◆ SpookStack

In & conversation with Doan Thanh Liem, who is a Saigon government worker attempting to initiate social service projects in the slum areas of Saigon in order to counter the work of Viet Cong cadre who operate throughovt his districts he told me he wes unable to accept an American Queker volunteer to work with hin due, as he said, to the anti-Americanism which is on the increase in his stricts. The Vietnamese Buddhist leaders,. both student leaders and religious leader ———report that the poor American intelligence which often causes air attacks on "friendly" villeges is another cause of the rise of anti-Americanisn, One Buddhist leader reported that in a village near Pleiku regarded as “friendly” the VC staged a military attack against the police station in the villege. This resulted ina retaliatory air strike egeinst the entire villege by the air force. IVS personnel reported to me thet their attempts to file compleints to the military with respect: to air strikes in friendly areas had met with rebuff and in some cases antegonism, Those familier with the complexities of the administrative bureaucracy of pacification | end who have followed the changing alphabet fron uSoN | through USAID through OCO (Office of Civilian Organization) to CORDS, which is the present coordination effort between the military operations and the civilian pacification programs, have come to expect the predominance in priorities for military requirements. This has resulted in disenchantment on the part of many USAID people who have had other overseas experience. Volunteer agency people report that these professionals have been leaving in large numbers to be replaced by USAID personnel recently recruited in the United States who have no experience and wery little understanding of work in underdeveloped areas ebroad, let alone a grasp of the complexities of trying to win hearts and minds in a situation where the military are fighting a war of attrition against 2 people. re fighting attrition against @ people, - I also sensed growing disenchantment among U.S. Bubassy personnel. . A close-up view of the pacification program was afforded me during 4 visit to Ba Zuyen Province,.located south of Can Tho in the Deita. I arrived at the provincial capital, Séc Trang, and proceeded unannounced to the MAGV (Military Advisement Group Vietnam).° This is the headquarters which coordinates the military and civilian efforts looking toward the pacification of the province. I had been given the name of the psychological warfare officer and after some inquiry from a number of personnel milling around proceeded to the second floor, opened a door and entered the briefing room and outer office of the provincial representative, otherwise known as the "Provrep". The Provrep is an American, usually a military officer either retired or on leave, who with his Vietnamese art nterc ovincial counterpart, the provincial r. directs the military and civilian programs ry Girects the military and civilian programs. I introduced myself to the psychological warfare officer as being a representative of the American Friends Service Committee which has 30 people in Vietnam and said that while I had considerable relation to these people my basic responsibility was to assay the progress and effect of the war on Vietnamese society and to. update the information,which the American Friends Service Committee uses in making various proposals for a negotiated solution to the war. I stated that we were critics of the Administration's military effort in Vietnam. Stealing a leaf from Stewart Meacham's book, I asked with a smile whether they would not prefer informed critics" as ageinst "uninformed critics", He replied with a laugh, "Informed critics, by all means", and said he would answer any question I had. vo. fhe result was a full military briefing in front of the map wiih its - -Warious plastic overlays which set forth the military and pacification objectives, both those that had been obtained in 1967 and those projected for OAR, —24-