THE JOB OF RECONSTRUCTION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01601R000300350004-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 13, 2000
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: December 6, 1972
• Content Type: NSPR

STATINTL
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601
LOGl rat UT A!I
1.C 6l 1Q7^
K.?'a..+77 - I MP
; SCHMIDT BELIEVES TIP: t.t any reconstruction plan the
:luestions to be asked must include: How much damage was done?
What is the i otential for reconstruction?
".; ,'? r:tillion tons of bombs.
Its devastation differs, however, from that of South Vietnam.
Vr "~r~''?~"~. _0 V0 Z% Whereas the bombing in South Vietnam has been characterized
\ ` ` l l!Ot (:!!7'.5' l \'!) 7'!l!.\ (; ,ti win carpet Dombrngand defoliation in the countryside where North
Vietnam"sc and Viet Cong were presumed to be talon cover, in the
-
The Job Of
imecon@trliuetion
By Ray Nelson
WHILE THE U.S. AIR Force is still destroying North Vietnam,
sonic ., tend s of the American government are quietly studying
the problems of reconstructing this mountainous, semi-
ndttstrioIii'ed, -id incredibly tough adversary of the United States.
President Nixon land President Johnson before him) has com-
sritted th^ United States to this course.
Some Americans consider it a matter of conscience.
ACCORDING TO WASHINGTON correspondent Dana Adams
J Sctunidi, the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency have,
over the years, accumulated a vast fund of information about North
Vietnam. useful originally for knocking the country down, and now
for putt in, it back together again.
This information has been kept secret, but now is being drawn
upon by Kew-%, A. Kissinger's staff at the White House, and will
soon be I) assed aver to Roderick O'Connor, assistant administrator
for spe'ial projects in the Agency for International Development
(.-V i-r',, > ho has been. tagged for the reconstruction job.
__4)__
THE WORI,D PANK has had a committee to study Vietnam
reconstruction since 1955.
The Sw.-it?t Union and Communist China, the most likely sources
of technological aid, have plenty of current firsthand information.
Japanese industry has shown a keen interest in getting in on the
job, and has already had a mission visiting Hanoi.
Top Norm Vietnamese officials have, however, made it em-
phatically clear to visitors that they do not intend to let any foreign
agency plan or exec?utc their reconstruction.
They are a closed group, so jealous of their sovereignty that they
would r ther forego foreign aid than permit intrustion.
--o-
Tlii: I E,PP?i?:`;FNTATIVI S OF third countries have advised
14'ascir.gton'hat the >'or:h Vietnamese would regard .in American
con'ri'n;llon as ''reprtrat:, ns." What they want is a check direct
from tI. ? I'.S., btrt no ?,Ill mission, and no experts or advisers.
':,,t d the North have n.uch use for the United
Nations, which data ,thing for them during the long, war; nor for
the 11 urld hank, wl;i- h they consider to be dominated by the United
y- i .r for r',ce Asian Rec instruction Bank, which they consider
tt, he dt,.'.;ir.ate~i b)C Japan.
I'hr?~ %%Onl'l Ii'i'? to a bnarcial consortium of aid givers and
to deal Kith each (.",nor or lender bilaterally.
Wt t?V:,, t,L'?et
pMrrns, suppry (lumps, ann communication centers
which were more often than not in or near towns.
__o_
CONSEQUENTLY, NOT A single city has been spared.
Some cities, like Vinh, a communications center on the way to
South Vietnam, have been obliterated once, party reconstructed
during the three-year bombing pause after 1968, and then
obliterated again,
Almost all are one-half or more in ruins.
All large bridges, all large oil-storage facilities, and all major
electric-power plants have been hit.
--o-
NORTH VIETNAM IS, at present, a society devoid of amenities.
The people work mainly with what is shipped in from China
(small arms, essential rice, and other food) and from the Soviet
Union (heavy weapons and aircraft).
It is a country where it is impossible to purchase a paper clip or
any but the roughest clothing, wh.are school children have be
e"
taught to wash and dry copy paper 5.o it cart be used again.
-o--
YET, INCREDIBLY, the North is still a vital, vigorous Ian
capable of resisting the strongest military power in the world, at
of supporting espenditionary forces in South Vietnam, Laos, at
d
Camlx,dia.
To know how North Vietnam has accomplished this is to grasp
the country's potential for reconstruction.
Apart from ideological dedication and native tenacity and
discipline, the key is, in a word, decentralization.
We'll continue with Dana Adams Schmidt's discussion tomorrow.
