0 - The Black Vault

THE BCM CORPORATION
S~2-48
focused on how tc contain communism in Viet 1 ,am and not cn the
wisdom of being there in the first place.,
Each escalation was
seemingly in response to the progressive escalation of the price
of keeping the commitment. It was not until the "A to 7"
reassecsment in 1968 that there was
that early commitment.
a thorough review made of
0 The direct US involvement in Southeast Asia provided a degree of
stability to the region; witness the fact that Thailand, Singapore,
Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, as well as several other
ASEAN
(Association of Southeast Asian Nations) nations enjoyed a
measure of economic prosperity.
a The collapse of South Vietnam was followed by the communist
takeover of both Laos and Cambodia; currently Thailand's security
is threatened. Regardless of how imperfect the "domino theory"
may be, in the eyes of many, its validily has been demonstrated.
0 A policy of unreserved commitment to a particular leadership
placed the US in a weak and manipulable position on important
internal issues in Vietnam.,
The early view that there were no
viable alternatives to President Diem greatly limited the extent
of US influence over his regime and ruled out, over the years, a
number
of kinds of leverage that might have been employed to
obtain desired goals.
0 The politico-military action which happeTed in the November 1963
coup against Diem would not have been possible without US connivance.
To acquiesce in or to -)romote a coup makes sense only if
positive results can reasonably be expected.
The US Country Team
in Saigon, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, the US Departments of
State and Defense,
identify .
and the National Security Council failed to
successor to Diem who might have been acceptable to
the Vieti -ese people as well as to the US, and who might have
provided efiective leadership.
0 There appears to be little evidence of much critical thinking
about the relation of Vietnam to US security., Scholars. journalists,
politicians and government bureaucrats all seemed to have