The Pentagon's Brain (51 page)

1 pushed the muzzles: Karnow, 10.

2 Kennedy spent more time: Barber, V-39.

3 “Viet-nam counter-insurgency plan”: “Summary Record of a Meeting, the White House,” Washington, D.C., January 28, 1961, DSOH.

4 “to deter all wars”: “Special Message to Congress on Urgent National Needs,” May 25, 1961, National Security Files, JFK.

5 “techniques and ‘gadgets’”: Document 27, Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, Volume I, Vietnam, DSOH.

6 develop new weapons: Document 96, Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, Volume I, Vietnam, DSOH.

7 garner support: Document 59, Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, Volume I, Vietnam, DSOH.

8 Johnson asked Diem: Document 56, Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, Volume I, Vietnam, DSOH.

9 gave Godel authority: Barber, V-35.

10 Each building had: ARPA Field Unit, Vietnam, Monthly Report, CDTC, photographs (n.d.), RG 330, Project Agile, NACP.

11 entourage of military advisors: Ibid., photograph (n.d.).

12 laborers toiled away: Ibid., photographs (n.d.).

13 giving briefings: Viet-Nam Working Group Files, Lot 66, D 193, Minutes of Task Force Meetings, National Security Files, JFK.

14 canine program: “The Use of a Marking Agent for Identification by Dogs,” March 11, 1966, RG 330, Project Agile, NACP; see also ARPA Field Unit, ARPA Order 262-67, July 7, 1961.

15 Godel called it: Document 96, Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, Volume I, Vietnam, DSOH.

16 AR-15 prototypes: Barber, V-44.

17 “would have caused death”: Ezell, 187.

18 “development of the M-16”: Barber, V-44.

19 “maximum effectiveness”: Document 96, Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, Volume I, Vietnam, DSOH.

20 “subject to political-psychological restrictions”: Letter from Brigadier General Edward G. Lansdale, assist. SECDEF to Dir/Defense Research &
Engineering, subject: Combat Development Test Center, Vietnam, May 16, 1961. National Security Files, JFK.

21 first batch: Buckingham,
Operation Ranch Hand,
11, 208n.

22 first mission to spray herbicides: Brown,
Vegetational Spray Tests in South Vietnam,
17, 23, 45.

23 more ambitious follow-up plan: Ibid., 68.

24 roughly half of South Vietnam: Buckingham,
Operation Ranch Hand,
15.

25 “The first advice”: Bradlee, 22.

26 General Maxwell Taylor: As Army chief of staff, Taylor believed the Eisenhower doctrine of massive retaliation put too much emphasis on nuclear weapons and not enough emphasis on the Army. Under Eisenhower, the Army was reduced by 500,000 men, while the Air Force gained 30,000. See also McMaster,
Dereliction,
8-17.

27 According to a memo: Historical Division Joint Secretariat, Joint Chiefs of Staff,
The History of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: The Joint Chiefs of Staff and the War in Vietnam, 1960–1968,
ix, 74.

28 Godel took General Taylor: Document 169, Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, Volume I, Vietnam, DSOH.

29 Taylor-Rostow mission: Telegram from the President’s Military Representative (Taylor) to the Department of State, Saigon, October 25, 1961, DSOH.

30 General Taylor described: Quotes are from “Vietnam Report on Taylor-Rostow Mission to South Vietnam,” November 3, 1961, RDT&E Annex, National Security Files, JFK.

31 Radio Hanoi: “PsyWar Efforts and Compensation Machinery in Support of Herbicide Operations,” Subject: Chemical Defoliation and Crop Destruction in South Viet-Nam, Washington, April 18, 1963, National Security Files, JFK.

32 “Joint Chiefs of Staff”: Buckingham,
Operation Ranch Hand,
16; McMaster,
Dereliction,
114.

33 “Weed Killer”: Memorandum from Rostow to President, November 21, 1961, National Security Files, JFK.

34 Kennedy approved: National Security Action Memorandum 115, Subject: Defoliant Operations in Viet-nam, November 30, 1961, National Security Files, JFK.

35 2012 congressional report: Martin, “Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange and U.S.-Vietnam Relations,” 2, 15.

36 “He was advised”: RG 330, Project Agile ARPA Field Unit, Vietnam, Memorandum for record, “Meeting with Mr. William Godel,”
December 4 and December 12, 1961, NACP; Brown,
Anticrop Warfare Research, Task-01
, 135.

1 lunchtime matches: Jardini, chap. 2. Jardini’s book is available only on Amazon Kindle, hence no page numbers.

