0 - The Black Vault

THE BDM CORPORATION
* the ability of and adequacy of resources available to in-country
personnel (including intelligence functionaries) to perform
in-country assessments, to provide realistic and honest assessments,
and to make decisions on implementation; and, finally,
* the clarity and early presentation by in-country analysts and
decision makers of any information relevant to national level
decision making concerning global and in-country objectives and
strategies.
As illustrated in this chapter, the armed forces of the DRV maintained
a comparative advantage over US and GVN forces with respect to the key
factors identified above., The existence of this advantage tielps explain
why Hanoi was comparatively more successful than the US and GVN, particularly
in the long term in implementing its national objectives and strategies.
One way to reduce or eliminate this advantage in the future is to
insure that national objectives and strategies are translated by US leadership
into clear, consistent, and concrete political and/or military terms
that can be implemented by in-country civilian and military forces without
the need for further radical translation.,
F.,
LESSONS
In conflicts involving the US
inconsistencies and incoherence in US
and allied forces against other powers,
and allied objectives and strategies
are likely to arise and pose problems for in-country and national level US
and allied military planners. To some extent, these problems are, admittedly,
unavoidable; the very nature of conflict embraces an incompatibility
or asymmetry of objectives between principal adversaries. However, especially
with respect to interrelated problems of clarity, consistency, and
specificity of national objectives and strategies, US national policy
makers could greatly assist in-country planners by insuring the maximum
reasonable clarity, consistency,
and specificity in any directives they
transmitted. The precise determination of what is maximally reasonable
must be made
at both the national political and military levels, where
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