CIA activities in Vietnam

Through 1954, Vietnam was part of French Indochina, along with Laos and Cambodia. During the war, the Imperial Japanese Army occupied Vietnam and remained there until 1945, when the Axis powers were defeated. The Japanese were removed from Vietnam with the help of revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh and his Vietminh forces.[4] Following the war, France began to reoccupy the Indochina region and reassert its former dominance. Much of this can be traced back to a desire to restore French glory and national pride after the humiliation the nation suffered during the course of World War II. The French also wished to reclaim the Indochina region to regain control over the vast rubber plantations across the country.

The people of Vietnam were completely against the return of the French. The Vietnamese experienced a lot of abuses by the French during their colonization in the mid 19th century. The people of North Vietnam rallied around their recently returned revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh and looked to him to gain at long last, their independence.[5]

The French spent nine years (1946–54) attempting to regain control of Vietnam. France did not realize that the current Vietnamese were much stronger than those that they were familiar with. They greatly underestimated the strength and capability of the Vietnamese force. The Viet Minh, or Viet Cong as they came to be called, were not going to let the French take control of their region without a fight. The men of the Viet Cong were communists and did not want to surrender their beliefs to the French. Together with the North Vietnamese army, they would defend their land. The Vietnamese used military and political tactics to push and expel the French from their lands. Northern Vietnamese troops were prepared to fight the French to the bitter end in order to ensure victory and their freedom. The loss of thousands of French men made it easy for North Vietnam and the Viet Cong to win the war. France lost a lot of their supporters of the war after many of their men were killed. It was also beneficial to the North Vietnamese efforts when they began to receive outside assistance. The Soviet Union sent them military hardware that they used in combat against the French. After suffering a major defeat at the fortress of Dien Bien Phu on May 7, 1954, the French lost control of Viet Nam above latitude 17 degrees north; this became the Democratic Republic of Viet Nam. Soviet- and Chinese-made weapons and captured American ones given to the North Vietnamese army by China played a key role in the defeat of France.

Even before the CIA was formed, teams from the OSS, including one under Major Archimedes Patti, was in French Indochina, assessing the situation, and discussing alternatives with parties on all sides, including Ho Chi Minh.[6]

CIA officers moved to French Indochina in 1950 as a part of the legation of the United States in the city of Saigon. After their arrival, CIA involvement expanded to a new large base in Hanoi. The CIA's activities in Vietnam did not grow any further due to the French discouraging CIA activity (the French were still clinging to the idea that they could one day still dominate Vietnam and the U.S. was against this course of action).[7]

CIA involvement in Vietnam was discouraged by the French because it was found that the CIA would often bypass them to open channels to Vietnamese nationalists. CIA activity expanded when the Indochina region became three separate states, and grew exponentially during the French War in 1953 to 1954 when France was essentially forced to accept American assistance with unconventional warfare activities.[8]

Despite this resilience by the French, CIA intelligence perceived a deteriorating situation in Vietnam. A 1950 CIA intelligence report noted that the threat of Communism in Indochina was rising as rebel attacks on French outposts continued and highlighted the weaknesses of the French. An intelligence report on Indochinese military developments revealed how vulnerable the French military was, due to the fall of the French border holding at Dong Khe, as well as some attacks they had suffered in Tonkin. The report doubted France's ability to hold Indochina much longer if the Viet Minh continued to attack.[9] The authors of the report feared that, "if these attacks [were to] develop into a coordinated, a large-scale Viet Minh offensive, an action which [might] soon be within Viet Minh capabilities, French maintenance of control over Indochina – by means of their own forces alone – [would] be seriously threatened." This document also noted French hesitancy to bolster the Vietnamese Army, "apparently fearing that such a step would weaken their ability to contain Vietnamese nationalism."[10]

The U.S. intelligence community notes how cautious the French were in arming a Vietnamese army. The report further claimed that, "French reluctance to expand or strengthen the Vietnam Army is indicated by insistence on allocation and distribution of US military aid under French control, failure to make plans for necessary financing, inability of French officials to agree on a course of action or policy, and refusal to expand the local militia." Additionally the French officially refused to accept help from the U.S. in the form of training Vietnamese troops by US military instructors. There is a suggestion at the end of the report that the French would need to accept American aid to train the Vietnamese army and to supply them, if they wanted to change their policy of arming the Vietnamese.[11]

