Despite all the American Government's propaganda about U.S, ‘achievements’ in Vietnam, a more truthful picture of the state of the war is coming through from certain American journalists, The August 8th issue of the International Herald Tribune carried a long analysis of the war from their correspondent, R. W. Apple, Jnr., who reported direct from Vietnam, His analysis showed that President Johnson's decision to ask for 45,000 to 50,000 more U.S. troops for Vietnam simply reflects the plight of the U.S. military effort, as does the intensification of bombing of Hanoi, Haiphong and areas nearer than ever to China. As he puts its "in the opinion of most disinterested observers, the war is not going well. Victory is not close at hand. It may be beyond reach. It is clearly unlikely in the next year or even the next two years, and American officers talk somberly about fighting here for decades". "The Official statements from Washington and Saigon seem optimistic, as they have been for almost five years", But Mr. Apple says that the word "stalemate" is a more accurate description of the military situation. He refers to the military and political difficulties of the U.S. policies in Vietnam:- 1) although the U.S. and their allies have killed thousands of N.L.F. and
North Vietnamese troops in recent years, the U.S. "now confront the
largest enemy force they have ever faced: 297,000 men, again by their
own count", 2) despite U.S. air power, the N.L.F. and North Vietnamese are now using
more sophisticated weapons and in greater numbers, "The enemy has
progressed from captured rifles and skimpy supplies to rockets,
artillery, heavy mortars," etc. 3) "because 1.2 million allied troops have been able to secure only a
fraction of a country (South Vietnam) less than one and a half times
the size of New York State, and whereas the allies are reaching the
bottom of their ready manpower pool, the North Vietnamese have
committed only one-fifth of their regular army". 4) "above all, because if the North Vietnamese and American troops were
magically whisked away, the South Vietnamese regime would almost
certainly crumble within months, so little have the root problems been
touched", The "pacification" programme is making no progress and ties down many thousands of U.S. troops. Again, using government figures, the South Vietnamese regime controls only 1,944 hamlets out of a total of 12,537. "The rest are contested or, to some degree, controlled by the Viet Cong", The U.S. military are finding a lack of willingness to fight among the South Vietnam Government Army. "The best talent in the current generation has long since been lost: thousands of men who might be leading South Vietnamese troops in combat are serving with the North Vietnamese or the Viet Cong, heirs to the country's nationalist revolution against the French, Of all the government officers serving as lieutenant colonel or higher, only two fought on the side of the Viet Minh in the war against the French..."
7 a oo