ABSTRACT
Although American and South Vietnamese efforts harmed the Front in 1969, most of the damage was due to military attrition and the number of defections caused by military pressure. Before charting the frustrating history of the Phoenix Program in Hau Nghia province and elsewhere, this chapter examines those characteristics of the Party's organization that made any organized assault upon it in the rural areas an extraordinarily difficult proposition. Despite the beliefs of many ignorant Americans to the contrary, the GVN was well aware of the importance of the Front's apparatus. There were at least two CIA permanent representatives in Hau Nghia province at any given time. The advisors assisting in this research all admitted that they never really knew what the CIA representatives were up to. Although CORDS, was supposed to integrate the American pacification effort at every level, CIA activities were largely exempt.
