The Spy Who Loved Us_ The Vietnam War and Pham Xuan An's Dangerous Game ( PDFDrive )

The Spy Who Loved Us 169
the country as a Time correspondent, but he allowed his colleagues
to write the cables that would have got him in trouble
if leaked to Vietnam’s intelligence services.
“Another value An had as a reporter was his sure knowledge
of the South Vietnamese government, particularly the corruption
that was in it,” says McCulloch. “He knew which generals
were taking what kind of cuts. One general’s wife ran a prostitution
ring which covered five or six provinces. It must have
been an enormous money maker.” An had “intimate knowledge”
of these scandals, which characterized South Vietnam’s
rulers until the last of them, General Nguyen Van Thieu, fled
the country with several suitcases full of gold bars. Time never
ran these stories either.
By this point in his career, An was well schooled in the
rules of American journalism, how to keep himself out of
the story and write the anodyne prose that passes for objectivity.
“This made him an enormously valuable employee,” says
McCulloch. “In assessing who An was and what he did, people
should know that he was a completely honest journalist. He
didn’t let Communist propaganda or positions intrude on what
he reported. I’m sure as a spy that he took valuable information
out of the bureau, but those are two very different things. Most
people jump to the conclusion that if An hadn’t worked there,
Time would have gone on supporting the war until it ended.
This isn’t the case.”
“He was enormously well read,” says McCulloch. “He understood
clearly what American journalism was about. He was
a highly intelligent man, and a passionate Vietnamese citizen,”
qualities that made him “a delight to be with.” McCulloch remembers
a couple of visits he paid to An and his family in their
house near Saigon’s central market. “They were wonderful people,
his wife and his sons.” McCulloch remembers something
else about these visits. “An kept two very large dogs. I’ve forgotten
what breed they were, but they were big. They weren’t
aggressive, but they weren’t afraid of anything either. An clearly