The correct answer is "escalate."
According to the graph, the number of troops deployed to Vietnam in 1969 would most likely escalate.
The graphic attached shows a continual increase in the number of United States troops sent to Vietnam, since 1961. However, what happened, in reality, was that after the Tet Offense, millions of Americans started to question the reason why the US was sending more troops to the Vietnam War. American people started to state that Vietnam was not an American War. People started to took the streets to organize protests and demonstrations, demanding the federal government to withdraw the troops from Vietnam.
Years later, the Pentagon Papers indicated that the United States had been secretly involved in Vietnam before its official involvement.
The United States Department of Defense had a secret report about military involvement in the War of Vietnam. They called the Pentagon Papers. Daniel Ellsberg, a military analyst in the case, considered in 1968 that the information should be released to the public. In March 1971, he gave a copy of the papers to the New York Times. The papers showed how previous administrations had misled public information about the involvement of the US in Vietnam.