0 - The Black Vault

THE BDMCORPORATION
V
The real impact was not from the mini-mobilization, but
rather from Secretary Clifford's "A to Z" reassessment, the deescalation of
the -4ar recommendation by the "Wise Maen", the numerous defections within
the government of former war "hardliners", the internat;onal financial
crisis wnich faced the US dollar abroad, the resistance to new troop commitments
among former congressional supporters of the war, the US active
strategic reserve being at its lower limit, and the unsettling effect that
the Tet
IS
offensive had on the American publ~c.
As a result of the foregoing impacts iii the aftermath of the
Pueblo Incident and the Tet Offensive, President Johnson:
established a final ceiling for US troops in Vietnam (opting for
only a mini-mobilization in the process)
e ordered a limitation ,f bombing
0 withdrew fron, the election race for a second term of office
* invited North Vietnam to negotiate.,
President Johnson did not regard those decisions as irreversible at the
time, but they rapidly came to be seen that way, ana no serious consideration
was given during the remainder of his administration to raisi.ig troop
level3 or renewing full-scale bombing.. The US military effort in Vietnam
finally leveled off and began to decline.60/
7. Vietnamization and Withdrawal: 1969-1972
When the Nixon Administration took office on January 20, 1969,
over half a million American troops were in Vietnam. The nLmber was rising
toward the 549,000-man ceiling set by LBJ in April 1968. The cost of the
US effort in Vietnam had been $30 billion in fiscal year 1969 alone.
American casualties had been averaging 200 men killed in action per week
U!ring the second half of 1968; a total of 14,592 Americans died in combat
in 1968. On Januiary 20, the cumulative total of Americans killed in action
in Vietnam since 1961 stood at over 31,000; South Vietnamese cas,!alties
were close to 90,000.61/
a. The Extent to Which Mobilization was Considered
The Nixon Administration entered office determined to end
the US involvement in the Vietnam conflict. President Nixon and his
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