The Vietnam War template continues its attraction. No doubt he saw himself in the tradition of the Buddhist monks who set themselves on fire to protest against the policies of Ngo Dinh Diem, or the Czech who killed himself to protest the Soviet invasion. Or maybe not the latter.
I wonder if the press will track down Madame Nhu and ask her for a comment.
He must have been really unstable as even the Buddhist monks came to realize that they could get more political mileage from giving money to Al Gore than from a toasted monk.