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South Vietnam was in political chaos during much of the year as generals competed for power and Buddhists protested against the government. The Viet Cong communist guerrillas expanded their operations and defeated the South Vietnamese army (ARVN) in many battles. North Vietnam made a definitive judgement in January to assist the Viet Cong insurgency with men and material. In November North Vietnam ordered the North Vietnamese Army to infiltrate units into South Vietnam and undertake joint military operations with the Viet Cong. The new President of the United States, Lyndon Johnson, and his civilian and military advisers wrestled with the problem of a failing government in South Vietnam and military gains by the communists. In August, an attack on American navy vessels caused Johnson to seek and gain U.S. congressional approval of the Tonkin Gulf Resolution which authorized him to use military force if necessary to defend South Vietnam. Throughout the year there were calls from many quarters, American, foreign, and South Vietnamese, for the United States to seek a solution to the conflict by negotiating an agreement for the neutralization of South Vietnam. The U.S. refused to consider negotiations. Many of President Johnson's advisers advocated an air war against North Vietnam and the introduction of U.S. combat troops into South Vietnam and by year's end Johnson was contemplating ground troops. The 23,000 U.S. military personnel in South Vietnam by the end of the year were technically still only "advisers" although they were participating in many air and ground operations with the ARVN. Most of the reports and conversations mentioned below were secret and were not made public for many years. ==January== ; 10 January U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. reported to Washington that the new President of South Vietnam Dương Văn Minh told him that he opposed American soldiers going into villages and districts of rural Vietnam as they would be perceived as "more imperialistic than the French" and would give credence to communist propaganda that the Saigon government was a lackey of the United States.〔Logevall, p. 93〕 ; 14 January Theodore Sorensen, one of former President Kennedy's most trusted aides, wrote President Johnson to oppose the neutralization of South Vietnam as proposed by French President Charles de Gaulle and others. Sorensoen said neutralization would result in a communist takeover of South Vietnam, weaken the U.S. position, in Asia, and cause political problems for the Democratic Party. Johnson's principal advisers -- Dean Rusk, Robert McNamara, McGeorge Bundy, and Walter Rostow—echoed Sorensen's views. In December, Senator Mike Mansfield had proposed negotiation of a neutral South Vietnam.〔Logevall, pp. 92-93〕 ; 20 January The Central Committee of the Communist Party of North Vietnam adopted Resolution 9. The secret resolution declared all-out war on South Vietnam to defeat the South Vietnamese army (ARVN) before the United States could introduce a large number of American soldiers into the war. The Resolution estimated that American soldiers participating in the war would not exceed 100,000. The Americans "clearly understand that if they get bogged down in a large-scale protracted war, then they will fall into an extremely defensive position internationally." Diplomacy would be expanded to gain "the sympathy of antiwar groups in the United States" and other people around the world. Finally, the Resolution called for a purge of party members in North Vietnam who had emphasized socialistic development in North Vietnam rather that North Vietnamese help for the "liberation" of the South. Resolution 9 was the most important Communist party decision on action in South Vietnam since the Geneva Accords of 1954 which had provisionally separated North and South Vietnam pending national elections—never held due to opposition by the government of South Vietnam.〔Asselin, pp. 164-169〕 With the adoption of Resolution 9 party moderates such as Ho Chi Minh and Võ Nguyên Giáp were marginalized and militant leaders such as Lê Duẩn and Lê Đức Thọ took command of the Communist Party and North Vietnam.〔Asselin, pp. 170-173〕 ; 30 January General Nguyễn Khánh led a successful coup ousting the military junta led by General Dương Văn Minh from the leadership of South Vietnam. It came less than three months after Minh's junta had come to power in a coup d'état which overthrew and killed then President Ngô Đình Diệm. The coup was bloodless and lasted only a few hours. ; 31 January Journalist James Reston in ''The New York Times'' called for the U.S. to seek a negotiated settlement to the war in South Vietnam. Reston's view echoed that of French President Charles de Gaulle who was advocating that negotiations begin to make South Vietnam a neutral country〔Logevall, p. 103〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1964 in the Vietnam War」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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