During 1953–1954, the involvement of the CIA increased when the French finally accepted U.S. assistance with the unconventional (guerrilla) warfare tactics they faced, as the French were facing large and costly losses at the hands of what would become the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese resistance forces.[12] The primary aid initially offered by the U.S. was military aid in supplying military hardware and training of the Vietnamese army; the scope of U.S. aid to the French was greatly expanded during and after the Eisenhower administration. Without aid from the United States, there would be little practical effect from this ostensible change in French policy.[8]

There was a reestablishment of a covert action section in Saigon Station. There was also unilateral covert action which was suspended in 1953 under State Department pressure. This was due to the French exposing paramilitary operations against the Vietminh in Ha Noi that the agency did not previously clear with them.[13]

The CIA's mission in Saigon was to directly assess the nationalist politicians.[14] The primary cause and motivation behind the intervention of the U.S. and CIA through 1954 was to gather intelligence, and provide interpretations of the events that occurred in Indochina through an American perspective. Outside of North Vietnam, the agency's broad span of activities reached into almost every aspect of the Indochina war. The agency conducted several paramilitary programs and conducted a full-scale war in Laos and South Vietnam.[8]

In 1954, the CIA would remain consistent in its activities in Vietnam. The CIA's expansion included various stations throughout Vietnam and Laos. A station was also located in Cambodia, but relations with that country were broken off in 1963 and reinstated only during the 1970s.[8] The CIA stations, though initially used solely for gathering intelligence and providing interpretations of events in Indochina, came to gain as much importance as the U.S. embassy in its scale of political relations with the South Vietnamese government due to its broad range of activities. The CIA stations in Vietnam were also responsible for conducting a full-scale war in Laos at that time in addition to South Vietnam paramilitary operations.[8]

Another key event that occurred in 1954 was the creation of the Geneva Accords. Signed by France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, China, and three Associated States of Indochina including Ho Chi Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the Accords addressed the issue of what to do with Vietnam since the Viet Minh had ended colonial rule in the north. Although the United States had agreed to respect the Accords, it would not sign them because the U.S. government disagreed with the provision that split Vietnam at the 17th parallel.[15] These Accords would come to play a major role in the United States' decision to interfere with the situation in Vietnam. The U.S. government had provided the French with logistical support in their mission to defeat the Viet Minh. It was only a matter of time, however, before the French needed military support as well. Essentially, the Geneva Accords forced the United States to decide if it was willing to provide such assistance. As historian Thomas L. Ahern Jr stated, "In the end, the importance of halting Communism overshadowed the risks, and the United States embarked on its 21-year effort to create in South Vietnam a permanent barrier to Communist expansion in Southeast Asia."[16]

By 31 January 1955, a paramilitary group had cached its supplies in Haiphong, having had them shipped by Civil Air Transport, a CIA proprietary airline belonging to the Directorate of Support.

Ngo Dinh Diem and Ngo Dinh Nhu had been exploited by the help of CIA advisors to help defeat one of the challenges to the new Prime Minister's authority.

Lansdale and the South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dienh Diem had been working together, however they did not agree on the government system they wanted in South Vietnam. In August 1955, Lansdale brought Juan Orendain, a Filipino constitutional scholar, to Saigon in order to sway Diem in a direction similar to the American system. Lansdale was hoping he could have the same effect on Diem as he had previously when working with Magsaysay in the Philippines. Part of this meant proposing a legislature and a judicial system to signal that Diem was open to checks and balances, and was not trying to be beyond reproach in his position. By April 1956 Diem had considered and rejected the model proposed by Orendain, and was more concerned about the broad authority he needed that very moment. All the while Lansdale had little to no real oversight from the rest of the CIA as these actions were taking place. Though he took advantage of this autonomy to improvise, it also meant he had little to no backup to enforce or further persuade Diem into a governmental separation of powers.[21]

During one encounter in early 1955, Diem rejected US ambassadorial representative J. Lawton Collins's nominee for commander of the Vietnamese Army. Collins wanted competence, whereas Diem preferred someone loyal.

On April 27, 1955 the Battle of Saigon had begun. The private crime syndicate Binh Xuyen and the Vietnamese National Army would wage conflict for around a month in Cholon. The Binh Xuyen had been influential (as a powerful Saigon gang) in post-colonial Vietnam, and had even stolen arms and fought the French, however they were defeated quickly.[22] Diem had issued the Binh Xuyen an ultimatum to come under control or be eliminated. The damage caused by the fighting resulted in around a thousand casualties, and tens of thousands more homeless.

