As America finds itself in today's "War on Terror", a number of similarities can easily be found between today's situation and the war in Vietnam. As the Taliban steadily loses control and power over Afghanistan, it becomes extremely important to discuss potential replacement governments. Afghanistan is, like Vietnam in the 1950s and 1960s, a very unstable country, full of a variety of people who speak different dialects and practice different religions. It is very important, therefore, that the installed government is able to maintain some kind of control or authority over its various people. On July 7, 1954, Ngo Dinh Diem came to power as Prime Minister of South Vietnam. (Fishel 107). Diem was supported by the United States as the best man to prevent communism in South Vietnam. The problem is that while “every foreign power that intervened in Vietnam eventually attempted to install some group of Vietnamese figures to prevent a communist victory,” many of them did not consider that by installing a government that continued to exploit and alienate its people, they would be pushing the population further towards communism because at least it appeared to be a government for the people (Gettleman 134). Likewise, the United States was concerned with its own interests and unfortunately neglected the interests of the Vietnamese. In the first five or six years of Diem's ​​reign, the United States was quite satisfied with Diem's ​​choice. Diem's ​​supporters praised him as a human rights advocate who worked to sustain a democracy. Others who were not so flagrant in their approval simply stated that he was the best man among the limited choices as he was strongly anti-communist. Many, including... paper generals... who don't even command a company. He lives in an ivory tower surrounded by his family” (Behind 150). Diem is also said to have given Catholic refugees “preferential treatment in land redistribution, relief and assistance, trade and export-import licenses, government employment, and other GVN largesse” (Buddhist 217). The United States consistently pressured Diem to promote land reform. to gain some support from the peasants because, as his American advisors recognized, “the exploited and impoverished peasants provide fertile ground for communism, as in China; therefore, intelligent land reform, which preserves private property and simultaneously creates a new middle class of farmers, is a necessity for the goals of the “free world”” (Behind 142). This idea plays into the aforementioned claim that America has become too focused on its own interests (