Vietnam and CORDS

Counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine emphasizes the importance of unity of effort between all agencies involved in a COIN fight. The same doctrine, and history, stresses that unity of effort is best achieved through consolidating all efforts under a single chain of command or leader. When multiple agencies pursue differing agendas unity of effort suffers. Interagency coordination and synchronization issues at the highest levels of the US Government continue to affect the war in Iraq. The Department of Defense and Department of State have overlapping responsibilities for Iraq. This problem is best studied through the efforts of Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) and Stability and Reconstruction efforts in Iraq. The President has issued various National Security Directives regarding Stability and Reconstruction in Iraq and which Agencies lead, but the issue is far from resolved. The US Government faced a similar problem during the Vietnam War. As Vietnam grew in scope and scale the US Government faced a challenge in coordinating the efforts of all of the Agencies involved in the war. After a number of unsuccessful attempts by several Presidents, President Johnson established the Civil Operations and Rural Development Support (CORDS) program. CORDS consolidated all efforts, civilian and military, conventional and COIN, under a single chain of command and a single leader. CORDS is generally regarded as a successful program in spite of the Vietnam War's final outcome. Lessons learned in the development of CORDS can be applied to the current situation in Iraq. By comparing the developments leading to CORDS with the current developments in Iraq similarities can be identified; lessons from CORDS are indeed applicable. The monograph concludes that the lessons from Vietnam are relevant to Iraq. The monograph recommends that the US Government adopt a CORDS-like approach to Iraq and consolidate Stability and Reconstruction efforts under the Department of Defense rather the De