Taylor on Vietnam: Victory “Is in Doubt”

Nov. 22, 1964 - The United States Embassy made public today an interview in which Maxwell Taylor (left), U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam, said the war against the Viet Cong was “very much in doubt.” He also declared that air strikes against Communist supply routes and bases in North Vietnam and Laos could contribute to victory over the Communists.

Mr. Taylor, in an interview with Life magazine, a transcript of which was released by the embassy, said, however, that “military action outside the country, just as pure military action inside the country, will not win in itself.”

Asked if the war was being lost, Ambassador Taylor replied:

“Let us say generally that the issue is very much in doubt. The winner will be the one that has the ultimate will to win. But the military aspect is only one piece of it.”

During the same interview Life had with top members of the U.S. mission in South Vietnam, Gen. William C. Westmoreland, commander of United States forces in Vietnam, said: “It is absolutely inconceivable to me that the Viet Cong could ever militarily defeat the armed forces of South Vietnam.”

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