Word: cambodias
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Only World War II cost the U.S. more in money; Viet Nam has cost $490 for every American man, woman and child. Since major U.S. intervention began in 1965, 5.5 million tons of bombs, rockets and cannon shells have been dropped on Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia-more than twice the total the U.S. used in World War II. Nearly one-seventh of South Viet Nam's land area has been sprayed with plant-killing herbicides. One expert estimates that defoliation has destroyed as much commercial timber as South Viet Nam uses in 31 years...
...first China did not respond. But by late 1969, there were clear signs of Chinese interest. For one thing, China agreed to resume the Warsaw talks, which had opened in 1955 to explore avenues toward peaceful coexistence. Even when the U.S. invaded Cambodia, the talks, though suspended, were not cut off. Peking's response was exceptionally restrained, considering its past responses to American military moves. Nor did the invasion of Laos unduly upset the Chinese. By this time, it was the North Vietnamese who were disturbed, reacting with alarm to the mildness shown by their ally. Chou...
...closer to the top man is doubtful. There is no convincing indication that the psychology and life-or-death motivation of the enemy is any clearer to Nixon officials, and fears of a U.S. "defeat" still unduly haunt the White House. The exaggerated claims of success in Laos and Cambodia carry hints of continuing attempts at deception. But Nixon is of course disengaging, however slowly, and that is in itself proof of a new realism...
South Viet Nam and Laos did? The reply took issue with the conventional application of the domino theory. "With the possible exception of Cambodia," said the CIA, "it is likely that no nation in the area would quickly succumb to Communism." The spread of Communism would not be "inexorable...
...Communists hold nothing but such desolate regions as portions of the U Minh Forest and the A Shau Valley. The heavily populated and strategically important Mekong Delta and the eleven provinces around Saigon face no substantial military danger. While ARVN troops have performed disappointingly in some recent battles in Cambodia and Laos, the litmus test of the Vietnamization program is how they will defend themselves inside South Viet...