SIGNIFICANCE OF CAMBODIA TO THE VIETNAMESE COMMUNIST WAR EFFORT - 1967/12/12

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Tet Declassified
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06752202
• Document Creation Date: July 27, 2018

Approved for Release: 2018/07/11 C06752202
S-E- - -E-T
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
12 December 1967
SUBJECT: SNIE 57/1-67: SIGNIFICANCE OF CAMBODIA TOME
VlETNAPESE COMMUNIST WAR EFFORT
CONCLUSIONS
A. The Vietnamese Communists continue to use Cambodia in
important ways to support their military effort in South Vietnam.
Though the scale of this use has not increased significantly in
the last year, the relative importance of Cambodian territory
to Communist strategy is now greater. In consequence of growing
pressure on their military structure in South Vietnam, the
Communists have come to depend more heavily on the use of border
areas. This trend will probably make Cambodia of increasing
value to Communist military effort in 1968.
B. The Communists use Cambodian territory as a sanctuary
War.
to evade allied forces and more permanently as a refuge for rest,
training, medical care, acquisition and storage of supplies, and
as a convenient and secure route for the infiltration of personnel
Group 1
Excluded from automatic
downgrading and
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from North Vietnam. These activities are concentrated in four.
major base areas along the South Vietnamese border.
C. Rice is the most important item of supply obtained by
the Communists from Cambodia. This is particularly important
for Communist troops operating out in the tri-border and Chu
Pong base areas in the rice-deficit highlands.
De We still have no firm evidence that military supplies
or equipment are moved through Sitanotkville to Communist forces
in South Vietnam on a sustained or substantial basis. Arms and
ammunition for the Communist forces in South Vietnam are supplied
primarily overland from North Vietnam through the Laotian cor-
ridor. But the Communists continue to smuggle small quantities
of arms and other military equipment from Cambodia, some of
which probably represents unauthorized diversions from Communist
arms imported by the Cambodian Government for its awn forces.
E. Over the past year Sihanouk has become more aware of the
extent of Vietnamese Communist use of Cambodia and more apprehen-
sive over US intentions.. Nevertheless, he has not taken any
effective measures to control Communist activity and he is not
likely to do so in the coming year. Cambodia lacks the military
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capability to close its border with South Vietnam, and any de-
termined effort to do so would run counter to Sihanouk's basic
aims of avoiding direct alignment with the US, and of maintaining
cordial relations with the Communists.
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Approved for Release: 2018/07/11 C06752202