ABSTRACT
Far from Hau Nghia province, the Nixon administration was faced with a quandary concerning Vietnam. All hopes for an early end to the war through negotiation had vanished. Internal opposition to the war effort was an increasingly serious problem and was beginning to poison the administration. On the other hand, the favorable trends evidenced in the fighting during 1969 indicated that Vietnamization might work after all. The mission assigned the Tropic Lightning Division reflected the continuity in Nixon's Vietnam policy. The division's primary objective was to provide area security for villages and hamlets undergoing pacification. In July, combat units attached to the 25th Division were instructed to detach one company for each district they operated in and assign it solely for work with Regional and Popular Forces. Ambassador Colby was unhappy with the CORDS report and complained that it really just regurgitates the HES.
