Background
After the Hue Vesak shootings on May 8, civil unrest broke out in South Vietnam. Nine Buddhists were gunned down by the Roman Catholic regime of President Ngo Dinh Diem after defying a government ban on the flying of Buddhist flags on Vesak, the birthday of Gautama Buddha, and marching in an anti-government protest. Following the shootings, Buddhist leaders began to lobby Diem for religious equality and compensation and justice for the families of the victims. With Diem remaining recalcitrant, the protests escalated. The self-immolation of Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc at a busy Saigon intersection became a public relations disaster for the Diem regime, as photos of the event made front-page headlines worldwide and became a symbol of Diem's policies. As protests continued, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) Special Forces loyal to Diem's brother Ngo Dinh Nhu raided pagodas across the country on August 21, leaving a death toll estimated to be up to a few hundred, and causing extensive damage under the declaration of martial law. Universities and high schools were closed amid mass pro-Buddhist protests. In the meantime, the fight against the Viet Cong insurgency had begun to lose intensity amid rumours of sectarian infighting amongst ARVN troops. This was compounded by the plotting of a coup by various ARVN officers, which distracted attention from the fight against the Viet Cong insurgency. In the aftermath of the pagoda raids, the Kennedy administration sent Cable 243 to the US Embassy, Saigon, ordering an exploration of alternative leadership possibilities.
Read more about this topic: Krulak Mendenhall Mission
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