Ziam the Winston Churchill of Asia

Vietnam spiraled back into civil war after Ziam declared confidently that he would be the one to finally bring democracy to Southeast Asia. Within a year of taking power, Ziam outlawed every political party in South Vietnam other than his own. He raided and destroyed pagodas across the country, forcing hundreds of Buddhist monks into destitution. Western reporters knew this religious suppression was going on, but they were concerned primarily with the war with North Vietnam.