Declassified per Executive Order 13526, Section 3.3
NND Project Number: NND 63316. By: NWD Date: 2011
SECRET/NOFORN
13.
South Vietnam's military capabilities and other resources for fighting the Communists are considerable. The military leadership is among the best in Southeast Asia and the rank and file troops have the spirit and willingness to fight. The civilian bureaucratic leadership is also strongly anti-Communist, but its effectiveness is impeded by inadequate delegation of authority. There are no serious trends toward neutralism or toward a political accomodation with Hanoi. Finally, the Vietnamese peasant, however politically apathetic and discontented with the government, are by no means ready to surrender themselves to the Communists, given a greater effort by the government to protect them from Communist intimidation.
SECRET/NOFORN
