0 - The Black Vault

THE BDM CORPORATION
In spite of objections from the US AID Mission, which mciestly supported
Civic Action after the summer of 1955, one expert observed that the program
became more propaqanaistic and political, with less emphasis on economic
and social services to the people.13/ Lawrence Grinter concludes that
President Diem and his brother Nhu gave the rural efforts of Civic Action
little but lip service and were more
preoccupied with urban problems-.
battling a rebellious army and the Binh Xuyen gangs for control of Saigon,
taming other separatist elements,
of the government. 14/
and trying to master the administration
2. The Land Development Program (see Figure 5-3)
The next phase in the RVN pacification efforts was the inauguration
of land development centers (Dinh Dien,
LDC's or centres d'implantation)
by President Diem in late 1956.
program were:
His motivations for devising the new
0 To improve internal security (rather than economic considerations).
Of the two prime areas (the Central Highlands and the
Delta), he assigned the highest priority to the Central Highlands
for resettlement to place a "human wall" of loyal SVN
guard against communist i, 1 filtration. 15/
people to
0 To alleviate the overcrowding and poverty conditions prevalent
along the central coast where four million people were living on
only 260 500 hectares of arable landl16,'
* To resettle the undeveloped lands of the central highlands, where
agricultural production might be increased.
• To integrate the Montagnard tribal people of the Central Highlands
into permanent villages and thus subject them to greater
governmental and administrative control. 17/
It has been suggested by some that Diem planned to resettle
families that were considered to be unreliable into Viet Minh-dominated
areas.
The land development centers for those people were to be little
more than armed detention camps. 18/
When the land development was first conceived in late 1956,
US agreed to commit over $10 million in economic aid to the program.
Alhough the USOM
was active in the initial stages of the program in both
5-9
the