddhist temples everywhere, destroying Buddha statues, looting property, killing and burning people, and committing all kinds of atrocities.

　Under such perverse actions, even the members of the South Vietnamese National Assembly finally could no longer tolerate it and launched an impeachment against President Ngo Dinh Diem.

　President Ngo Dinh Diem bluntly announced that there were many Viet Cong spies from bandit areas in the National Assembly. He then sent the Presidential Guard to break into the National Assembly and arrest all the opposition members. He beat each of them like a pig's head, then locked them up in a dark cell and tortured them one by one for interrogation.

　During this period, the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam and Secretary of State Rusk in Washington kept calling and sending telegrams to the Presidential Palace in Gia Long Palace, using all means to remind Ngo Dinh Diem to be as decent as possible and not to discredit the "American democratic system."

　But President Ngo Dinh Diem, who had become known as the "Avenger," ignored this and instead dissolved the National Assembly by force, suspended all elections, and publicly declared that his power as president was unlimited.

　His younger brother, presidential advisor Ngo Dinh Nhu, ordered engineers to dig a large pit outside the National Assembly. In front of many citizens, he threw 63 opposition members of National Assembly into the pit, and then filled it with cement amid the screams of the members of National Assembly.

　David Halberstam, a reporter for the New York Times, witnessed and recorded this scene again, and published an article in the newspaper the next day titled "Democracy in Concrete" - after reading this article, President Kennedy just hummed woodenly and could not say anything.

　At this point, all kinds of horrific and dark rumors about South Vietnam, including many that could be called cult rumors, were raging in the world's public opinion circles.

　There was no way around it. The Vietnamese didn't have the power to manipulate public opinion that the Jews would later have within the European and American news media. President Kennedy also had a very negative impression of the Diem government and was unwilling to expend his own resources to suppress news coverage.

　Besides, President Kennedy at this moment had no time to care about the chaos on the other side of the ocean.

　Because Martin Luther King, the American civil rights leader, gave him a big "surprise"!

　There was a flood, and the next will be a fire!"

　In short, black radicals are no longer satisfied with equality, but are demanding that white people atone for their past atrocities against black people!

　But this far exceeded Kennedy's bottom line. After all, he was not Hillary and Pelosi sixty years later, who could even pretend to kneel down to black people for votes and political power - as long as it did not touch on core rights, any face-saving matter could be negotiated.

　Yet, at this point, President Kennedy still harbored a lingering sense of white superiority, believing that granting blacks citizenship was the limit, and that "bygones be bygones." It was inconceivable that these "arrogant" radical blacks were still pushing the envelope.

　But the problem is that as one of the people who ignited the raging fire of the black civil rights movement, President Kennedy could not go back, slap himself in the face, and stand again with the white conservative racists.

　Besides, there is no way that white Protestant racists in the United States would accept associating with an Irish Catholic like him!

　Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. Faced with an increasingly out-of-control situation, President Kennedy had no choice but to persevere. On the one hand, he vigorously supported moderate leaders in the black civil rights movement, while on the other hand, he quietly restricted and suppressed radical black political leaders, trying hard to catch the wild dog that had escaped from its reins.

　As a result, Martin Luther King, the black leader he considered "moderate and controllable," delivered a big "surprise" just after the New Year!

　When Martin Luther King Jr. told him they were planning a large, peaceful demonstration in Washington, President Kennedy was taken aback and expressed his opposition, fearing it could get out of hand or create "an atmosphere of intimidation."

　Because it reminds people of Mussolini's "March on Rome" and the retired veterans of World War I who marched on Washington during the Great Depression.

　President Kennedy claimed that he was concerned about an accidental shooting and was very reluctant to see Martin Luther King being crushed by tank tracks.

　But Martin Luther King said that even if the president opposed it, it would be useless because the black leaders had already made their decision and he couldn't stop them.

　In fact, as early as 20 years ago, Philip Randolph, a famous black leader and head of the Brotherhood of Railroad Sleeping Car Attendants, had proposed this proposal to President Franklin Roosevelt. However, President Roosevelt was also worried that the situation would get out of control. So he promised that if Randolph canceled the plan, he would establish a federal fair employment administration commission to help improve the treatment of black people. The matter ended there.

　But this time, the blacks were determined to go ahead and demonstrate their strength and protest to the country by "March on Washington".

　"The Negroes are out in the streets," Martin Luther King Jr. complained to the president. "It is impossible to get them back home now."

