Page 469 - The Viet-Cong Tet_Offensive_1968

The Viet Cong, of course, never adrnitted before the
people that this is an ideological war initiated by thernselves with
the objective of cornrnunization of South Vietnarn, The people of South
Vietnarn are al1 well aware that prior to 1959 there were no roore
than 300 Arnerican advisors in the country, and that Arnerican troops
had corne here at the request of the RVN governrnent. The people of
South Vietnarn also know: quite well that Cornrnunist North Vietnarn
had the backing of other Cornrnunist countries without which its
aggression against the South could not have been launched. The
presence of Arnerican forces in South Vietnarn, thus, is regarded by
the South Vietnarnese as sornething natural in the nationrs anti-
aggression procesa.

Although there are in free South Vietnarn various
political tendencies which di{fer frorn the anti- C ornrnuni st stand of
the rnajority, these tendencies do not reflect the general attitude of
the population itself varies frorn one part of the country to another.
For exarnple, people in the northern part of the South, being poor
and full ofcornplexes, are rnore enthusiastic about politics than people
in the southern part where easier living conditions create less interest
in political problerns. The countryrs political upheaval in 1963, thus,
was rnarked by srnall struggle political rnovements in Hue, Danang and
other cities of Central Vietnarn while all cities in the western pro-
vinces rernained quiet, The capital city of Saigon was also c alrn
despite its status as the center of national politics.

A rnajor change was brought to the social face of South
Vietnarn in the course of 1966 and 1967 by the arrivals of allied troops
frorn the United States, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the
Philippines, Thailand and Australia, totalling 550,000 rnen. The
presence of these troops rnade the countryrs econorrry prosperous but
tr ouble sorne.
People in areas where allied troops (1) were stationed
were provided wi.th rnany kinds of jobs in such varied fields as base
and airport construction, utility rnaintenance and repair, rest and
recreation, house rent and car wash, and other services, with

(1) AUied troops at the end oI 1967 included | 497,948 Arnericans,
48,839 South Koreans, 6,579 Australians, Z,Z4Z Thais, 2,027
Philippinos, 534 New Zealanders, 30 Nationalist Chinese, and 13
Spaniards. Total : 557,774 rnen,