In January 1956 Diem promulgated Ordinance 6, which authorized detention and reeducation for anyone considered a danger to the state. This led to a problem of overcrowding as there were already 20,000 communists that had been placed in detention camps since 1954.[23] Landsdale claimed that there was 7,000 political detainees in Saigon's Chi Hoa prison alone.[23]

Operation Brotherhood, created by Ramon Magsaysay in the Philippines, had its first medical team beginning in late 1954. By 1955, it had more than 100 doctors and nurses at 10 medical center locations in South Vietnam to treat refugees and to train Vietnamese medical personnel. The second pacification operation was launched late April 1955 in the southern Dinh Dinh and northern Phu Yen portion of Central Vietnam.[13]

Northern Vietnamese troops needed a way to link themselves with their allies in Southern Vietnam. The Viet Cong and Northern Vietnamese soldiers were able to supply troops and military operations through secret tunnels and the Ho Chi Minh trail. The Ho Chi Minh trail was an interlocking trail system that was created through the borders of Laos and Cambodia that reach from North Vietnam to South Vietnam. During the construction of this trail, native guides had to be used to guide the Northern Vietnamese troops through the wild countryside. Campsites that were built along the side of the trail grew into way points for troops to gather and rest. The trail stretched 800 miles and could take up to three months to travel by foot.[24] Laos had been demilitarized during the 1960s. The North Vietnamese however did not respect the Laos treaty with the U.S, Instead, the North Vietnamese disregarded the peace treaty and begun their construction of the trail to aid their southern Vietnamese allies. Pictures revealing the trail's construction were taken by Vietnamese journalists.[25] However, some of the greatest dangers were not the humans following the trail but rather the mother nature one would encounter along the way. Guides were needed for groups to navigate the dangerous trail. Snakes and spiders would flood the clothing of travelers along with dangerous terrain. For these reasons, travelers needed to practice great precaution along the way. The trail quickly became one of the secret forces of the war. Once United States officials gathered intelligence about the trail, they quickly installed motion censors across the trail to catch insurgents.[1] The complexity of the trail grew further during the 1960s.

Detecting Viet Cong movements on the Ho Chi Minh trail was exceedingly difficult. The trail was a complex collection of interconnecting footpaths. The flexibility afforded by its complexity meant multiple routes could be traversed from north to south. As such, it was easy to shift to a different route if the security of one area was compromised. Furthermore, the length of the trail and the small number of persons using it on any given segment, coupled with its flexible nature made detection all but impossible.[26]

In attempts to combat troop and supply movement along the trail, the CIA and U.S. military set up heat and movement sensors along the trail to track enemy movement. U.S. forces also attempted to use air dropped listening devices to track enemy troops and pinpoint Viet Cong movements.

1959 also saw the arrival of William Colby in the region, and it became increasingly noticeable throughout 1959 that Diem was becoming paranoid regarding security issues and the military. This time saw a constant back and forth between Diem and Nhu over control of the military in the region. The year 1959 saw Diem's authority quickly being lessened, as Tran Quoc Bhu had insisted upon it.[27]

The CIA had very few contacts in the Viet Cong ranks or Northern Vietnam at the time. Many of the contacts that they had were double agents run by the Viet Cong. Much of the intelligence gathered regarding Northern Vietnam was unreliable.[28] U.S. and South Vietnamese military personnel believed that the bulk of North Vietnamese supplies were being shipped over the Ho Chi Minh trail, however, more than 80 percent of Northern supplies were sent by sea.

U.S. Special Forces also began to train some Laotian soldiers in unconventional warfare techniques as early as the fall of 1959 under the code name Erawan.[29] This was because after President Kennedy took power who refused to send more American soldiers to battle in Southeast Asia. Instead, he called upon the CIA to use its "tribal forces" in Laos and to "make every possible effort to launch guerrilla operations in North Vietnam with its Asian recruits." Hence, under this code name, General Vang Pao, who served the royal Lao family was recruited. He then recruited and trained his Hmong soldiers to ally with the CIA and fight against the communist North.

In April 1961, Lansdale, who had been designated the Operations Officer for an interagency Task Force in charge of political, military, economic, psychological, and covert character, was to go to Vietnam. Changes of policy in Washington however, transferred these responsibilities to the military and diplomats, and Lansdale was no longer involved with Vietnam.