2 Project Sierra: Weiner, 4-9.

3 Tanham’s observations: Elliott, 27. Mai Elliott’s book is the definitive work on RAND during the Vietnam War era. She worked on ARPA programs, in Saigon, during the war.

4 Tanham’s 1961 report: Elliott, 17–18; George K. Tanham, “Trip Report: Vietnam, January 1963,” RAND Corporation, March 22, 1963.

5 Rand was needed: Deitchman,
Best-Laid Schemes
, 25.

6 generally looked down: Interview with Murph Goldberger, June 2013.

7 “weapons systems philosophy”: George H. Clement, “Weapons Systems Philosophy,” RAND Corporation, 1956.

8 first two RAND analysts: J. Donnell and G. Hickey, Memo RM-3208-ARPA, August 1962, ARPA Combat Development & Test Center, Vietnam, Monthly Report (n.d.), RG 330, Project Agile, NACP.

9 “Signs of conflict”: Hickey,
Window,
19, 90–91.

10 change of plans: Ahern,
CIA and Rural Pacification in South Vietnam (U),
114; Hickey,
Window,
91.

11 effective means of pacification: Memorandum from the director of the CIA to Secretary of Defense McNamara on the Strategic Hamlet Program, July 13, 1962, CIA.

12 “monitor”: Ehlschlaeger, “Understanding Megacities with the Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Intelligence Paradigm,” xii.

13 Cu Chu villagers: Hickey,
Window
, 93.

14 “I said, in essence”: Ibid., 99.

15 Hickey recalled paraphrasing: Ibid., 99.

16 ARPA officials complained: Deitchman,
Best-Laid Schemes
, 342.

17 “more patient approach”: Elliott, 33.

18 “ground to a pulp”: Ibid., 38.

19 Tanham showed great optimism: Tanham,
War Without Guns
, 25-29.

20 “Given a little luck”: Elliott, 31.

1 command and control: “Special Message to Congress on the Defense Budget,” March 28, 1961, JFK speeches, JFK.

2
Brown recruited J. C. R. Licklider: Ruina oral history interview.

3 world’s authorities: Hafner and Lyon, 28.

4 Semi-Automatic Ground Environment: Interview with Jay Forrester, October 2013.

5 “Man-Computer Symbiosis:” J. C. R. Licklider, “Man-Computer Symbiosis,”
IRE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics,
volume HFE-1, March 1960, 4–11.

6 “in not too many years”: Ibid., 4-5.

7 The agency inherited: Barber, V-4.

8 “Guess how many nuclear missiles”: Interview with Paul Kozemchak, April 2014.

9 “The Soviets fired three”: Peter Kuran,
Nukes in Space: The Rainbow Bombs,
DVD (2000).

10 could easily have misidentified: Interview with Gene McManus, October 2014.

11 “could have led to war”: Kuran,
Nukes in Space.

12 detonated… over Zhezqazghan: EIS [Electric Infrastructure Security] Council, “Report: USSR Nuclear EMP Upper Atmosphere Kazakhstan Test,” 184, 1.

13 Licklider wrote: “Memorandum For: Members and Affiliates of the Intergalactic Computer Network, From: J. C. R. Licklider,” April 23, 1963; discussed in Barber, V-50–53.

14 related to surveillance programs: Barber, VI-53.

15 used in conflict zones: Smithsonian Institution Archives, “Toward a Technology of Human Behavior for Defense Use (1962),” Record Unit 179, York Papers, Geisel.

16 “build a bridge”: Cited in Barber, V-54.

17 “Computer assisted teaching”: Ibid.

18 legally required: U.S. General Accounting Office,
Activities of the Research and Development Center: Thailand,
13.

19 “Thailand was the laboratory”: Woods oral history interview.

20 “The U.S. would need”: ARPA,
Project Agile: Remote Area Research and Engineering, Semiannual Report, 1 July–31 December 1963,
2.

21 miscataloged: Interview with archivist Eric Van Slander at National Archives, College Park, February 2014.

22 “policy not to release”: Email correspondence with Charles E. Arp, Battelle Enterprise content manager, January 21, 2014.

23 “theoretical and experimental”: Brundage, “Military Research and Development Center, Quarterly Report,” October 1, 1963–December 31, 1963.

24
“Anthropometric Survey”: Information is drawn from Robert White, “Anthropometric Survey of the Royal Thai Armed Forces.”

25 They proposed that studies: Joseph Hanlon, “Project Cambridge Plans Changed After Protests,”
Computer World,
October 22, 1969.

26 “barely scratched the surface”: Salemink, 222.

