ation of the war was occasioned by South
Vietnamese military weakness and spasmodic but continuing politi
cal instability. The non-communists' nationalist credentials were
initially áweakened by the pre-1954 collaboration of the Bao áDai
regime with the French. Diem and his brother ruled in mandarin
fashion and never enjoyed broad popular support. As Catholics in
a predominantly Buddhist country, they had difficulties dealing
with the agitation of the bonzes in 1963. A central problem was
"Saigonese corruption, a malignancy that poisoned the entire
system of government" and "guaranteed incompetence in
office" (Sheehan 515). Diem's successors after the 1963 coup
were even less effective. The Thieu regime in the 1970s was
more stable, but his panicky decision to evacuate the Central
Highlands in 1975 and its ineffective implementation led to a
...