On May 11, 1961, President Kennedy gave the authorization to begin "a program for covert actions to be carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency which would precede and remain in force after any commitment of U.S. forces to South Vietnam."[23] Kennedy was giving the CIA the job of preparing for the eventual landing of U.S. troops. Later that year, in October 1961 the Director of Central Intelligence Allen Dulles approved a massive counterinsurgency program with the goal of launching a "village defense program in the lightly populated but strategically important Central Highlands."[23] The involvement of the CIA rose substantially when they were given the task of supporting "irregular formations" that did not fall under other agencies’ jurisdictions, which include civil wars, guerrilla wars, and rebellions.[23] They were given this job because of an interagency task force recommendation in January 1962. Later that year in May 1962, Defense Secretary McNamara promised the Far East Division chief Desmond FitzGerald "a blank check…in terms of men, money, and material."[23] This illustrates the important mission given to the CIA by the Department of Defense and the White House.

CIA begins to sponsor and train the Civilian Irregular Defense Groups (CIDG) in the South Central Highlands. These were local defense operations with a mobile support component, "Mike Force", made up primarily of Nung mercenaries. Most CIDG units eventually became Vietnamese Rangers. These forces were intended to help combat the guerrilla tactics of the Vietcong.The CIDG grew out of a Military Operations Section (MOS) program led by Gilbert Layton. Layton's priority was strengthening the intelligence network in the country, specifically in the border regions with Cambodia and Laos.[23] Layton sought to find locals that could gather intelligence on Viet Cong installations in the area.[23] He proposed a program "designed to recruit as many as 1,000 tribesmen to operate in the guerrilla-infested high plateau areas bordering on northern Cambodia and South Laos."[23] His proposal for a crop station and seed distribution was approved but it suffered many delays and problems.[23] CIA Deputy Chief William Colby expanded the intelligence gathering operation into a defense building operation known as the "Montagnard defense program."[23]

In 1961, the CIA also strengthened contact with then-captain in the Royal Laotian Armed Forces, Vang Pao.[30] Pao was a member of the nomadic Hmong tribe, a southeast Asian ethnic minority dwelling primarily in the mountains of Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, and the CIA quickly realized the potential use of the Hmong as guerrilla fighters against Laotian as well as North Vietnamese communist forces. First donations of food, blankets, and then by January 24, 1961 300 Hmong received weapons to Vang Pao's troops, the CIA sent men to train Hmong fighters in guerrilla tactics, eventually engaging soon-to-be-General Pao's approximately 10,000 men.[31] These Hmong forces would prove valuable to the CIA's tactics for the remainder of the war, despite insecurities on both sides as to the allegiance of the other. It was during 1961 that Vang Pao expressed concerns as to the dedication of the CIA in aiding and remaining supportive of the Hmong after their use in the Vietnam War.[32]

Laos, in 1961, was more important than even the incoming president knew. Kennedy had organized a meeting with Eisenhower, who was on his way out of the Oval Office, to discuss the strategic importance of Laos. They discussed "keeping the 'cork in the bottle'...to prevent communist dominion over most of the Far East."[33] Eisenhower saw Laos as so important, that he was worried about all of Thailand, Cambodia, and South Vietnam falling to communism if Laos went that way. The president was concerned that the Royal Laotian Army (RLA) was impotent and mutinous, and did not want to rely on them. He was so concerned, that in this meeting, he said he would "as a last desperate hope...intervene unilaterally," if it were up to him.[33] The interventions, as mentioned in the paragraph above, ended up being the arming and training of paramilitary forces. While preventing a communist Laos remained the objective of the CIA for the next 14 years, the focus of their paramilitary operations changed over time. Until 1964, the Hmong fighters in Laos focused on trying to fight back North Vietnamese fighters and on preventing further encroachment. They were highly important, because the U.S. hadn't begun putting troops on the ground in any great numbers, yet. After that, in 1965, the report describes the Hmong activities in Laos as "flitt[ing] over mountain trails or mov[ing] by air to occupy key high ground and to harass Hanoi's tanks and artillery,"[33] meaning that U.S. troops took on a frontline role and asked the paramilitary forces to operate in more difficult terrain and in less standard ways.

