@geo_au @Bunn-Wackett @hersuit
CIA and Washington knew;
most Vietnamese supported the National Liberation Front (Vietcong).
NLF was a nationalist movement not a communist one.
NLF had barely any links to the CCP
Popular support for US barely existed even in the south
And Australian support was never requested by the South Vietnamese (Menzies lied in parliament). It was requested by the US.
The first Australians soldiers were sent as "training advisers" but really worked for the CIA in Project PhoenixThe aims being to torture and assassinate NLF supporters.
Project Phoenix killed 30-50,000 teachers, postmen, nurses, midwives, civil servants, engineers etc etc. they were shot or had their throats slit.
"I never knew in the course of all those operations any detainee to live through interrogation."
"by late 1968 we were getting into a bad genocide program"
Barton Osbourne, CIA expert, congressional enquiry
There was no communist "thrust", no threat. not to Australia or US. not ever
