Friend of Vietnam recants

Joseph Buttinger, a long time member of the "Friends of Vietnam" in Australia, an anti-communist group existing in the USA, Australia and New Zealand has recanted. Recently he stated that he is shocked by the fact that the Thieu regime and the American embassy are engaging in "clumsy lies" to hide the truth about political prisoners in Thieu's jails.

He points out that the American Government is responsible for this situation "the American tax-payer having paid for the increase of Saigon's police force from 16,000 members in 1963 to 120,000."

Norm Kirk's "Labour" government is I also responsible for this build up. The NZ taxpayer is providing patrol boats for Thieu's police force.

The Australian newspaper Woroni (No 1, 1973) quotes a police officer interrogating a student as having said "If you are not a communist I'll beat you until you are: and when you are a communist I'll beat you until you aint."