The Buon Enao Project

Buon Enao was a Rhadé village that was the location of a CIA experimental program designed to strengthen defenses against the Viet Cong.[23] The CIA brought several proposals to the village elders, and almost all were met with protest or skepticism. After satisfying all of their concerns, the Americans were able to build a perimeter border fence as well as dispensary. They also armed the villages and trained them how to shoot. They were named the CIDG so that they did not give the appearance of a "covert offensive military unity." Buon Enao was the "first CIDG Area Development Center, which controlled social and economic development services as well as the village defense system in the surrounding area."[23]

In February 1962, two disgruntled South Vietnamese air force pilots bombed the presidential palace in hopes of killing Diem and forcing a new leadership, but their plan failed as he was in a different part of the palace when the attack happened. Diem reassigned military officers to improve his security, however, he still did not undertake political reforms.[35] It was also agreed upon in 1962 to grow the Laotian irregulars despite potential diplomatic consequences.[36]

In the Spring of 1962, the CIA became interested hitting at North Vietnam's navy; the agency called it Operation VULCAN. In order to fulfill this operation, the CIA hired “18 South Vietnamese who had been trained in underwater demolition” to target the port of Quảng Khê, which “was home to several of the DRV's Swatow-class gunboats”.[37]  In June 1962, the demolition crew, called the “frogmen”, were carried by the Nautilus III within swimming distance of the North Vietnamese port, at which point the divers swam to the various military ships in the port and attached their bombs. However, “how many of them detonated remained unclear, for one of them went off prematurely, with the swimmer already spotted and trying to escape”.[37] The Nautilus III was chased down by a Swatow at which point the Swatow collided with the Nautilus III, and all crew, except one, were captured by the North Vietnamese. The document concludes that the mission was considered successful and the military was prepared to continue such operations which often ended with the summary of “mission successful, price heavy”.[37]

The Geneva Agreements were proposed in order to end suspension of flights that went through the Laotian airspace. The agreement went into place in October 1962. Later, the CIA grew afraid that they might demoralize their liaison partners so they did not disclose information pertaining to the policy basis that halted some operations. TARZAN was developed in order to monitor the North Vietnamese road traffic and then the findings would be taken back to the CIA. They were a sabotage team that was released near Route 2. On December 30, a sabotage team that was sponsored by SEPES was called LYRE. This was a part of the nine teams developed that often did not go into full effect.[37]

The U.S. supported Diem in hopes to create a nation that was south of the demilitarized zone at the 17th parallel.[38] In August 1963 South Vietnamese military officers initially planned to obtain support from the U.S. for their coup against Ngo Dinh Diem. State Department official Roger Hilsman originated a cable giving the South Vietnamese generals the green light for a coup against Diem and in October 1963 final plans were made for the coup that was carried out.[35] On November 1, 1963 the House of Ngo ended when generals working for President Diem surrounded the Palace. The Palace was surrounded by units that were brought into Saigon from Mekong Delta and Bien Hoa.[38] Observers of the firefight got close enough to count about 200 rebel troops and there was a report of 35 armored vehicles heading toward the palace.[13] With Diem loyalists being detained, political arrangements were of order and they acknowledged that the new government would be a civilian one.[13] Minh threatened Diem in every way, exerting that he had no patience and would "blast him off the face of the earth" if he did not surrender. After a bombardment of artillery fire to intimidate Diem, Minh ordered an assault on the palace. The next morning Diem finally called the JGC Headquarters promising to surrender if he had safe passage out of the country.[13] Americans had ordered that the Diem and Nhu were kept safe but an officer of Minh had placed them into an armored vehicle and shot them to death. The Americans began to focus on fixing the makeup of the coup rather than the policy of the successor's government after they had realized how bad Diem was as a leader.[38] The CIA paid $42,000 in immediate support money to the plotters the morning the coup, given by Lucien Connie an act of prefigured in administration planning.[35]

On July 8, 1963, A CIA officer was told by Major General Tran Van Don(South Vietnam's army commander) that there were plans by the military to overthrow President Diem.[39]

In November 1963, the CIA, or "the Station", was relied upon by Vietnamese generals, who had recently staged a coup, to aid in the set up of a new regime. The Station was coming out of a U.S. Mission moratorium on contacts with the new leadership imposed by Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge. A White House tape of President Kennedy and his advisers confirms that top U.S. officials sought the November 1, 1963 coup against South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem without apparently considering the consequences for Diem personally.[35] With support of the coup coming from the U.S. it would have the potential of making us responsible for the outcome in South Vietnam.

