NND Project Number: NND 63316. By: NWD Date: 2011
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Dr. Quat described in detail the present psychological warfare activities undertaken in "Operation Atlanta" in the three provinces extending between Nhatrang and Hue. He said that not only were GAMO teams close behind the expeditionary force, but that a new technique was being tried for the first time in Vietnam. Hitherto the French Union and Vietnamese forces had been content to overwhelm an area and then leave it relatively empty, with the result that the Viet Minh returned to territories officially listed as "pacified." Now, however, two new systems were being tried. The first was in the treatment of villages in the line of allied advance. Instead of following the old system of obliteration, three categories of villages were recognized. The first was the village which offered all-out resistance. This was subject to all-out attack and was wiped out, either by aerial bombardment or land assault. The second class of village was one which showed sporadic resistance, and this was encircled by Vietnamese troops and called upon to surrender. Following capitulation, the inhabitants were divided into three sub-categories: those who were clearly Viet Minh and who were used for battle intelligence before being made prisoners; those who were merely suspect and who were placed in concentration camps where, by means of psychological warfare, they might be induced to come over to the Vietnamese side; and those who were clearly the mass of the people — peasants who were promptly given work, paid in good Vietnamese piasters, and set free, although still kept under surveillance. The third type of village was that which offered no resistance whatever, but on the contrary, welcomed liberation from the advancing French and Vietnamese forces. These people were given immediate assistance and an opportunity to work with prompt payment. The Minister felt that the outcome of this
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