Office of the Historian

167. Telegram From the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State1

Saigon, February 26, 1965, 4 p.m.

2767. For Bundy from Ambassador. Deptel 1820.2 Will be glad to have you visit Saigon at any time, however, we do not feel the need of an interagency team or of an extensive restudy of the theory and practice of pacification at this time. Most of the defects in the pacification program are the result of inadequate security and ineffective government,3 and not through a lack of understanding of the requirements of pacification. In other words, our main problem is not theory but execution. All hands here are hard at work trying to get the Quat government in motion and must put first things first in priority of attention. We expect progressively to review and improve methods and procedures of pacification with the new government, bearing in mind the need to avoid interference with on-going programs. We will keep you informed as to our thoughts in this regard.

In meantime we would be glad to see you here before or after Baguio but I believe you will find your visit here more profitable if you have a look at the entire spectrum of our principal problems.

Taylor
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S. Secret; Priority; Exdis. Received in the Department of State at 5:09 a.m.↩
  2. Document 163.↩
  3. See Document 172.↩