0 - The Black Vault

THE BDM CORPORATION
US
did not at first have .a ready resporse to the conflict or to rural
pacif;.atioi. Until Presidert Kennedy approved the Counterinsurgency Plan
(riP) for Vietnam in 196,, 'he gap had been filled largely by a military
r,ý 4 ponsa such as military civic action. a.,d improved propaganda and concentrated
upon me3sures to transform the RVNAF
into an effective military
a["-;ra-Js. mobile and professionally managed, able to concentrate its
ftoces effectively when required to strike a massive blow., It was believea
that such a conventional force, properly supported by a competent intelligence
effort, could easily meet and defeat the poorly arme d insurgents as
"a lesser 4ncluded capability" of its newfound irof~ciency.46/ The CIP was
one of the ea-.'ly expedient measures taKen; anotner was the Geographically
Phased National Plan, a plan designed to clear priority target areas in
phases, with the end result being a secure region to turn over to loyal
inhabitants.
As discussed ii Chapter 5, Vlm Iof this study, the CIP
encompassed a good deal more t'ian military matters., For example, it called
for President Diem to reorganize his government for greater efficiency,
broaden its base, and eliminate corruption..
The US failed to apply leverage
3n the Ngo regime and ultimately abandoned the conditions in order "to
get on with the war.."47/
As it tt,'ns oL't, n~ither the CIP nor the Geographically
Phased Plan was ever fully implementad.
Diem made some conciliatory gestures,
then he went about doing things a-, he wished -- US counterinsurgency
strategy was not accepted; nevertheless, additional US aid continued
unabated.
Experts conclude that Diem's solution to the insurgency problem
at that time was to focus not upon the military aspect but upon the village
and hamlet population, with the purpose being to "dry up the sea of
friendly peasantry in vhich swam the VC 'fish'" 48/
"In 1962. the GVN launched "Operation Sunrise," which was the
first large scale resettlement combining GVN and US inputs under the Strategic
Hamlet Program.
Operation Sunrise (see Figure 5-7 fcr a portrayal of
the region) focused on a cluster of villages in. Binh Duong province,
heavily infested area northeast of Saigon that had strategic significance
a
5-20
- 4• . . .