Word: thieu
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...Scenario? It was easy to conclude from all this that Washington initially wanted Saigon's troops out and then changed strategy, or that the Administration intended all along to promote and sustain a Vietnamese expedition in Cambodia after June 30 but chose to obfuscate that policy, or that Thieu rather than Nixon was writing the scenario. None of this is so, Administration officials now argue-though some admit that the public statements are contradictory and confusing...
...Administration insists that there is no disagreement with Saigon. Said one official: "There is no sign that Thieu is going to be a real problem. He has his eye on the ball-in South Viet Nam." Nevertheless, war has its own inner dynamics. It is still only a matter of speculation if. or how severely, the other side will ultimately respond in Cambodia-and what counteraction that response may demand...
...Cambodian high," as the phenomenon was beginning to be called, had a dramatic effect on ARVN morale. "When we went across the border," says President Nguyen Van Thieu, "I had almost every general in the country calling me on the phone, saying 'I want to go to Cambodia.'" Ordinarily, 600 ARVN troops would show up for a 4th Marine Battalion roll call in Saigon; last week, after word arrived that the 4th was headed for Cambodia, all 800 showed...
Mandarin Generals. In South Viet Nam itself, many units are still apt to strike live-and-let-live bargains with the Communists in their areas. But ARVN is much better led than it was before Thieu began replacing the old mandarin generals with battle-seasoned officers and the products of improved training academies. One grim sign of a new aggressiveness on the platoon and company level is the soaring casualty rate among lieutenants and captains...
...root out the remaining corrupt, incompetent or lazy generals has been delayed indefinitely. ARVN's lack of helicopters and pilots has slowed development of truly independent ARVN strike forces. And even at 950,000 men, ARVN is 150,000 men below strength, according to the Vietnamization timetable; Thieu is loath to make up the shortage for fear of upsetting the fragile economy and, in turn, his own political position...