Declassified per Executive Order 13526, Section 3.3
NND Project Number: NND 63316. By: NWD Date: 2011
TOP SECRET – Sensitive
" … Particularly after 20 July 1956, the key cadres and Barty members in South Vietnam asked questions which demanded answers: 'Can we still continue the struggle to demand the implementation of Geneva Agreement given the existing regime in South Vietnam? If not, then what must be done?' A mood of skepticism and non-confidence in the orientation of the struggle began to seep into the party apparatus and among some of the masses.
"At the end of 1956 the popularization of the volume by Comrade Duan [Le Duai] entitled ’The South Vietnam Revolutionary Bath'[1] was of great significance because the ideological crisis was now solved … After analyzing the character of the South Vietnam society, the character of the American-Diemist enemy etc., the volume outlined a new strategic orientation for the South Vietnam revolution, a strategic mission in which everyone could have some confidence: It is necessary to continue the national democratic revolution in South Vietnam and it is necessary to use force to overthrow the feudalist imperialist regime in order to establish a revolutionary democratic coalition and create the conditions for the peaceful reunification of the Fatherland.
"After the Resolution of the Fifteenth Conference of the Central Committee was issued all of South Vietnam possessed a clear and correct strategic policy and orientation. The Resolution of the Fifteenth Conference of the Central Committee[2] clearly delineated the general responsibility of the Vietnam revolution, analyzed the special characteristics of the South Vietnam situation, clearly spelled out the revolutionary tasks in South Vietnam and at the same time outlined the path which the South Vietnam revolution should take.
"Thanks to this correct and clear delineation of the strategic orientation and path, the South Vietnam people and party clearly understood the aims and enlightened path to follow .... The volume 'South Vietnam Revolutionary Path' and the Resolution of the Fifteenth Conference of the Central Committee provided the cadres and Barty members with a pair of wings with which to fly and lamps to shine upon the path ahead, a feeling of encouragement and confidence, a determined will because the goals were clear and the path bright ....
"Since the end of 1958, particularly after the Phu Loi Massacre, the situation truly ripened for an armed movement against the enemy. But the leadership of the Nam-Bo Regional Committee at that time still hesitated for many reasons, but the principal reason was the fear of violating the party line. The directive of the politburo in May 1959 stated that the time had come to push the arms struggle against the enemy. Thanks to this we closely followed the actual
