The backgrounds of Krulak and Mendenhall were reflected in their opposite analyses of the war . Krulak gave a highly optimistic analysis of military progress and discounted the effect of the Buddhist crisis on the ARVN 's fight against the Viet Cong . His conclusion was that " t he shooting war is still going ahead at an impressive pace . It has been affected adversely by the political crisis , but the impact is not great . " Krulak asserted that a substantial amount of fighting was still required , particularly in the Mekong Delta , which was regarded as the Viet Cong 's strongest region . Krulak asserted that all levels of the ARVN officer corps were conscious of the Buddhist crisis but he believed that most had not allowed religious beliefs to negatively affect their internal military relationships to a substantial degree . He believed that the ARVN officers were obedient and could be expected to carry out any order they regarded as lawful . Krulak further asserted that the political crisis had not significantly damaged bilateral military ties . Moving along to the Vietnamese view of their leaders , Krulak predicted that there was dissatisfaction among the officers , which he believed was mainly directed at Ngô Đình Nhu , the younger brother of Diệm who was widely seen as the power behind the regime . Krulak believed that most officers wanted to see the back of Nhu but that few were willing to resort to a coup . Krulak reported that three US advisers strongly criticized the Nhus and advocated the pair 's departure from South Vietnam to avoid a public relations disaster at the United Nations . Krulak felt that these problems were outweighed by what he believed to be a successful military effort and that the war would be won irrespective of the political leadership . He predicted that the ARVN had little ability to facilitate an improvement in governance and felt that they would not flex whatever muscle they had . Krulak optimistically concluded , Mendenhall disagreed and argued that the anti-Diệm sentiment had reached a level where the collapse of civilian rule was possible . He reported a " reign of terror " in Saigon , Huế and Da Nang , observing that the popular hatred usually reserved for the Nhus had spread to the generally respected Diệm . Mendenhall asserted that many Vietnamese had come to believe that life under Diệm worse than being ruled by the Viet Cong . Mendenhall thought that a civil war on religious grounds was possible . He predicted that the war could only be won with a regime change , otherwise South Vietnam would collapse into sectarian infighting or a massive communist offensive . The contradictory nature of the reports prompted Kennedy 's famous query , " You two did visit the same country , did n't you ? " Krulak attempted to explain the contrasting assessments by pointing out that Mendenhall had surveyed urban areas , while he ventured into the countryside " where the war is " . Krulak asserted that political issues in Saigon would not hamper military progress , stating " We can stagger through to win the war with Nhu remaining in control . " Assistant Secretary of State Roger Hilsman asserted that the difference between the contrasting reports " was the difference between a military and a political view " . During the debate over the differences in outlook , Mendenhall asserted that Saigon had suffered " a virtually complete breakdown " following the pagoda raids . Mendenhall reported that Vietnamese public servants feared being seen with Americans . He recalled one visit when he had to remain quiet while his Vietnamese host crept around the room , searching for hidden microphones . Mendenhall asserted that " Saigon was heavy with an atmosphere of fear and hate " and that the people feared Diệm more than the Viet Cong . He reported many public servants no longer slept at home due to a fear of midnight arrests by Nhu 's secret police . Many officials had recently spent the bulk of their day negotiating the release of their children , who had been incarcerated for participating in pro-Buddhist protests . Mendenhall asserted that internal turmoil was now a higher priority than the war against the communists
pagoda raids
Xá Lợi Pagoda raids
Krulak–Mendenhall mission