Vietnam, Protest, and Counterculture 463the Commander-in-Chief thus focused on winning in Vietnam, for reasons of
anti-communism and credibility, the military fell in line. But America’s prob-
lems were, in a very real sense, just beginning. The instability in Vietnam was
continuing and working in the NLF’s favor. The growing U.S. presence had
not deterred the VC. “Johnson and his clique should realize this,” Ho Chi
Minh warned, “they may bring in 500,000 troops, 1 million, or even more to
step up their war of aggression in South Viet-Nam. They may use thousands
of aircraft for intensified attacks against North Viet-Nam. But never will they
break the iron will of the heroic Vietnamese people to fight against U.S.
aggression, for national salvation... The war may last ten, twenty years, or
longer... but the Vietnamese people will not be intimidated. Nothing is more
precious than independence and freedom.”
In the South, a new regime led by Generals Nguyen Cao Ky and Nguyen Van
Thieu emerged in mid-1965. Ky and Thieu would both serve as leaders of the
RVN until the end of the war in 1975, thus bringing stability after the merry-
go-round of governments after Diem’s death. While they received huge
FIGuRE 9-7 General William Westmoreland briefs President Lyndon B.
Johnson and advisors in a Cabinet Room meeting, 1967