World: A Matter of Re-education

South Viet Nam

“At first,” outed Mme. Ngo Dinh Nhu, “the American press tried to lynch me. Now they want to hear everything the corpse says.” The corpse said plenty. Though she was officially visiting Belgrade as head of her country’s delegation to an Inter-Parliamentary Union conference, South Viet Nam’s éminence brune announced cheerfully that the real aim of her travels was to “disperse all misunderstandings ” about her country and the regime headed by her brother-in-law, Ngo Dinh Diem. Sounding like St. Joan in a slit skirt, Viet Nam’s fiery First Lady announced that she and her doe-eyed, 17-year-old daughter, Le Thuy, would carry the crusade to the U.S. where she said she would “reeducate Americans” from coast to coast. Sample Nhuances:

The New Frontier: “It is indeed difficult to know on what foot to dance with them. I have nothing to say about President Kennedy, but I think Mrs. Kennedy is glamorous and should be admired.”

Communism: “We are for coexistence. The Khrushchev-type of coexistence is only a form of subversion. Mao is not more holy than Khrushchev, but Khrushchev is cleverer and therefore more dangerous.”

Viet Nam’s War: It will be won “much, much sooner is Washington is able to control all its excited, immature and adventurous young officers who always believe they are magicians, but who are only apprentices.”

Herself: “I am naturally very quiet, and I loathe noise and crowds. It is why I cannot enjoy politics. I never talk with any ministers of the government. For four months I have not met my brother-in-law. When I left, I did not say goodbye.”