spartans_in_darkness

TOP SEe~!TiieOMINTUX 1
deep South near Saigon and would last from
December 1974 to February 1975. Phase two,
which was the critical element, would start in
March with an attack on outposts in the Central
Highlands. It would be supported by a number of
diversionary attacks in the Saigon region and
near the DMZ.There would also be feints in other
parts of the highlands designed to create confusion
as to the real target. Phase three was to begin
in August 1975 and was primarily a consolidation
phase during which Saigon's forces would be
ground down in preparation for the "strategic
opportunity" that was certain to appear late that
year."
(U) When the Paris Peace Agreement was
signed in 1973, President Nixon secretly had
assured President Thieu that the U.S. would back
his country if Hanoi attacked. However, Nixon
had resigned over Watergate in August 1974; the
current incumbent, President Gerald Ford, could
only reassure Thieu of supplies. Congress had, in
the meantime, put a limit to the aid to South
Vietnam, totalling about 700 million dollars. This
figure has been called inadequate by critics of
U.S. policy. The truth is the aid proved to be irrelevant
to the final outcome: about 40 percent of
the aid actually reached Saigon. The remainder
was either awaiting shipment or else was unspent
(close to half).56
The Final Days
_Communist advances.
March 1975
~Communis[ advances,
April-May 1975
South Vietnamese
deft' usc lints,
March IY75
(V) General COUt5e o(the fin'll carnpatqn
(ot South Vietnam
(SiiSI) Throughout late 1974, SIGINT picked
up indications of the North Vietnamese preparations,
although these reports covered troop movements
in the northern part of South Vietnam and
to the west and south of Saigon. Communist
activity in the critical Central Highlands, especially
the preliminary attacks in late 1974 against outposts
protecting the important cities of Pleiku,
Ban Me Thout, and Kontum, was only sporadically
reported. This gap in reporting probably
reflected the limited collection available to the
NSA analysts from the DGTS sources and U.S.
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