Word: north
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...through secret channels to negotiate troop withdrawals?and drafting detailed plans with the Saigon government on the logistics of a reduction. On the diplomatic front, secret talks between the U.S. and North Viet Nam aimed at scaling down the level of fighting have almost certainly begun in Paris and other points, despite Administration disclaimers. President Nixon's decision not to resume bombing North Viet Nam in retaliation for the current offensive by the Communists represents an important policy decision not to turn the clock back in Viet Nam, even though the South Vietnamese government is urging the bombing of Hanoi...
...puts it ?and make them largely in secrecy. He must maintain the pressure on the battlefield, but not so intensely that Hanoi breaks off the peace talks in Paris. He must continue preparing the South Vietnamese to assume more responsibility, but not undercut them by bargaining with the North behind their backs. He must allow the Saigon government to negotiate as an equal partner, but not permit it to exhaust U.S. public patience by foot dragging. In all this, an essential element is the reliability of the South Vietnamese government and the man who runs it, President Nguyen...
...their part, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Communist troops were still confident of their ability to strike. While Viet Nam five weeks ago uneasily celebrated Tet, the main holiday of the year, Communist troops filtered stealth ily out of their sanctuaries toward major targets throughout the country. When the Buddhist Year of the Rooster was still only six days old, they were ready to sound their own sobering crow: a co ordinated offensive against practically every population and military center in South Viet Nam. Significantly, they chose to attack most often with long-range firepower, indicating that their numbers...
...building a strong government in Saigon. There is almost no way for the U.S. to disengage completely from the war until it can be turned over to a durable South Vietnamese government commanding trained and equipped troops, able to handle the indigenous Viet Cong who remain after all the North Vietnamese soldiers return home...
...Communist offensive as a direct and understandable, if not justified, response to the unabated allied military pressure during the September-to-January lull. They fault the U.S. for failing to match that lull in allied operations. More generally, they argue that, despite Nixon's refusal to resume bombing the North, the U.S. still maintains a relatively hard line in the conduct of the war, and that this is a mistake even as a stopgap. For all its risks, they feel, the unilateral withdrawal of some U.S. troops?or at the very least a stand-down in place in the fighting...