Vietnamization? Stop the war!

An anti-war poster produced by the Vietnam Moratorium campaign, which includes an image of a Vietnamese puppet, Marshal Ky, with bloodied hands, being manipulated by a hand emerging from a shirt sleeve which is the flag of the United States of America. The poster also appeals for the end of the war and withdrawal of support for the government in Saigon and repatriation of foreign troops from Vietnam. In June 1965, Marshal Nguyen Cao Ky took control of South Vietnam in a second military coup. This was the same year that the USA launched an offensive operation by ground forces into Viet Cong territory near Saigon. Air Marshal Nguyen Cao Ky was the former Prime Minister of the Rebublic of Vietnam and also the Premier of South Vietnam, as well as a platoon leader, pilot, general and civilian. In 1965 Ky rose to rank of Lieteneant General in the fledgling South Vietnamese Air Force. He was one of a group of officers who seized power earlier in 1965 to end the anarchy that had cfollowed in the wake of the assassination of President Ngo Dinh Diem in November 1963. Ky immediately took steps to strengthen the armed forces. He also instituted needed land reforms, programs for school and hospital construction and price control. His government also began campaigns to remove corrupt officials. He continued in this post until the 1967 elections when he became Vice-President of South Vietnam. Ky served in this position until 1971 when he chose not to run as an opposition candidate against President Nguyen Van Thieu. He reverted to the rank of Air Marshal in the Air Force.