In early 1966, the Johnson Administration authorized an extensive development of the pacification effort and the Agency programs became the basis of the U.S. pacification strategy.[23]

Late in 1966 the secret Polish-Italian peace attempt code-named Marigold by U.S. officials happened at a time when around 6,250 Americans had died. This peace talk happened 18 months before the Paris peace talks and more than 6 years before the accords that ended U.S. direct involvement in the fighting.[48] This meeting was to take place in Warsaw, Poland between U.S. and North Vietnamese ambassadors to talk over a 10-point formula for a settlement. Marigold is to be one of the most controversial and intriguing diplomatic initiatives that remain shrouded in mystery.[48]

The CIA also resumed trying to influence politics in Vietnam in 1966, by once again sending money to Saigon.[8]

In November 1968 President Johnson had written something pertaining to the bombing of North Vietnam. Kissinger tried to convince the CIA to form a smart plan in order to take action on the military targets on North Vietnam.[57] They responded to him by using Laotian guerrillas to go through different barracks and storage facilities located at Dien Bien Phu. Though most organizations figured that the costs would outweigh the benefits, Kissinger still convinced them to go through with it.[57] In December 1969 Kissinger tried to get more strikes on "lucrative targets" in North Vietnam. On March 10 a pipeline located in North Vietnam by the Mu Gia Pass was wrecked. When the government in Cambodia changed the US became more concerned. On April 3 a second pipeline operation had failed but Headquarters encouraged them to keep trying

On April 25 they had tried again but soon had to stop when they came across a North Vietnamese bivouac.[57] On July 3, 1969,the CIA produced an assessment of their collection program pertaining to the North Vietnamese logistics network (Ho Chi Minh trail). The document was intended to be read by Henry Kissinger and detailed the current inventory of CIA collection activities and their corresponding recommendations. Based on the document, the CIA was having difficulty identifying the total logistics structure of North Vietnam (between Laos and Cambodia) and the quantities/frequency of the supplies being transported. It was noted that the supply route in Laos was more active than Cambodia. (Due to the terrain of Cambodia). Though the CIA collection program was predominantly supported by technical and human collection, the high level of hostility made human collection very difficult. The recommendation of the assessment listed the need for more road watchers (to supplement human collection) and more sensors, aerial reconnaissance and wire taps for technical collection.[58]

The constant pressure placed on Thieu from the Station began to take its toll by the end of the 1960s. On May 25, 1969 President Thieu created another political organization called the National Social Democratic Front (NSDF) in attempts to rival the Communists.[59] Since the NSDF had a larger network than the Lien Minh, it quickly gained financial support from the U.S. However, despite all the resources that were being devoted to the organization, the NSDF failed to satisfy expectations and was largely considered to be a disappointment. Many politicians refused to work with a vexed associate of the organization named Houng. The National Salvation Front rejected the NSDF's consolidation request for this very reason. Moreover, the NSDF did not have any success with integrating its constituent parts. The CIA's experiment with the NSDF fizzled out and lasted about a year. Thieu did not want to turn pacification into a political task and would offer no supplemental ideology or program to replace Communism in Vietnam.[59]

