As we all know, when President Kennedy recieved his intelligence report on the strategic and tactical situation in South East Asia, he determined that the North was prepared and determined for a serious war and that Saigon was demonstrably NOT prepared for any such thing. In fact the Diem Regime was steadfastly determined to use American Military and diplomatic assistance as a gravy train to prop up his rule and had no interest in seriously waging their own defense.
My question, What if, instead of massivly fortifying South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Laos and so on, we actually intervened heavily in Vietnam and basically waged Saigon's war FOR them for as long as the U.S> population would stand for our doing so?