27 “important tools”: J. C. R. Licklider,
New Scientist,
February 25, 1971, 423.

28 monitored, analyzed, and modeled
: The Utilization of ARPA-Supported Research for International Security Planning,
6, 13–15, 33–42.

29 Someone threw a grenade: U.S. Department of State Central Files, cable, POL 25, S Viet, May 9, 1963, DSOH.

30 “Flames were coming”: Halberstam,
Making of a Quagmire
, 128.

31 “What have the Buddhist”: Madame Nhu’s response is viewable on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_PWM9gWR5E.

32 “I can scarcely believe”: Cited in Mark Moyar,
Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954–1965
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006).

1 with a team of ARPA officials: See Hickey, “The Military Advisor and His Foreign Counterpart.”

2 “En route”: Quotes are from Hickey,
Window,
111.

3 “villagers were sick”: Ibid.
,
124.

4 a massive explosion: Donlon,
Outpost of Freedom,
139; Hickey,
Window,
127.

5 Outside his bunkroom: The account of the ambush is drawn from Hickey,
Window,
130; Hickey, “Military Advisor,” iii.

6 “The July 1964”: Hickey,
Window,
147.

7 Collbohm and Pauker: Deitchman oral history interview, 71–72; Elliott, 48–49.

8 Deitchman: Trained as an engineer, Deitchman had been working at IDA when he was asked to take a two-year leave to work at the Pentagon, reporting directly to Harold Brown.

9 “Who are the Vietcong?”: Information is from interviews with Joseph Zasloff, August–October 2014; Zasloff died in December 2014. Seel also Zasloff,
The Role of North Vietnam in the Southern Insurgency;
Donnell, Pauker, and Zasloff,
Viet Cong Motivation and Morale in 1964: A Preliminary Report;
Elliott,
RAND in Southeast Asia: A History of the Vietnam War Era,
Chapter Two.

10 “The original intent”: Deitchman,
Best-Laid Schemes,
235.

11 deal with the CIA: Ahern,
CIA and Rural Pacification in South Vietnam,
23.

12 inhabited by ghosts: Tela Zasloff,
Saigon Dreaming
, 164.

13
Most farmers: Elliott, 59.

14 What motivated Vietcong fighters: Interview with Joseph Zasloff, October 2014.

15 Pauker forwarded: Pauker, “Treatment of POWs, Defectors, and Suspects in South Vietnam
,
” 13.

16 “The motivation”: Press, “Estimating from Misclassified Data,” iii, 26.

17 identified by the Pentagon: McMaster,
Dereliction
, 143.

18 briefed General William Westmoreland: Interview with Joseph Zasloff, October 2014.

19 The insurgency: Quotes in this paragraph and the next are from Donnell, Pauker, and Zasloff,
Viet Cong Motivation and Morale in 1964: A Preliminary Report.

20 other RAND officers: Interview with Joseph Zasloff, October 2014.

21 “I am looking for”: Elliott, 88.

22 elite defense intellectuals: Louis Menand, “Fat Man: Herman Kahn and the Nuclear Age,”
New Yorker,
June 27, 2005.

23 article attacking Gouré’s work: Harrison E. Salisbury, “Soviet Shelters: A Myth or Fact?”
New York Times,
December 24, 1961.

24 “I get red”: Interview with Joseph Zasloff, October 2014.

25 Brink Bachelor Officers Quarters: Karnow, 408–409.

26 “By and large”: Gouré, “Southeast Asia Trip Report, Part I: The Impact of Air Power in South Vietnam.”

27 “Gouré gave the Pentagon”: Interview with Joseph Zasloff, October 2014.

28 “break the backbone”: Elliott, 90; Gouré,
JCS Briefing on Viet Cong Motivation and Morale,
7.

29 “Dan Ellsberg”: Hickey,
Window,
179.

30 reports for ARPA: Gouré, “Some Findings of the Vietcong Motivation and Morale Study: June–December 1965,” 3.

31 copy of Gouré’s findings: Malcolm Gladwell, “Viewpoint: Could One Man Have Shortened the Vietnam War?”
BBC News Magazine,
July 8, 2013.

32 Frelinghuysen said: Quotes are from Deitchman,
Best-Laid Schemes,
235–39.

33 Fulbright wrote: Jardini (unpaginated).

34 62,000 pages: Phillips,
User’s Guide to the Rand Interviews in Vietnam
, iii.

35 indicted Godel: Walter B. Douglas, “Accused Former Aides Cite Witnesses in Asia,”
Washington Post,
January 9, 1965.

