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Viet Cong civilian forces were counted only if they were killed, retired general saysNEW YORK (AP) — Civilian ‘•self-defense forces were not counted as enemy troops while alive because tbey were not considered threatening, but they were tallied in the Vietnam War dcaih toll, a general testified Monday in Gen. William L. Westmoreland’s libel suit against the CDS television network.Retired Maj. Gen. George Godding said the civilian forces were a minor part of the casualties. His testimony came during cross-examination by a CBS lawyer about the role of Viet Cong civilian forces deleted in October 1967 from the official estimate of enemy troop strength.Westmoreland, who was commander 01 U.S. forces in Vietnam, is suing the television network over a 1982 documentary which asserted that he dropped the civilian forces from the troop count and lowered the overall figure to give the impression America was winning a '‘war of attrition.”Godding said an attempt was made to avoid subtracting the dead civilian forces from the count of regular and guerrilla enemy troops.He said he was not ‘‘overly concerned'* that the civilian casualties might throw off the figures because they were a small part of the total number of enemy killed. He said that because only 10 percent of them were armed, they were not considered a serious enough threat to include in the total enemy troop count.Godding represented Westmoreland’s command at a key August 1967 intelligence meeting at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., where the official estimate of enemy troop strength was discussed. The Genital-Intelligence Agency contended that the self-defense forces should have been included in the estimate, a position Westmoreland's command opposed.Questioned by CBS lawyer David Boies about the military importance or the civilian force, Godding said its members could plant mines and booby traps. He acknowledged that at the conference, he opposed including the civilians in the estimate of enemy troops.
Newspaper Details
European Stars and Stripes
Darmstadt, Hesse, DE
Wed, Oct 31, 1984
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Lesley W.
TX, USA 23 Aug 2021
Other Publications Near Darmstadt, Hesse
Allgemeine Kirchen Zeitung
European Stars and Stripes
