The Americans, desperate to halt the slippage of Laos into the communist camp, supported a right-wing coup in December 1959 that brought Brig. Gen. Phoumi Nosavan to power. Phoumi’s position was always weak, and during 1960 he fought against dissident factions in the army as well as Pathet Lao communists. In November and December 1960, much to Eisenhower’s alarm, the Soviet Union launched a major airlift of supplies via Hanoi to the Pathet Lao.
