INDOCHINA ARCHIVES-\' ';J y

UNIV. CALIFORNIA \ \?i.I \ l?

By l\fALCOJ,iU BROWNE
SAIGON (AP)-A desperate propaganda
struggle backed by military force is
moving tnto the limelight of the Republic
of Vletnam"s war.
Communist North Viet Nam and its
a1l1es evidently have been reassessing
the situation in the south and have been
changing some of their tactics. To
er this, South Vietnam and the U.S. are
pouring increasing personnel and effort
into the psychological war.
But the Viet Congo has a )ong head
start, and in a political spnsp, It has
shoWl! impressivp strength at the grass-
root. of the country.
Many officials here believe that if the
over-all milital'Y situation in South Viet-
nam remains more or less as it Is, the
war will be won 0" lost depending on the
of the propaganda drive.
On the government side, efforts have
been severely hampered by the inacces-
sibility or much of the countryside. Most
government-controllpd villages maintain
information huts where posters, pamphlets
and periodicals are on view. But propa-
ganda speda lists trained in information
techniques are rarely stationed in the
smaller communities.
Each village has a locally elected in-
formation officer. but lack ot training and
mtlltary backing In most- cases bas
hindered these officials.
Government si!:!ns dot the roadsides of
Vietnam, exhorting the people not to pay
taxes to the Viet Cong or to give the com-
munists information, food or shelter, or
any other coopelaUon. A favorite theme
of these posters is a cartoon showing
Chinese ('ommunist Premier Mao Tzp-
tung choking a Viet Cong agent, who in
tu.(\ is choking a peasant.
By co'\trast. Viet Con,( displays are
often more (or('efuI. During" the Pllst
week, for examplp. a trllvpl er reportpd
seeing on a road two effigies of high
goverDnwnt (il{ur('s lying in an obscene
position on a stuck of Imitation bank
Dotes.
The Viet Cong sef'ks in much or its
propaganda lo discredil the government
and link it with corruption. It also seeks
to fosler the impression lhat the reason
peasant!!! are so poor Is that the govern-
ment is so rich.
Passersby reportedly avoided touching
the obstruction, pl'psumably out of fear.
Such displays are fI'equentIy booby-
trapped with explosives, or in the line or
!i1'S of ambushes.
Viet Cong propaganda in recent
months has been becoming more polished
and intense. Formerly. mosl Viet Cong
propaganda 'was distribuled under the
name of lhe so-called Liberation Press
Agency, crudely hand written, typed or
mimeographed. Recently, however, Liber-
ation Press Agency propaganda has been
appealjng in neatly bound books printed
on a. press and containing reports from
the communist side of news /events in
South Vietna.m.
More and more, communist propa-
ganda reaching the peasants in pamphlets,
verbally from agents and fl'om Radio
DATE
Propaganda. assllnu's nl1llly guises. Not tht" least of the ('H('('tivt" mpthod ..
by the Rf'public 01 Viptnam to inspire its soldiprs to bigger ('(forts again .. t the Vif't
Cong Is t he ellll.loyment of pretty girls to deconte herof'S. (Ar I'hoto)
Hanoi is using distorted versions of news
reports: in the south.
When it was recently announced here
that U.S.-trained dog's were being broug'ht
to Vietnam to help run down rebels in
the countryside, Radio Hanoi quicJdy
began reCerring to the forces here as "the
U.S.-Diem mnning dogs," and began re-
porting alleged atrocities connected with
the dogs.
The extent to whl('h the Viet Cong
monit.ors all news report .. on the govern-
ment side was illustrated by the report of
a Japanese engi nf'er who retumed after
four weeks captivity with the Viet Congo
Several days before the engineer was
Iddnaped last month, Saigon newspapers
had published an enoneous report that
Japanese combat troops might be sent
to Vietnam. The engineer said the main
line of questioning adopted by his com-
munist captor was on this subject.
Evidently, changes are in store (or the
communist propaganda drive. For the
first time, Radio Hanoi recently an-
nounced formation of a Communist Party
in South Vietnam to become the "ya n-
guard" for the rebel guerrillas. In the
past, official communist outlets ha\'e
never identi[ied the rebels here as com-
munist. Presumably, Viet Cong pl"Opa-
ganda will follow the policy change. and
its tone will become more frankly com-
munist.
Critics of the propaganda progr8 mll
operated by South Vietnam and the U.S.
charge that their greatest weaknesses are
lack of contact with the people and
methods of plcscntation.
It is chal'ged that government propa-
ganda uses too many big words (such as
"personalism" and "infra-structure") and
involves too many complicated Ideas. To
most peasants hel'e, it is argued, even
the word "democracy" is too complicated.
A better Vocabulary and means of ex-
pressing ideas should be sought, the
critics say.
The probl('ln at communicating with
the pealmnts !wrious. Ll'ufiets l'an bo
scatterf'd from thl'! all' In Viet
controllf'd are-aq, hut pprsonal contact is
often impossible without first conduding
a military mopping-up operation.
M