0 - The Black Vault

MDM CORPORATION
Few will argue against the fact that the role played by the
US during the overthrow of Diem caused a deeper US involvement in Vietnam
affairs. As efficient as the military coup leaders appeared, they were
without a manageable base of political support. When they came to power
and when the lid was taken off the Diem-Nhu reporting system, the GVN
position was revealed as weak and deteriorating. And, by virtue of its
interference in internal Vietnamese affairs, the US had assumed a significant
responsibility for the new regime, a responsibility which heightened
the US commitment and deepened the US involvement.
c. The Early Johnson Years: Changing of the Guard
Lyndon B. Johnson assumed office as a pragmatic politician
and not a cold war ideologue. He too continued to deepen the 'S involvement
in the Vietnam conflict, following the same foreign policy which had
been espoused by his predecessors. At a press conference in July 1965, LBJ
clearly enunciated his views on that matter as follows-
We are in Vietnam to fulfill one of the most
solemn pledges of the American Nation. Three
Presidents--President Eisenhower, President Kennedy and
your present President--over 11 years, have committed
themselves and promised to help defend this small and
valiant nation.40/
The objective of the Johnson Administration was to maintain
an independent non-communist South Vietnam. In the later years, this was
rephrased as "allowing the South Vietnamese to determine their own future
without external interference."41/ As President Johnson crcssed the old
barriers in pursuit of this objective, he established new ones:
* while he ordered the bombing of the DRV, he would not approve the
bombing of targets that ran the risk of causing confrontation
with the PRC or USSR
• while he permitted the US force level in RVN to go over the half
million mark, he would not put the US economy on a wartime
mobilization status
0 while he allowed US ground combat offensive operations in RVN, he
would not allow an invasion of Cambodia, Ldos or North Vietnam.
42/
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