The Viet Cong's War of Insurgency was successful in defeating The United States in the Vietnam due to the United States lack of counter-insurgency preparations. The United States entered Vietnam prepared to fight the wrong war, according to Krepinevich (4). The United States entered the Vietnam War to prevent the spread of communism, which is an idea. According to Krepinevich, The United States, like all warring nations, "prepared for the next war like it was the last. The United States prepared for a war like World War One and Two in which emphasized mid-intensity, conventional war with large amounts of firepower to substitute materials for lives"(5). The United States had prepared for a conventual war in which battle-lines were drawn, enemies …show more content…
Which was not surprising, as the reason for involvement was to stop the spread of an ideology. The Viet Cong had also prepared for the previous war, which was counterinsurgency against the French from 1946 to 1954. Krepinevich says, "The strategy of the Viet Cong again under the direction of General Vo-Nguyen Giap was an adaptation of Mao Zedong's people's war in China. Insurgency is done in three phases: First, mobilize the masses against the occupying force; second, guerrilla operations and direct violence; third, the organized open warfare against the occupier. It can be summed up as contention, equilibrium, and counteroffensive"(7). The Vietnam War lines up directly with this outline, increasing violence and protests with United States entrance, increasingly powerful guerrilla strikes, cumulating directed offensives, such as the Tet offensive, which, according to Nagl, "was instrumental in convincing the United States public that Vietnam could not be won through advancing though territory"(7). Minh, the leader of Communist North Vietnam was was critical in the war, through his …show more content…
On tactics, Nagl says "Guerrillas avoid their enemy's strongholds and attack logistical lines and outposts from random directions"(15). This tactic focuses on persistence in wearing down a large army slowly. The guerrilla war machine is based on efficiency and, according to Nagl, "apply weakness against strength"(16). Nagl emphasizes the importance of strategy by including a point made by Henry Jomini "Strategy is the key to warfare. Strategy is offensive action to mass forces against a weaker enemy at a decisive point" (17). To successfully carry out guerrilla operations, planning is crucial. The Viet Cong's control over the people gave them the means to obtain information. Guerrilla forces utilize strategy to be effective against a larger enemy at strategic locations. The bare minimum amount of equipment is used to ensure mobility, which is crucial. Krepinevich reasons that "The Viet Cong were able to infiltrate the United State's lines, ambush troops and capture supplies, and attack through the thick jungles and precipices of Vietnam because of their light equipment and focus on mobility and fighting small attacks, not large battles"(9). The main advantage a guerrilla force has over the army is according to Krepinevich "the support of the people. Through their tactical superiority provided by the people, the guerrillas can decide what objectives and
The first United States involvement in Vietnam began in the late 1940's, long before it escalated to include the United States Military. Because of the basic terms or the Truman Doctrine, the United States was drawn into the Vietnam conflict. The Truman Doctrine dealt with fears of Communism, the domino theory, and a feeling there was a need for containment. All of Vietnam was in danger of falling into the hands of Communism. The threat of Communism that was unfolding could end with the United States worst fears coming true, or a successful effort of containment and the spread of democracy.
The Vietnam War, a counter-insurgency conflict waged between North Vietnamese Communist forces and their South Vietnamese opposition, was one that many of its participants are not like to forget.
The Vietnam War took place in between 1947- 1975. It consisted of North Vietnam trying to make South Vietnam a communism government. The United States later joined this conflict because of the stress North Vietnam was putting to South Vietnam to become a government that America did not want. The main reason why America joined was because of a theory called the Domino Effect. America and Russia were going through what has been dubbed the Cold War. The Domino Effect is the theory that communism will spread form one country to another. United states does not want this because our government is a democracy and communism opposes everything we stand for. America fearing communism was growing, stepped into Vietnam with America’s interest in mind, instead of Vietnam’s. There are several reason why American should have not gotten involved with this war. The most important reason was that America government officials made to much of a big deal about communism. This might sound cynical, but America to a certain degree did over react. Let it be said that it is much easier to say this after the fact. By looking back at McCarthyism, we can see the silliness of this fear. There is a serious side though. Thousands of people dies for a government that has no impact of their daily life. What regime Vietnam was going to change over to had no effect on the every day cycle of the United States. So truly, one can say, this can not one thing to do with America, its government and people.
The Vietnam War was the longest war in America's history of involvement. Twenty years of hell, land mines, cross-fire, and death. Vietnam was divided by the Geneva Accord. The north being communist run by Ho Chi Minh. The south being anti-Communist run by Ngo Dinh Diem. Before Vietnam was separated, it was run by France. France had ruled most of Indochina since the late 1800s. The Vietnamese were unhappy with the way the French were controlling, therefore, many of them took refuge in China. When in China, they began to follow the lead of Ho Chi Minh, who wanted to model the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence as that of the U.S. version. In the 1940s, Japan had taken over Vietnam which upset Ho Chi Minh and his revolutionaries when they had returned a year later.
It has been known that the Vietnam War affected many American soldiers who were involved in the war physically and psychologically. The Vietnam War was one of the most memorable wars in history. Many Americans’ lives lost for no objective at all. Chapter 10 informed us about how the Vietnam War started and what really happened during that time. It also gave us background information about Vietnam Veterans and nurses who were involved in the war and what they went through during the war. I had the opportunity to interview a Vietnam Veteran also.