　Moreover, for those who believe that justice for black people can be achieved by working within the existing system, this march holds great significance. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "We appeal to the conscience of our nation. The alternative is violence." He also said that it is far better for the black movement to be led by responsible "good men" like him than by ambitious individuals who would incite riots.

　Faced with the difficult choice of having to choose between a black march and a black rebellion, President Kennedy had no choice but to acquiesce again.

　Due to freezing weather and snowy conditions, the March on Washington, led by Martin Luther King Jr. on January 28th, originally planned for 200,000 people, ultimately attracted only a little over 100,000. Most were Black, but some white left-wing activist groups also attended. They sang hymns and Negro spirituals, chanted "We Shall Overcome," and held signs that read, "Pass a viable civil rights bill now!" "Desegregate our schools now!" "Improve housing now!" and other demands.

　Like the army of veterans who marched on Washington thirty years earlier to demand their retirement benefits, this rally of 100,000 black people demonstrated remarkable discipline. There was no looting or arson along the way, and the police in the District of Columbia had little to do except direct traffic. The 4,000 Marines urgently deployed on standby never received orders to enter the capital to "clear the area."

　While the 100,000-strong parade was still marching in the wind and snow, President Kennedy could not wait to meet with their leaders and praised them in front of the television cameras of journalists, saying that he was deeply impressed by the great enthusiasm and strict discipline of the demonstrators.

　After leaving the White House, Martin Luther King went to the Lincoln Memorial and delivered his speech, which has gone down in history and even been selected as an English textbook in many countries: "I have dreamed that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the descendants of slaves and the descendants of slave owners will sit down at the same table as brothers. I have dreamed that one day even a stifling place like Mississippi will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have dreamed that my children will live in a country where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their content..."

　Because the government adopted a policy of indulgence from beginning to end, the movement of black people to march on Washington was finally passed without any danger.

　However, for President Kennedy

　His blatant "favoritism toward blacks" inevitably upset other Americans, including not only the white racists in the Southern states who had always been against him, but also the Poles, Irish, and Italians who had previously supported him.

　Right-wing news media also accused liberals of hypocrisy, pointing out in their newspapers that many liberal congressmen, while advocating for the abolition of racial segregation, had their children withdrawn from schools that admitted blacks and transferred to private schools.

　At the same time, some liberal politicians who followed Martin Luther King, Jr., were secretly persecuting black people in their own districts. They were always full of sympathy for black people in the Southern states and condemned the sins of white people in the South, but they attacked the black people around them like schizophrenia.

　As for the more than four million Democrats in the southern states, they have openly shouted the political slogan of "Kick out Brother Kennedy."

　Furthermore, after the Cuban Crisis, President Kennedy vigorously promoted a policy of détente with the Soviet Union, attempting to de-escalate the Cold War and avoid an accidental conflict. A hotline connecting the White House and the Kremlin was established, allowing direct communication between the two sides and preventing miscalculations.

　Kennedy called it "a welcome sign that a more peaceful world is both possible and beneficial to all."

　Khrushchev also cooperated and said some polite words, saying that he would not agree with China's proposal to "fight a nuclear decisive war with the West at the cost of millions of lives."

　Although these efforts have pleased a considerable number of people who fear war, they have also made the military and conservatives very disappointed and angry.

　Especially on the issue of banning nuclear testing, public opinion across the United States was deeply divided, with fierce debates from campus to Congress.

　Former President Eisenhower published an article in a magazine, in which he expressed his concerns about limiting nuclear weapons and banning nuclear testing: "What are those people in Washington thinking? Why would they deliberately do this to our country?"

　Admiral Lewis Strauss also accused the Kennedy administration in front of reporters, "You are giving up the future security of the country."

　But Kennedy rejected this view. He stated that banning nuclear testing and preventing a new nuclear war were the core of his foreign policy. He was unwilling to abandon peace, even if it meant losing his re-election. This might have infuriated the far right, but he took pleasure in their outrage.

　President Kennedy also loudly declared that he was happy that he would go down in history as a liberal president.

　Currently, President Kennedy's approval rating has dropped from a peak of 80 percent to 50 percent, and it's trending downward. While Kennedy is considered quite popular compared to South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, whose approval rating never exceeded 5 percent, most politicians believe that John F. Kennedy will likely lose the next presidential election, making his chances of re-election very slim.

