0 - The Black Vault

THE BDM CORPORATION
(owing to US anticommunist objectives, that made the defense of SVN seemingly
imperative) that it did not have to comply with American demands for
social and political reform.36/ Such reform, it should be noted, might
have helped the GVN to resist the communist forces once the US had withdrawn
from Vietnam, by defusing popular indigenous support for the Viet-
* namese Communists. The ultimate strategy of President Thieu was to maintain
the United States' support in order to achieve his government's overriding
objective of remaining in power.37/ The fatal flaw in the GVN's
strategy was its aszumption that the US would never allow the North
Vietnamese Communists to take over South Vietnam by force.38/
E. INSIGHTS
When trying to translate broad national objectives and strategies into
specific programs that can be implemented successfully in a foreign country,
the US
is likely to encounter problems, the nature and seriousness of
which are affected by many factors. The most significant of these include:
0 the clarity and consistency of directives issued by national
authorities which state national objectives and strategies;
0 the willingness of subordinate commanders to request clarification
of any directive or guidance considered to be too broad or
vague, and the willingness and ability of these commanders to
make intelligent judgments for themselves when the directives
issued by national authorities remain vague, centradictory, or
too broad in scope after requests for clarification;
0 the willingness of (and the time available for) in-country planners,
analysts, and decision makers to assess the local situation
in all its social, political, economic, and political complexity;
. the nature of the local situation, including its social, political,
economic, and military factors;
* the environmental or external factors influencing the nature of
Sthe local situation (for example, USSR and PRC assistance to the
DRV and factors associated with such alliances);
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