Krulak Mendenhall Mission - Report and Debriefing

Report and Debriefing

The NSC reconvened on the morning of September 10 to hear the delegation's reports immediately after its return from Vietnam. Mendenhall had previous experience in Vietnamese affairs, having served under the previous US Ambassador Elbridge Durbrow. Durbrow had urged Diem on a number of occasions to implement political reform. Krulak was a marine known for his belief in using military action to achieve foreign affairs objectives. His temperament earned him the nickname "Brute", which originated from his wrestling career at the Naval Academy. The Deputy Secretary of Defense Ross Gilpatric noted that Mendenhall was regarded "with great suspicion on the Virginia side of the river ", whereas Krulak was "universally liked and trusted in the Pentagon, both on the civilian and military side".

The backgrounds of Krulak and Mendenhall were reflected in their diametrically opposite analyses of the war. Krulak gave a highly optimistic analysis of the military progress and discounted the effect of the Buddhist crisis on the ARVN's fight against the Viet Cong. His general conclusion was that "he shooting war is still going ahead at an impressive pace. It has been affected adversely by the political crisis, but the impact is not great."

Krulak asserted that a substantial amount of fighting was still required, particularly in the Mekong Delta, which was regarded as the Viet Cong's strongest region. Krulak asserted that all levels of the ARVN officer corps were very conscious of the Buddhist crisis, but he believed that most had not allowed religious beliefs to negatively affect their internal military relationships to a substantial degree. He believed that the ARVN officers at all levels were obedient and could be expected to carry out any order they regarded as being lawful. Krulak further asserted that the political crisis had not significantly damaged bilateral military ties. Moving along to the Vietnamese view of their leaders, Krulak predicted that there was dissatisfaction among the officers, which he believed was mainly directed at Ngo Dinh Nhu, the younger brother of Diem who was widely seen as the power behind the regime. Krulak believed that most officers wanted to see the back of Nhu, but that few were willing to resort to a coup. Krulak reported that three US advisers strongly criticized the Nhus and advocated the pair's departure from South Vietnam in order to avoid a public relations disaster at the United Nations. However, Krulak felt that these problems were outweighed by what he believed to be a successful military effort. Krulak felt that the war would be won irrespective of the political leadership. He predicted that the ARVN had little ability to facilitate an improvement in governance and felt that they would not flex whatever muscle they had. Krulak optimistically concluded:

Excluding the very serious political and military factors external to Vietnam, the Viet Cong war will be won if the current US military and sociological programs are pursued, irrespective of the grave defects in the ruling regime.

Mendenhall strongly disputed Krulak's assessments. He argued that the anti-Diem sentiment had reached a level where the collapse of civilian rule was possible. He reported a "reign of terror" in Saigon, Huế and Da Nang, observing that the popular hatred usually reserved for the Nhus had spread to the generally respected Diem. Mendenhall asserted that many Vietnamese had come to believe that life under Diem worse than being ruled by the Viet Cong. Mendenhall thought that a civil war on religious grounds was possible. He predicted that the war could only be won with a regime change, otherwise South Vietnam would collapse under sectarian infighting or a massive communist offensive. The diametrically opposite nature of the two reports prompted Kennedy's famous query, "You two did visit the same country, didn't you?"