Sept. 13, 1962 - General Maxwell D. Taylor (pictured with President Kennedy last year) gave an optimistic report today on the military aspects of South Vietnam’s fight against Communist guerrillas. Once additional progress is made in the military area and more protection is offered to Vietnamese peasants, the general said, there must be a shift to economic and social problems where “there is a good deal of work to be done.” General Taylor, who will take over as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff next month, said he did not foresee any basic increase in American military assistance to the war effort in Vietnam. The general, who is on a tour of Asia, concluded a two-and-a-half-day visit to South Vietnam and left for Cambodia. At a news conference today, General Taylor seemed reluctant to answer questions on political progress in Vietnam. Critics of President Ngo Dinh Diem’s regime have charged that the Government is failing to win the allegiance of the peasants. The Government position is that security must come first, and reform will follow.
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