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derivative filename/jpeg
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363-06211 to 363-06213.pdf
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Digital Object Identifier
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363-06211 to 363-06213
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Title
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Article about a review of Allied war strategy
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Description
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Original title: "appraisal", Article draft about South Vietnam's call for an analysis of Allied strategy, for the Christian Science Monitor
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AI Usage Disclosure
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Draft transcripts were automatically generated via Google Document AI and are currently under review. Please report significant errors to Archives & Special Collections at archives@unl.edu.
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Transcript
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ZCZC sag
yy 1jp
appraisal 1 normass/john hughes
368 0208
at xx
saigon, february 13 south vietnam's foreign minister has called for a
radical reappraisal of allied war strategy particularly the bombing isa
of north vietnam in the wake of the surprise communist tet offensive.
"it is clear," the foreign minister, dr tran van do, told this dtion
correspondent in an interview, "that allied policy must be reviewed..
our strategy (insofar as the bombing of north vietnam is concerned) has
been a complete failure. it has not repeat not achieved what we said
it would.
blow ti
toiv
beveidos ton
"the communists now have the initiative. we cannot go on like this." referring
to the
communist offensive against the cities, he said s
"it is being said the situation is under control. but it is not repeat not
under control. the communists can give us many more problems. they can
cause much more destruction, strike many more victims."
dr do declined to spell out the new course he would like to see the
allies adopt. but it was clear by implication that he was calling for
a much harder allied linexx towards the communists."
more
ZCZC sag
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appraisal 2 normass/john hughes
"I don't want to see the war expanded," said the foreign minister,
"but on the other hand we take the risk that such a policy fofzonei
(of not repeat not expanding the war) might mean that south vietnam may
lose the war."
dr do said the amount of equipment the viet cong and north vietnamese
had thrown into their tet offensive proved the ineffectiveness of bombing
to halt infiltration and supply from north vietnam. "we have got to take
more effective measures to reduce the rate of infiltration," he declared.
that he was
the foreign minister made it clear he was criticising american bombing
of north vietnam as a strategy for halting infiltration and demanding not
repeat not a halt to the bombing but more drastic action against infiltration.
more
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ZCZC sag
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appraisal 3 normass/john hughes
the interview took place on the eve of the foreign minister's
departure from south vietnam to attend the unctad conference which is
taking place in delhi.
dr do said the tet offensive by the communists had justified his
government's firm position in the past its in favor of bombing
north vietnam, and in opposing any coalition with the communists in
southxx vietnam..
"in the past," he said, "the world has charged us with being too
exacting. but we have consistently said the bombing of north vietnam
should not repeat not be my stopped until hanoi gives some indication
it would, reduce the infiltration rate.
"now we see the arms and the men they have brought in. we see what
centres they have hit. we see what heavy armament they have introduced.
if this has happened with the bombing, what could they have done if there
had been no bombing at all ?"
more
ZCZO sag
Jy 1jp
appraisal 4 normass/john hughes
though the foreign minister emphasized that bombing had not been
effective in halting infiltration, he nevertheless said his government
was emphatic that the present level of bombing should not repeat not be
stopped without a north vietnamese promise not repeat not to take
advantage of such a bombing halt.
he was similarly emphatic in rejecting the prospect of any realita
coalition in south vietnam with the national liberation front, the political
arm of the viet cong. the tet offensive, he said, had vindicated the
saigon government in its belief it could not rely on the "good word, the
good, faith" of the front.
"with such a force that they (the front) have behind them," he said,
"it would be very dangerous to have a coalition. we would have here the
same situation as in laos. to integrate them into south vietnam is
impossible."
more
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ZCZC sag
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appraisal 5 normass/john hughes
"I know the world says we are not being realistic
front) exist.
dangerous.
that they (the
but we cannot accept them. it is too difficult, too
"we see the danger better than before as a result of the last (tet)
offensive. our people now more easily understand why we couldn't accept
the national liberation front in south vietnam."
"we
the task, he said, was to isolate the liberation front," to prevent
north vietnam helping the front, to get north vietnam out of the war.
at present, he said, the communists were holding the initiative.
are waiting for them at khe sanh and elsewhere. always we are on the
self-defense. they, using neutral territory such as cambodia, have the
initiative."
he said that when the communists expand the war, the world says nothing,
but when the allies expand it there is an international outcry.
more
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appraisal 6 normass/john hughes
dr do said he saw little hope that the electronic barrier currently
being built below the demilitarized zone would be successful in stopping
north vietnamese infiltration. and he reiterated the reluctance of the
government of laos to permit extension of this barrier across its territory.
the foreign minister said there had been speculation that the next
summit meeting of vietnam war allies might be held in april. he said he
had had no word whether such a review of allied strategy as he was advocating
would take place at that meeting. endit hughes.
reuter
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Date
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1968, Feb. 13
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Subject
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Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Strategy; United States. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam; Vietnam (Republic)
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Location
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Saigon, South Vietnam
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Coordinates
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10.8231; 106.6311
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Size
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20 x 26 cm
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Container
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B11, F4
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Format
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dispatches
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Collection Number
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MS 363
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Collection Title
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Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers
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Creator
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Collector
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Keever, Beverly Deepe
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Copyright Information
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These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.
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Publisher
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Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
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Language
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English
