THUNDER IN THE MOUNTAINS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP73-00475R000201600007-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 6, 2014
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: September 20, 1965
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

-I- -I- NTildrtIJPPIC
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/01/06: CIA-RDP73-00475R000201600007-2
E-.P 20 1965
Thunder in the Mountains
Buried deep in central Vietnam's
dark-green highlands is the dusty little
outpost of Buon Brieng. Buon Brieng's
whitewashed flagpole flies the red and
yellow flag of South Vietnam and its
thatched-roof longhouses are jammed
with grinning, mahogany-tinted war-
riors who are being trained to fight the
.1 Viet Cong by the green-bereted men of
the United States Special Forces. Last
week, however, Buon Brieng was off
limits to U.S. newsmen. .The reason: a
rebellion there, hushed up until recently,
now threatens to spread across the high-
lands, sweeping up the 700,000 mon-
tagnard tribesmen who inhabit nearly
half the total area of South Vietnam.
Brieng's revolt lasted just three days.
No one was injured, and the camp's
defense was relatively undamaged. But
when the rebellious tribesmen saun-
tered back into the bush, after eating
their fill, they took 200 rifles with them.
With them, too, went 185 montagnard
Special Forces trainees. And it could
happen again almost anywhere in South
Vietnam's thinly populated highlands.
"They can take over any camp they
want to without firing a shot," admits a
worried American.
"They" are FULRO (the United Front
for the Struggle of the Oppressed Race),
...an organization dedicated to achieving
F. political autonomy for the montagnards.
7.rhough it has only 2,000 membei'll
FULRO claims wide support among the
montagnards, particularly those of the
relatively sophisticated Rhade tribe.
Whatever FULRO's strength, it rests on
mutual suspicion between the monta-
gnards and the Vietnamese proper-a sus-
picion based on ethnic difference and
maintained by the French in colonial,
days. In this quarrel, the Americans, '
who won montagnard affection for their
efforts to arm the "yards" against the
Viet Cong, are caught in the middle.
And further complicating the problem is
the fact that the Viet Cong have prom-
ised to give the montagnards autonomy
if they help to establish a Communist
government in Saigon.
Last week, after shucking off some
Am ricqii agent-s7aiiii-ane
,avyjay from TJLRO NEU;VVvEmes
Merton Perry spent'. -i6Veral
ivitry-ipokeiiiign 'fa th-e-olga"diiitioti in"
ment cannot accept the unreasonable
demands of FULRO. FULRO leaders
will be sorry if they continue their past
activities."
American officials, blamed by many
South Vietnamese for "coddling" the
montagnards, are nervously advising
unity as the cure. The American closest ,
to the scene is Col. Laurence S. Browne, I
a chunky, blue=e-yerfaiiTs-Mer-Who
is senior adviser to the South Vietnam-
ese 23rd Division. Browne doesn't #
believe the FULRO leaders are Com-
munist but adds: "If they ain't with us,
they're against us." Accordingly, there-
fore, BronciejavorS the strong-hand.s?L,
icy adysicat9d.R1(11:076iith7fetnarnese.
Beyond this, Browne vanfs no publicity
He .,has made IT-paffully .clear that :
newsmen are ,u'liWelCorile: An American
captain' at Buon Brieng sent a message.
to Saigon last week, asking that in?
Montagnards: 'If they ain't with us, they're against us'
the highlands capital of Ban Me Thuot.
-"The- Mari 'from FULRO
was a young, sturdy Rhade in tight, tan
Levis and an old U.S. Army fatigue
shirt. He had a confident manner, a
quick smile, and his frankness was sur-
prising. He came directly to the point:
FULRO, he told me, is anti-Viet Cong.
irwsiitrurfight the Viet Cong. But it
wants to fight directly at the side of the
Americans. FULRO, ' he added, can
count -on the support of nearly all the
Rhade, as well as other tribes."
Patience Runs Thin: Though FULRO
aims at full autonomy, its leaders realize.
the war makes this unrealistic at
present and have scaled down their
demands in recent talks with the South
Vietnamese government. But whatever
concessions FULRO believes it has
made, there are ominous signs that Sai-
gon's patience is exhausted. Last week,
Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky publicly
v/arned the montagnards: Me govern-
journalist be permitted to visit the camp.
"If necessary, ground all aircraft," he
begged.
But South Vietnamese and Americans
alike, while professing confidence that a
widespread flare-up can be avoided, are ,
obviously worried. And the gravity of ?
the problem is illustrated by the fact -
that, except for regular South Vietnam-
ese army units, the defenses of Darlac
province, the center of the Rhade tribe, .
depend almost entirely on montagnards.
If they are alienated, or forced into the
Viet Cong camp, Darlac is, quite simply,
lost. And any use of violence ? against
FULRO would almost certainly lead to a
general uprising, which would accel-
erate the slide. If the South Vietnamese
can somehow steal the montagnard revo-
lution from the Communists, the threat
will end. Otherwise, that whitewashed
flagpole at Buon Brieng may soon be
flying the gold-starred, blue . and red
Bag of the Viet Con
in Dart - aniti7ec-1 CODV Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/01/06 : CIA-IRDP73-00475R0002016-00007-2