State Department Intelligence in the Vietnam War
The smallest U.S. intelligence agency is the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) at the State Department. Tiny compared to the CIA, NSA, and other agencies, INR nevertheless played a key role in U.S. intelligence on Vietnam. This article explores the origins of INR, tells about some of its key personalities, details its arrangements to compile reports on Vietnam; and discusses its contributions on central issues, including whether the war was being won, the probability of Chinese intervention, effectiveness of U.S. bombing of North Vietnam, the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, the Tet Offensive, and North Vietnamese use of Cambodia.