(7 of 9)
Tolerant Man. For much of the time, the man who presided over the distribution of military aid was quiet, ambitious General Phoumi Nosavan, who may have had trouble making his soldiers fight, but bluntly labels the Pathet Lao "the agents of a foreign power." Prince Souvanna Phouma, as Premier, was earnestly dedicated to the notion that his brother would call off the Pathet Lao attacks if people were just nice to him. Soon, Red Prince Souphanouvong flew in to see Souvanna, and the two half brothers hugged and wept at the airport and went off to a picnic with 50 of their relatives. Under Souvanna's tolerant eye, the Pathet Lao temporarily suspended fighting, and Souphanouvong entered the government as Minister of Planning, thus becoming the first Communist agent ever to administer a U.S. aid program. Even more alarming, the Pathet Lao and their allies won 13 out of 21 seats in the 1958 country-wide by-electioa.
Short Resolution. Understandably annoyed, the U.S. suspended its aid, which in Laos was enough to bring down any government. A Committee for the Defense of the National Interest, backed by General Phoumi Nosavan, emerged. In a belated show of strength, the army en circled a Pathet Lao battalion on the Plaine des Jarres and jailed Prince Souphanouvong on a charge of treason. The committee's candidates won blatantly rigged elections in April 1960.
But in Laos, such resolution does not last. One dark night, the entire Pathet Lao battalion, along with its women, children and cows, walked through the army guard. Asked how this was possible, an army commander in the area answered: "That would be difficult to explain." Just as easily, Prince Souphanouvong slipped out of prison and into the hills last May, taking his jailers along as new recruits. Within weeks, the Pathet Lao rebels were back in business and renewing their guerrilla attacks in the countryside.
One-Man Mutiny. The Royal Army now faced the prospect of renewed fighting in a war that seemed endless. The whole thing was too much for an ebullient, 5-ft. 4-in. fighting man trained at a U.S. Ranger school in the Philippines. In a one-man mutiny, Captain Kong Le and his battalion of paratroopers seized control of Vientiane in a predawn coup last August. Young (26) Captain Kong Le seemed to be against everybody and everything, acting from no clear motives except fatigue and frustration.
"Where are the roads that were supposed to be built with American aid money?" Captain Kong Le demanded. "I am willing to die for Laos, but not for incompetence and corruption. I am tired of Lao killing Lao. I have fought and I have killed many men, and I have never seen a foreigner die." Kong Le obviously had no solution in mind. He raced about town in a Jeep flying a three-starred flag with the legend "Chef de Coup d'Etat." He warned that the two cold-war camps were "like two scorpions in a cup. You must not touch either of them, since both can bite." And he asked the politicians: "What do I do next?'' He began by installing Prince Souvanna as his Premier, and Brother Souphanouvong soon emerged from the hills to talk peace.