<P> One major issue Kennedy raised was whether the Soviet space and missile programs had surpassed those of the United States . Although Kennedy stressed long - range missile parity with the Soviets, he was also interested in using special forces for counterinsurgency warfare in Third World countries threatened by communist insurgencies . Although they were originally intended for use behind front lines after a conventional Soviet invasion of Europe, Kennedy believed that the guerrilla tactics employed by special forces such as the Green Berets would be effective in a "brush fire" war in Vietnam . </P> <P> Kennedy advisors Maxwell Taylor and Walt Rostow recommended that U.S. troops be sent to South Vietnam disguised as flood relief workers . Kennedy rejected the idea but increased military assistance yet again . In April 1962, John Kenneth Galbraith warned Kennedy of the "danger we shall replace the French as a colonial force in the area and bleed as the French did ." By November 1963, there were 16,000 American military personnel in South Vietnam, up from Eisenhower's 900 advisors . </P> <P> The Strategic Hamlet Program was initiated in late 1961 . This joint U.S. - South Vietnamese program attempted to resettle the rural population into fortified camps . It was implemented in early 1962 and involved some forced relocation, village internment, and segregation of rural South Vietnamese into new communities where the peasantry would be isolated from Communist insurgents . It was hoped these new communities would provide security for the peasants and strengthen the tie between them and the central government . However, by November 1963 the program had waned, and it officially ended in 1964 . </P> <P> On 23 July 1962, fourteen nations, including China, South Vietnam, the Soviet Union, North Vietnam and the United States, signed an agreement promising to respect the neutrality of Laos . </P>

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