With its "Vietnamization" doctrine, proclaimed in early 1969, the Nixon administration began the gradual withdrawal of the United States from ground combat in South Vietnam. The end goal of this was to strengthen the military of South Vietnam. An expanded program of irregular operations in the eastern Panhandle was more productive. There was a lot of pressure for Nixon to withdraw from Indochina on the home front. Johnson's bombing of North Vietnam in 1968 really got backlash from the citizens back in America. There were a lot of protests all over the United States because of this. Even though the war was ending in Vietnam, protestors in the United States were still going crazy as the troops were returning from the battlefield.[70] During the Nixon Presidency, domestic pressure to withdrawal from Indochina exponentially increased. However, Nixon was determined to escape the embarrassment of an American military defeat in Vietnam. Needing to rectify the aggravated electorate and ensure the prospects of shaping the settlement in Vietnam from a position of strength, Nixon and Kissinger turned to the CIA. Kissinger ordered the CIA to carry out “high political and psychological impact actions against military targets in North Vietnam.”[71] The Agency sponsored Laotian guerrillas to erode the enemy's confidence in the security of the trail network. On 22 February 1970, the Commando Raider operations began and set ablaze administrative and storage buildings in Dien Bien Phu, and sabotaged a pipeline near Mu Gia Pass. The success of these operations enticed the CIA station in Vientiane to adopt them as a staple of its agenda. The change of government's Cambodia in March 1970 signaled an opportunity to expand the Commando Raider operations. The CIA gathered more intelligence pertaining to the specifics of troop movements and the location of NVA supplies. Raids to destroy these supplies became common. The CIA focused on the complete interdiction of the trail system that extended through Laos and Cambodia. While many of these raids were successful, it was a futile operation. The “means [were] inadequate to the end.” [72] The CIA spent a great amount of resources and energy into preparing these raids, collecting intelligence, and carrying out attempts to further undermine the enemy now defeating them. In May 1970, a raid ended in disaster when all but four of 21 members were captured or killed.[73] The use of CIA covert action, particularly by Kissinger, illustrates the tendency of the White House to circumvent domestic or foreign restraints. The President dealt under the table to accomplish its strategic interests while hoping to save face among the electorate. Furthermore, the ultimate failure of CIA covert action reflected a recurring trend in the Agency's history—no matter the amount of intelligence collected, resources amassed, or strategies implemented, the Agency still failed to understand its enemy. Although the CIA had some success in anticipating the North Vietnamese offensive of 1972, the agency's last station chief in South Vietnam argued that "the illusion that the war is over and we have won is shattered." [1]

Even as late as 1971, the United States worried about resistance in the region along with the want of at least one American ambassador in order to allow for a Thieu victory in the region. Not only this, but there were attempts by the U.S. in order to garner Catholic support for Thieu in the country in order to set up footing among Chinese nationals and other groups. However, the senatorial election of 1970 caused American interest in the political machinations of South Vietnam at least to subside, even if they were interested as late as 1971.[74]

A series of accusations in the early 1970s that the CIA was complicit in drug trafficking in Laos was a contributing factor in the public's opposition to U.S. activities in Southeast Asia. Neither the CIA nor any of its officers were accused of direct activity in the narcotics operations. It is likely that the agency did not focus much energy on the trafficking by indigenous allies until a heroin epidemic broke out among U.S. troops in South Vietnam. There was nothing preventing the hill tribes in northern Laos from producing and selling opium until 1971, as the trade was an economic benefactor to the tribes, but under U.S. pressure, the Laotian government made it illegal. These activities predate the war on drugs in the United States and there was not even a reporting requirement in place until after Nixon's war on drugs had been declared.[75]

In 1972, The U.S. signed an agreement put forth by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (during Nixon's administration) that stated that the U.S. must cease fire immediately throughout Vietnam and that there should be no more U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. Also, there should also be a return of all captured personnel of the parties, and most importantly the U.S. must agree on South Vietnam's right to self determine their own government.

On March 12 of 1975 an anti-aircraft missile from North Vietnam struck an Air Vietnam DC-4 that was en route from Ventiane to Saigon, shortly after the aircraft communicated for the last time over a reporting point (PE9 on the G67 airway) [76] near Pleiku. The ARVN had fallen apart partially due to the North Vietnamese offensive, but it was not the sole reason. Since the North Vietnamese had been attacking everything, including B-52s and naval vessels, they had grown stronger and the South appeared to get weaker. The headquarters had tried to get information pertaining to Thieu's "grand design" on March 20. Headquarters decided to work on the responsibilities with the Communists and to gain support for the refugees that were moving away from the Communists.[77]

• United States–Vietnam relations
• Allegations of CIA drug trafficking#Golden Triangle
• CIA Activities by Transnational Topic: Crime and Illicit Drug Trade

Declassified CIA documents

• CIA and the Generals, Covert Support to Military Government in South Vietnam
• CIA and the House of Ngo, Covert Action in South Vietnam, 1954–63
• CIA and Rural Pacification
• Good Questions, Wrong Answers CIA's Estimates of Arms Traffic through Sihanoukville, Cambodia, During the Vietnam War.
• The Way We Do Things, Black Entry Operations into Northern Vietnam
• Undercover Armies, CIA and Surrogate Warfare in Laos
• CIA collection of Vietnam War documents released under the Freedom Of Information Act

Air America

• Air America, Upholding the Airman's bond
• Stories of Sacrifice and Dedication Civil Air Transport, Air America, and the CIA