　Of course, as we all know, polls are always inaccurate in every US election, and black swan events always emerge...

　-

　Although Washington was in turmoil in early 1963, it had little to do with Firi, who was on the West Coast.

　By early February, thanks to Firi's arrangements, Marita's resignation procedures were finally completed, allowing her to bid farewell to her spy career.

　However, due to Marita's "poor performance" during her tenure at the CIA and "causing significant losses to the department (the failed assassination attempt on Castro)", the agency did not give her any severance pay, not even the back pay, but only gave her a bunch of confidentiality agreements to sign.

　——During the time she followed Fili, she never received a penny of salary from the CIA. She was supported entirely by Fili.

　However, considering that Marita even signed a slave contract, it seems normal for her to be raised by her master at his expense.

　Marita, who felt that she had been badly harmed by the CIA, felt very indignant about this, but she could do nothing about it.

　Next, Firi used his connections again to buy the refuge villa he was currently living in from the CIA at a discounted price. After all, he had lived there for so long that he had developed some attachment to it. And it seemed he couldn't decide on a specific location for his new home right away.

　A bird in the hand is worse than ten in the bush.

　In this Cold War era of constant crises and fears, a house with an underground shelter is still quite popular after all.

　Then, he generously registered the property in Marita's name.

　Next, when Firi was considering his engagement ring, whether he should buy the currently fashionable diamond ring or a pure gold ring that would hold its value better, he was surprised to see Dr. Kissinger flying over from Washington again with a bitter face.

　And it brought a new task that felt bleak.

　"Um... Major Jin, based on our cooperation last year... the higher-ups seem to think we have a talent for serving women.

　It just so happens that the First Lady of South Vietnam, Ms. Chen Lixuan, is currently living in Los Angeles, so the White House has asked us to go to her and serve as her advisor. We also want to keep an eye on her and make sure she stops making unnecessary remarks and causing trouble for the President. The President has been troubled enough lately..."

　After hearing Kissinger's hesitant words, Firi felt dizzy and almost fainted.

　What the hell is this new job?!

　——Chen Lichun, this outspoken

　The "Dragon Lady" or "Human BBQ Lady" who was stopped is definitely much more difficult to serve than "American Sweetheart" Marilyn Monroe!

　Chapter 203: Vice President Johnson is a good friend of Diem

　Although President Kennedy's main focus from January to February 1963 was on dealing with the massive influx of black civil rights protesters into Washington, D.C. for petitions and protests, this does not mean that the South Vietnamese authorities did not continue to cause him trouble during this period.

　Across South Vietnam, fed up Buddhists and believers of other local religions declared Ngo Dinh Diem the "enemy of Buddhism" or "devil," launching a vigorous uprising. Naturally, they joined forces with the Viet Cong guerrillas and engaged in fierce battles with government forces and Catholic militias.

　The US troops stationed in Vietnam, whose total number has now grown to more than 16,000, have also become targets in this melee and have been beaten dizzy.

　Although the American troops stationed in South Vietnam and the American Embassy in Saigon had increased their security as much as possible, when the Vietnamese cigarette vendors at the entrance to the military camp could plant a bomb under your car at any time, when the Vietnamese cooks or helpers in the cafeteria could suddenly poison the food, and when rockets and mortars flew inexplicably from nearby residential areas, and when the police and firefighters who arrived could suddenly turn against the American soldiers and open fire... wouldn't even the most battle-hardened American soldiers be tormented to the point of mental breakdown?

　General Harkins, commander of the US forces in Vietnam, could not come up with any effective countermeasures except declaring to the news media that he would "defend Saigon to the death."

　Some people in Europe have even opened odds, betting on when South Vietnam will shrink from a republic to a city-state...

　Back in the United States, South Vietnam's first lady, Tran Li-chun, was also tirelessly causing trouble for the Kennedy administration at the instigation of the Republicans.

　As punishment for President Ngo Dinh Diem's ​​complete disregard for US advice, his insistence on escalating the situation, and even sending troops to surround the US Embassy in South Vietnam, the US government cut off its $10 million monthly cash aid to Diem starting in February.

　According to President Kennedy, this was the mildest punishment, similar to "stopping children's pocket money."

　However, the Ngo brothers, who ruled South Vietnam, still felt deeply offended and angrily condemned Kennedy.

