A FEW OBSERVATIONS ON PACIFICATION RESULTING FROM MY TRIP

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: Library of Congress
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): LOC-HAK-10-5-22-0
• Release Decision: RIFLIM
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: January 11, 2017
• Document Release Date: September 1, 2010
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: December 23, 1970
• Content Type: MEMO

Nam G~.ran
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MEMORANDUM FOR:-. DR
FROM: W.
KISSINGE R
R. SMYSER, (S. jgned)
SUBJECT: A: Few Observations o
'rom . y Trip
situation in Vietnam and Cambodia. The following are some additiona
Pacification Resulting
You will by now have received a. report. from Al Haig on the security
personal notes to supplement his more thorough survey.
warfare and the recognition that the Communists may be dtawxi but:are,
"calm, " a pregnant term which reflects both the. low current level of
Most Vietnamese we saw characterized the cur rent .state of the war as
not out..
commerce flow more freelyf
longer hears bombs and artillery every night- in Saigon. Trade and
Roads once closed are open, insome cases 24 hours a day. One no
Communist mistakes -- has gained control of much of the countryside...
It is clear that the government --- profiting from massive U. S. help. and
..of the infrastructure are still considerable. The North Vietnamese Army
But it would be foolish to take too much comfort from all this. The assets
are now pretending to be. part of. it in order to survive for a better day.
irony in the fact that the cadre who had sworn to destroy the CVN apparatus
to secret meetings;. in order to justify their absence-to, attend such meet
ings, cadre have to pretend they were abducted. There is also a subtle
in abdt tioxxs iii. some II Corps provinces reflects Viet'Cong cadre travel
ilustrative of Viet Cong difficulties is the story that the recent increase
are gone. Large units are. broken up. The great cadre structure which
once ruled much of South Vietnam, at least by might, . has been decimated.
The life of. the Viet Cong has become harder. " The sanctuaries. and based
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dation. apd compromise are often preferred solution to political problem.
feeling alone is a significant power factor In a -society where accolT=0-6
feeling in South Vietnam that the Communists could rise again. This
could significantly increase infiltration. And there is still a general
saying thistle s:ig n icaut as an indication that they may not forever believe
because- of their.Tet losses. The fact that at least some Vietnamese are
the government, told-us flatly that the. Conununlats could no longer win
spirit of the religious holiday. One Vietnamese, hardly a supporter of
urt the Communists badly, killing their best cadre and violating the
Covucver. we'also heard from several Vietnamese that the Tot, offensive.
We have a' number of programs but it is difficult to`see bow they will all;
better, we have no really clear guidelines as to where we 0 from here.
..
a Viet Gong resurgence.
One major difficulty is that. at this point, while the situation is a great deal.
must defeat. them in the kind of political contest cif: which we know very
large scale military contest. We are now, entering the phase where we .
to accomplish. the results.we want.
We have.done what we know how to do..... defeated the Communists: in a
South Vietnam, particularly in. M and IV Corps. To that extent., these
it. is now also clear that the Cambodian operations increased security in
the other hand,:: we must recognize that Cambodia 'eould become .-hindrance
operations ,constituted a direct benefit. to. cur pacfication program On
to' pacification i,f 'tees many ARVN soldiers. a?r$ sent there for too long..
have real reservations about sending any of their. forcea to Cambodia. for
Two South Vietnamese generals with whom I discussed this. appeared to
shy. length of 'tlrne.- They felt that it would hurt :pacification in-their home
allocation, but it.seems tome much more. important on balance to keep
areas. We will have some. difficult decisions tomake regarding resource
CarnbO.dia. on our side. than to worry about some possible minor losses in
our.HES stati sti+c s:
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