Examine the state of the U.S.-backed and Diem-led South Vietnamese army against the communist Viet Cong

NARRATOR: Despite a five-to-one superiority in numbers, American firepower, air mobility, and air supremacy, the one-hundred-thirty-thousand-man army of the Republic of Vietnam--known as AR-VIN--were no match for the Viet Cong. Though well equipped and trained, the AR-VIN were poorly motivated and poorly led by Vietnamese commanders. More importantly, in his fight with the Communists, Diem refused to seek the support of his own people. Ruling by decree, Diem gradually came to focus his attention not on the military and domestic problems [music] that were tearing his country apart, but on keeping himself and his family in power.