0 - The Black Vault

THE BDM CORPORATION
Political turbulence and military deterioration continued
throughout 1965 and into 1966, and most of the modest resources that were
allocated by the GVN for its Rural Construction effort were diverted back
to meet conventional combat requirements,
The years of chaos following the fall of Diem came to ar, end in
1966, when General Nguyen Van Thieu emerged as the single most powerful
leader in South Vietnam. US and FWMA intervention with combat forces was
crucial to -aving South Vietnam from collapsing under the communist offensive
during the period. In the villages the GVN orderea yet another pacification
effort -- this one was called "Revolutionary Development",103/
3. Revolutionary Development. Emphasis on the Other War
(See Figure 5-13)
By the beginning of 1966, the bombing of North Vietnam was in its
eleventh month, and US ground combat forces were growing steadily; the
Johnson Administration sought to emphasize those American activities which
did not directly involve guns and fighting. This emphasis was on wnat came
to be called the "other war" and reached a high point during the Honolulu
conference in February 1966.
LBJ put it quite simply during the neeting:
he wanted "a better military program, a better pecification program that
includes everything, and a oeace program".104/ Johnson received the signatures
of Generals Thieu and Ky on a pledge to deliver on their share of the
reforms.
But as one author wroce:
While the American public might have assumed that
the Honolulu conference, beyond its exalted language,
served as pressure for reform in the GVN, the Vietnamese
understood it only as a renewed American commitment
to the military regime. .,If a program exceeds
their interest or ability to carry out, they will
merely agree to it cnthusiastically and then do nothing
about it.105/
Thieu appointed Brigadier General Nguyen Duc Thang to head the
national pacification campaign. With the support of the US Embassy, especially
the AID and . A, T.hang began to ene--gze t"e fV~ oacification effort
which was based on mutually established National Priority Areas (NPA's).
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