In article , Dave Holford
wrote:



Probably the most succinct statement is a memo from Assistant Secretary
of Defense John McNaughton to SecDef McNamara. Key excerpt:


3/24/65 (first draft)

ANNEX-PLAN OF ACTION FOR SOUTH VIETNAM

1. US aims:


70% --To avoid a humiliating US defeat (to our reputation as a
guarantor).
20%--To keep SVN (and then adjacent) territory from Chinese hands.
10%--To permit the people of SVN to enjoy a better, freer way of
life.

ALSO--To emerge from crisis without unacceptable taint from methods
used.
NOT--To "help a friend," although it would be hard to stay in if
asked
out.


For the full memo and context (from the Pentagon Papers), see
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel...on3/doc253.htm


Wow, that has to be the longest "succinct" statement in the history of
the English language.

Do you have the actual memo, rather than the (first draft)?

Dave

I suspect that this stayed at the draft level, even though it was a
basic policy document. That's not uncommon in government -- people tend
to stamp "draft" on all manner of things.

You'd have to search through the Pentagon Papers (see link) to see if
there was a sequel. MacNamara has described this memo as one of the key
policy statements. McNaughton was killed in an airline crash relatively
early in his tenure, so he may not have been around to finalize it.