___o_
HERE, A'; DTHE I; -- "Citizen's Complaint" is the title of these
lines by Louise J. Panni:
To do rnv civic duty as a juror I did try.
But it nearly drove me crazy.
Please let me tell you why.
The judge and the two lawyers seemed to thrive upon delays;
It seemed "recess," "adjourn," "retire" was all I heard for
days
And when at length the jury reached a verdict, in rapport-
They called us back and told its they had settled out of court.
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000300350004-0
 THE LONDON DATE71 MAIL
Dec 1972:
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 RO
STATINTL'
ea spychh.ef.
NEW Y'OII.K`: Henry to 'give adequate advance
ger on's aI'tting of a big North Viet
Kissin, President Nix
^aniese offensi velast sprint;.
top foreted pokey adviser, Nixon Ad:ttini.tratlpn aides,
is sported to have given %,,,11o confirmed that Mr Iiehns
?the kiss of death' to vv-as leavin; ? "Ippa ?cntly were
ftichard Helms as head of trying to tiili, a reluctant
America's Powerful Central JrImes schlesiw= into taking
Intelftence Agancy. Lhd tricky CIA job even
Ye terc?1y, in a telephone though he insisted that he
conversation with Mr Nixon P:'efcrrcd to stay as chairman
of t::e Atomic Energy Com-
before he left for the mission.
latest round of V i e t n a In izt. helms. originally named
peace- talks in Paris, Mr CIA chief by ex-President
Kissinger was said to hat Johnson, IS expected to to
urged that 1\11' Helms should IVCn a new. job in the-
be replaced as head of the changes being . made at
super spy at,ency. Cabinet level or just below for
He was reported to have the second Nixon Administira-
lobbied for Mr Helms to be tion which begins on January
dropped since the CIA failed 20. .
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000300350004-0
 THE LJ0Nt)ON DAILY TELEGRAPH
Approved For Release 20011031&4~,
after . dash
By our. Washington Staff
1pRRESIDEN,T NIXON has
decided to replace Mr
Richard Ileums, 59, as
director of the Central
Intelligence Agency, it was
learnt in Washington yes-
terday.
He is expected to be replaced'
by, 'Mr James Schlesinger, 43,
head of the Atomic Energy
Commission.
It has been reported that the
C I A has had differences with
Dr Kissinger's stall in intel- i
ligence analysis in recent
nlontils.
Some reports. say - that Dr
Kissinger considered that the spy
agency had' failed to give
adequate advance warning of
Ilanoi's. intention to stage its
outright invasion of South Viet-
nanl when the Communists
opened their Easter offensive
earlier this year.
CIA dispute-
The Cl A is also reported to
have been at odds with other
intelligence services over the
timing and subsequent handling
of the Indo-Pakistani conflict it
Bangladesh last year.
Mr' Nixon has let it be known
that he plans to cut the White
House staff by half to improved
efficiency. He has long pressed
for a similar streamlining- of
America's intelligence agencies.
Dr Kissinger is to remain as
the President's special adviser
on national security affairs.
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601'R000300350004-0
 r7
? 4 DEC 1972
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RFAMA01
Nixon plan to replace
head, of CIA reported
Chicago I8-The Chicago ~ that Mr. Helms has failed in
Sun-Times reports President' some instances as CIA chief.
Nixon plans to name James R. In particular, the newspaper
Schlesinger, the chairman of says, Dr. Kissinger felt Mr.
the Atomic Energy Commis- Helms and the agency failed to
I 1 ate advance warn-
u
i
lion, as head of the Centra give ac eq
Intelligence Agency, replacing log of the massive North Viet-/
Richard M. Helms. namese offensive last spring.;
The Washington Post also The newspaper said CIA offi-
carried a similar report in its cials implied that Mr. Helms's~
Sunday editions. departure would be voluntary,
The Sun-Times said Saturday should it occur at all.
that the appointment will be , Mr., Schlesinger, of New
made early in the President's York, served as assistant
second term. director of the Office of Man-
agement and the Budget. In
Kissinger displeased that capacity he served under
Quoting reliable sources, the George Shultz, who was reap-.
report said the reAlacement1 pointed Friday as Secretary of
was prompted in part by the Treasury in the Nixon Cab-
Henry A. Kissinger's displcas-l inet.
ure with Mr. Helms' perform-
ance as CIA head.
Mr. Schlesinger, 43, took j over as head of the Atomic,
Energy Commission in July,
1971, and the newspaper re-;
ported he has asked to be
retained in that capacity. i
But Dr. Kissinger, President
Nixon's national security ad-:
.vises, the newspaper reports,'
has persuaded the Presidents
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000300350004-0