The Vietnam War was one of the most prolonged wars in US history. Although there were no exact dates, it is believed that US involvement lasted for around 20 years. The US went into this war hoping they could stop the spread of communism and defeat the northern Vietnamese. The battles were like nothing they had seen before and it was very difficult for the soldiers to differentiate between the enemies and civilians. To make it even more difficult for the soldiers, their “information was based on faulty intelligence”. Võ Nguyên Giáp, a northern Vietnamese general, believed that the US and the southern Vietnamese had an unstable relationship. He hoped that through the Tet Offensive the US would believe they were no longer worth defending. Fighting was done using guerrilla warfare which blurred the lines of legitimate and illegitimate killings and this had effect of bringing peoples morales down. Support for the war had always been split but this battle caused even the government to reconsider their involvement. The Tet offensive changed the US's attitude towards the Vietnam war by leading to further anti-war protests, a credibility gap in America, and for President Johnson to negotiate peace and not seek reelection.
The Viet Cong (VC) has far better tactics than the US. The VC was told to 'nibble at the enemy' so that he could 'neither eat or sleep'. This worked very well for me. Another demoralizing tactic the VC used was their landmines; they were designed to blow the limbs off the soldiers without killing them. This tied up hospital beds and meant the soldiers had to carry the wounded back to the base.
“In July 1965, Lyndon Johnson chose to Americanize the war in Vietnam.” Although Johnson chose to enter America into the war, there were events previous that caused America to enter and take over the war. The South Vietnamese were losing the war against Communism – giving Johnson all the more reason to enter the war, and allowing strong American forces to help stop communism. There were other contributing factors leading up to the entrance of the war; America helped assist the French in the war, Johnson’s politics, the Tonkin Gulf Incident, and the 1954 Geneva Conference. President Johnson stated, “For 10 years three American Presidents-President Eisenhower, President Kennedy, and your present President--and the American people have been actively concerned with threats to the peace and security of the peoples of southeast Asia from the Communist government of North Viet-Nam.”
After Vietnam erupted into civil war, both sides started employing clever tactics and new t...
He sees that it is the weaker party , which only has a personnel strength of approximately 50,000 personnel to fight against America and its allies with modern equipment and weaponry . In addition to strength in terms of personnel , the leader of Vietnam 's Ho Chi Minh communist movement also realize that military equipment and soldiers fighting capability is very limited . But in terms of mastery of the battlefield as well as the support of the community in the Vietnam war , it is a positive factor and excellence in the fight against the Americans .
The relationship between conventional and guerilla operations was a key element of the Vietnamese communists’ “Dau Tranh” strategy to fight and win the Vietnam War. A brief description of the Dua Tranh (meaning struggle) strategy is appropriate since it was the basis for North Vietnam’s success. The strategy consisted of an armed struggle and a political struggle. The armed struggle began with Stage One hit and run guerilla tactics to “decimate the enemy piecemeal and weaken then eliminate the government’s administrative control of the countryside...
The conflict in Vietnam for the United States started when President Dwight D. Eisenhower went along with the domino theory and sent in military advisors in South Vietnam to stop the communist movement from taking place in South Vietnam. The Vietnam conflict was between the communist’s and the United States. North Vietnam was led by Ho Chi Minh, and Ho Chi Minh led the Viet Cong, a guerilla group to help spread communism. The United States were supporters of the South Vietnam because they wanted them to maintain their government rather than falling to the domino theory of communism. After Eisenhower’s term ended, John F. Kennedy became president and took control of the situation in Vietnam.
For nine years, the United States were hell-bent in achieving their rightful victory in Vietnam, however, destiny had different plans for them. The Tet Offensive is considered the turning point of the Vietnam Conflict because of the fact that the Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army surprised the U.S and South Vietnam with several sporadic attacks. Consequently, many effects from these attacks were expected, not only for America, but for North and South Vietnam as well. With U.S citizens’ opinions quickly turning against U.S. involvement in Vietnam, South Vietnam faced much disaster. Its government was stricken with humility because of the increased abandonment of their army, leading to the inability to protect its citizens. On the other hand, North Vietnam began accepting great amounts of land along with the power to frighten the rural population.
The Vietnam War took action after the First Indochina War, in fact the Vietnam War is also known as the Second Indochina War. This war included the communist North Vietnam and its allies of the Viet Cong, the Soviet Union, China and other communist allies going against South Vietnam and its allies, the Unites States, Philippines and other anti-communist allies. It was a very long and conflicting war that actually started in 1954 and ended in 1975. The war began after the rise to power of Ho Chi Minh and his communist party in North Vietnam. More than three million people were killed during the war, this included approximately 58,000 Americans and more than half of the killed were actually Vietnamese civilians. The Vietnam War ended by the communist forces giving up control of Saigon and the next year the country was then unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Many people, including both men and women were directly and indirectly involved within the war itself. Women worked many different roles in the Vietnam War, and they are most definitely not credited enough for all that they actually did.
For the American soldiers in Vietnam, they had never seen anything like this before; they were fighting an enemy that they couldn’t even see. These Vietcong would launch surprise attacks at night, then they would all of the sudden disappear into the jungle. If the U.S. marines would try to go after the Vietcong, they would find themselves in a jungle ridden with booby traps waiting to go off on an unexpected victim. This strategy gave the Vietcong a huge advantage over the U.S. troops. It would put fear in the Vietcong’s enemies.