36 Godel was convicted: Peter S. Diggins, “Godel, Wylie Get 5 Years for Funds Conspiracy,”
Washington Post,
June 19, 1965.

37 prison terms: “5-Year Term for Godel Is Upheld,”
Washington Post,
May 21, 1966.

38
correctional institution in Allenwood: Interview with Kay Godel, September 2013.

39 personal financial benefit: “Embezzler Godel Sued to Repay Double,”
Washington Post,
November 5, 1966.

1 secret, top secret, or secret restricted data: Interview with Murph Goldberger, June 2014.

2 closely intertwined: By example, William Nierenberg earned a Ph.D. under I. I. Rabi at Columbia. Edward Teller and Enrico Fermi were both on the faculty at the University of Chicago when Fermi took on Murph Goldberger and one other theoretical physicist as Ph.D. students. See also Finkbeiner.

3 “The high goals set”: MacDonald, “Jason—The Early Years,” informal presentation at the meeting of the Jason Advisory Board held at DARPA, Arlington, VA, December 12, 1986, York Papers, Geisel; MacDonald oral history interview.

4 Gell-Mann: Interview with Murph Goldberger, June 2013; Ruina oral history interview.

5 unsuccessfully tried: Johnson, 229.

6 “Jasons became intrigued”: Interview with Murph Goldberger, June 2013; Johnson, 256.

7 “the Vietnam problem”: William Nierenberg, “DCPG: The Genesis of a Concept,”
Journal of Defense Research,
ser. B, Tactical Warfare (Fall 1969); declassified unpublished manuscript, November 18, 1971, York Papers, Geisel.

8 never been declassified: Harris,
Acoustical Techniques/Designs Investigated During the Southeast Asia Conflict: 1966–1972,
3.

9 Powell said: “Colin L. Powell: By the Book,”
New York Times Book Review,
July 1, 2012, 8.

10 “One very positive thing”: MacDonald oral history interview, 3.

11 “He made a point”: Fleming, 5.

12 “miserable”: MacDonald oral history interview, 13.

13 venerable Dr. Walter Munk: Von Storch and Hasselman, 226.

14 “And with Adlai Stevenson”: Quotes are from MacDonald oral history interview, 6, 10, 11.

15
The World Tomorrow:
MacDonald oral history interview, 28.

16 elected chairman:
Weather and Climate Modification Problems and Prospects,
vol. 2,
Research and Development,
National Research Council, January 1, 1966.

17
“a deliberate and thoughtful review”: Cited in Munk et al, “Gordon James Fraser MacDonald, July 30, 1929–May 14, 2002,” 230.

18 “I became increasingly convinced”: Ibid., 231.

19 “searching, almost desperately”: MacDonald, “Jason and DCPG—Ten Lessons,” 6.

20 Project EMOTE: Quotes are from Mutch et al.,
Operation Pink Rose;
Chandler and Bentley,
Forest Fire as a Military Weapon, Final Report
.

21 “appreciable destruction”: J. M. Breit, “Neutralization of Viet Cong Safe Havens,” 13.

22 inferno: Mutch et al.,
Operation Pink Rose,
iii, 116; Joseph Trevithick “Firestorm: Forest Fires as a Weapon in Vietnam,”
Armchair General Magazine,
June 13, 2012.

23 forest flammability: Mutch et al.,
Operation Pink Rose,
103–112.

24 top secret report: Hanyok,
Spartans in Darkness,
94–95. By war’s end, the NSA estimated “as many as one million soldiers and political cadre” had traveled the trail during the Vietnam War.

25 sent the Jason scientists: Deitchman, “An Insider’s Account: Seymour Deitchman,”
Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability,
February 25, 2003. Deitchman’s email interview conducted with Peter Hayes is available online at nautilus.org.

26 “anastomosed structure”: Nierenberg, “DCPG—The Genesis of a Concept,” declassified unpublished manuscript, November 18, 1971, York Papers, Geisel.

27 obstructing movement along the trail: Lewis oral history interview.

28 studies the Jasons performed: Interview with Murph Goldberger; see also Federation of American Scientists, list of Jason studies, digital archive.

29 “We did our studies”: Interview with Murph Goldberger, June 2014, quoting/paraphrasing Jason Division, IDA,
Air-Supported Anti-Infiltration Barrier,
ii, as well as his interviews with Finkbeiner and Aaserud.

30 “think about using nuclear weapons”: Deitchman, “An Insider’s Account: Seymour Deitchman,”
Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability,
February 25, 2003.

31 “the numbers”: Jason Division, IDA,
Tactical Nuclear Weapons in Southeast Asia,
27.