Mc Namara Taylor Mission - Recommendations

Recommendations

The military recommendations of the report were that General Harkins should review the military effort with Diem with an eye toward its successful conclusion in I, II, and III Corps by the end of 1964 and in the IV Corps in the Mekong Delta by the end of 1965. This would necessitate:

1. A shift in military emphasis and strength to the Mekong Delta
2. An increase in the intensity of military activity throughout the country
3. An emphasis on "clear and hold operations"
4. A consolidation of the Strategic Hamlet Program with the emphasis on security;
5. The fleshing out of combat units and better training and arms for the hamlet militia.

The report further proposed that an announcement be made of the planned withdrawal of 1,000 American troops by the end of 1963 in connection with a program to train Vietnamese to replace Americans in all "essential functions" by 1965. It noted mild progress in the war but saw little wisdom in maintaining the present level of US forces. The report concluded that the ARVN must focus on "clear and hold operations" rather than broad sweeps and that an improvement in Vietnamese performance would permit "the bulk of US personnel" to withdraw by the end of 1965.

The report set out three alternative policies: reconciliation with the Diem regime, "selective pressures" and active promotion of a coup. The second option was the one which the report concluded was the best option. Reconciliation would signify approval of Diem's repressive policies and alienate the ARVN, while initiating a coup was inadvisable "at the present time" in light of the apparent lack of willingness of the ARVN to act. Thus, the report concluded that the only choice was a program of "selective short-term pressures" that were economic and were conditioned to improving the performance of the regime. In order to exert political pressure on the Diem regime to end its repressive anti-Buddhist policies, the McNamara Taylor report recommended the following measures:

1. Continued withholding of funds in the Commercial Import Program, but without a public formal announcement
2. Suspension of approval of AID loans for the Saigon-Cholon Waterworks and the Saigon Electric Power Project
3. Suspension of support for Colonel Le Quang Tung's Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces unless they were transferred to the field under the command of Joint General Staff instead of being used for repressing political dissidents under the direct control of Nhu
4. Maintenance of purely "correct" relations between Lodge and Diem. Harkins, on the other hand, was to continue meeting Diem at Gia Long Palace

The report called for scrutiny of the effectiveness of the sanctions, hinting that alternative leadership would have to be explored in the event that Diem did not improve his performance:

the situation must be closely watched to see what steps Diem is taking to reduce repressive practices and to improve the effectiveness of the military effort. We should set no fixed criteria, but recognize that we would have to decide in 2-4 months, whether to move to more drastic action or try to carry on with Diem even if he had not taken significant steps.

The report recommended against active American encouragement of a coup, but it recommended seeking "urgently to identify and build contacts with an alternative leadership if and when it appears". It opined that a successful coup appeared to be unlikely, although the assassination of Diem or Nhu was possible. Forrestal also noted that the proposed suspension of the USD 200,000 monthly salary for the Special Forces would encourage a coup, saying "It was the first sign the generals had . . . that maybe the United States was serious about this".

According to the Pentagon Papers, the report was a "curiously contradictory document". The report was regarded as a compromise between General Taylor and Harkins' optimistic view of the military, McNamara's increasing conviction of the gravity of the political crisis and its potential to derail the anti-communist war effort. The recommendations for aid suspensions and the announcement of US troop withdrawals were designed as measures that would foster doubt within the Diem regime about American intentions and incentives for policy changes. The fact that such sanctions would be seen by the ARVN generals as a signal of American willingness to accept alternative leadership, in other words, a coup, was not recognized in the recommendation, since the report specifically ruled out American encouragement of "a change of government". This was a notable oversight in view of the ARVN generals' clear statement in August that they regarded an aid suspension as a green light for a coup.