 President Nixon proclaimed the incursion to be " the most successful military operation of the entire war . " General Abrams was of like mind , believing that time had been bought for the pacification of the South Vietnamese countryside and that U.S. and ARVN forces had been made safe from any attack out of Cambodia during 1971 and 1972 . A " decent interval " had been obtained for the final American withdrawal . ARVN General <unk> <unk> <unk> was more skeptical : " despite its spectacular results ... it must be recognized that the Cambodian incursion proved , in the long run , to pose little more than a temporary disruption of North Vietnam 's march toward domination of all of Laos , Cambodia , and South Vietnam . " 
