the other counter insurgency things that the ken dri administration and the other administration's are doing, these are things that worry the north vietnamese immensely. now they also worry that as american involvement is increasing, that they're going to get a war with the u.s. just like they got with the french. but the kennedy administration in 1962, they decided to basically neutralize laos and negotiate about it. this gave the north vietnamese hope that they could withdraw their support for south vietnam. in december of 1963 -- excuse me, in late 1963, this gentleman here, diem, would be killed in a coupe. when this happens this is helpful to the north vietnamese. this is a great opportunity because there's a power vacuum that emerges in south vietnam. the north now decides that military effort will probably be their primary tool now to take over south vietnam. to fight this war, of course, they can't do it on their own, particularly the military resources they need to do it. the north vietnamese do not have the ability to produce them. we talked about in the beginning how there w