　South Vietnamese First Lady Tran Li Chun, who happened to be in Los Angeles at the time, soon went on a speaking tour across the United States with the support of the far-right group of the Republican Party, condemning Kennedy for compromising and surrendering to the "red bandits" and abandoning the South Vietnamese regime that was "fighting on the forefront of the freedom camp."

　However, by this time, Chen Lichun and the South Vietnamese authorities behind her had already become notorious throughout the United States. Even Chen Lichun's father, Chen Wenxuan, the former South Vietnamese ambassador to the United States, resigned from all his positions along with his wife shortly after the South Vietnamese monk's self-immolation incident broke out, cut ties with the Ngo Dinh Diem regime, and told reporters that he did not have "a devilish daughter and a devilish son-in-law who were so fond of human meat BBQ."

　So, Chen Lichun's nationwide speaking tour in February this year was booed from beginning to end - the White House refused to meet her, and Capitol Hill also turned her away. Although Vice President Johnson still tried in vain to speak well of her, it was completely useless.

　Faced with official boycott, Chen Lichun wanted to visit her parents who no longer wanted to talk to her, but was kicked out. Afterwards, Chen Wenxuan, a former South Vietnamese diplomat to the United States, made a public speech, saying that wherever his daughter went in the United States, she left behind a "foul stench."

　Later, when Chen Lichun was giving a speech at Harvard University, a crowd of university students outside the hall, hurling rotten potatoes and stinking cheese at her, taunted her with taunts like, "How does roasting human flesh taste?" and "Did you bathe in the blood of young girls every day in Vietnam?"

　At the next few stops, the number of people willing to listen to Chen Lichun's French-accented English, where she distorted right and wrong, became increasingly fewer. Apart from a few ultra-conservatives who occasionally showed up to support her, only a group of reporters eager to report news remained, following her closely.

　However, despite the barrage of insults and stinky cheese along the way, even her biological parents publicly announced that they had severed ties with her.

　However, the South Vietnamese "Dragon Lady" who was famous for her "human meat BBQ" was still not defeated. Chen Lichun continued to cry and publicly curse President Kennedy for "forgetting his responsibility to lead the free world", cursed the Democratic Party's liberals for being "worse than the Bolsheviks", cursed the New York Times reporters for "eight out of ten of them are in collusion with the Communists", and even revealed a large number of American corruption scandals and romantic news that were difficult to distinguish between true and false.

　- For example, a certain congressman accepted kickbacks from aid to Vietnam, someone else bought young girls and handsome boys from South Vietnam, and even dared to buy female Viet Cong prisoners, etc., which attracted the attention of many curious people for a while.

　In particular, a bunch of high-definition photos of "Viet Cong female prisoners" that were obtained from somewhere have sparked heated discussions among the American people.

　Even worse, she also revealed that the CIA recruited Hmong mountain people in Laos to grow opium, and that she and her husband Ngo Dinh Nhu were collaborating in drug trafficking, and that the intelligence agencies of the United States and France were fighting each other around the world to compete for the drug trafficking business. In addition, she also made nonsense of the fact that Attorney General Robert Kennedy was also secretly engaged in the drug trafficking business, and bought young girls from South Vietnam, illegally smuggled them to Hawaii, and opened a special abuse-themed brothel.

　……

　After the above news spread, President Kennedy was so angry that he almost had a heart attack.

　Attorney General Robert Kennedy was also in great trouble because of the scandal. He first had a quarrel with his wife, and then angrily fought with the FBI. After his secret investigation, he found out that the matter of the Vietnamese brothel in Hawaii was actually messed up by the FBI in his name!

　Considering that FBI Director Hoover has always publicly claimed that the Attorney General is in collusion with the Communist Party, it is normal for the FBI to throw some dirty water on him.

　Uh, maybe?

　If everything Chen Lichun said were all fabricated nonsense, like UFO enthusiasts or the "flat Earth theory" (the belief that the Earth is flat), purely for attention, then that would be fine. But the problem is that a considerable portion of what she said... is true!

　——As a non-mainstream president who started his career with the support of the Mafia, how could President Kennedy not have some black material on him?

　While the current political climate in the United States might seem like a case of "crows don't laugh at wild boars," the Kennedy family, as outliers in high society, faced a similar situation to Trump sixty years later: ostracized everywhere, and any negative information about them was scrutinized.

　If it were the Roosevelt family, they wouldn't have to worry about this little trouble, but the Kennedy family didn't have that confidence...