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The US response to Vietcong tactics

The nature of the Second Indochina War

    •  At peak, 1.25m US & South Vietnamese troops (w. US airpower) fought in Vietnam.

    •  Gen. Westmoreland aimed to wear down North Vietnam + defeat guerrillas in South; predicted victory by end of 1967.

    •  US tech > VietCong’s, but ineffective in jungle:

          ◦  Jungle cover made it hard for aircraft to see → low-flying = vulnerable to rifle fire.

          ◦  Tech couldn’t locate nearby enemies.

          ◦  Soldiers couldn’t tell civilians from VietCong.

    •  US didn’t lose ∵ they fought conventional war vs guerrillas – they lost ∵ they couldn’t fight conventionally ∴ strategy flip-flopped → often to indiscriminate killing.

1. HEARTS AND

    •  Johnson said victory = winning Vietnamese ‘hearts & minds’ (‘hope & electricity’).

    •  1965–72: $4bn econ aid inc. $800m food.

    •  USAID (1967 = $550m): rural devl, education, health, public works, refugee housing.

          ◦  Sent experts: agri, teachers, engineers, doctors (700+ served in hospitals).

    •  Some success in towns (stayed loyal in Tet), but failed in countryside.

2. OPERATION → BOMBING

    •  Trigger = 1965 VietCong attack on US base at Pleiku (8 killed, 10 helicopters lost).

    •  Rolling Thunder started 13 Feb 1965: targeted infrastructure, not towns.

          ◦  Cluster bombs = 600 baby bombs (later: fibreglass = undetectable).

          ◦  Napalm (388k tons): petrol jelly causing firestorms.

    •  Planned to last 8 wks → lasted 3 yrs → failed:

          ◦  Bombs hit jungle/fields, not key targets.

          ◦  N. Vietnam moved factories underground; USSR/China supplied weapons.

          ◦  Ho Chi Minh trail stayed active.

          ◦  Killed thousands of civilians → turned public against US.

    •  Bombing continued ∵ safer than ground war:

          ◦  1969–70: expanded to Cambodia & Laos (‘Operation ').

          ◦  Dec 1972: 11-day blitz = more bombs than 1969–71 combined, to force peace talks.

    •  By 1970: US had dropped more bombs on Vietnam than world total of 20th C so far.

          ◦  Rolling Thunder = 153,784 raids, 864k tons, $370m damage, 90k casualties, 922 planes lost.

3. CHEMICAL WARFARE/ DEFOLIATION

    •   (herbicide) used from 1966 (‘Operation Ranch Hand’) to expose VietCong by destroying jungle.

          ◦  Claimed harmless to humans (propaganda).

          ◦  Later sprayed on VietCong-held crops.

          ◦  Caused massive long-term health/env damage but failed militarily – VietCong still moved unseen & shot down planes.

4. ‘AIR ’ AND ‘SEARCH AND DESTROY’

    •  Westmoreland backed ‘Air Mobility’: helicopters insert/remove battalions fast.

          ◦  1965: Ia Drang = 1,800 PAVN dead vs 240 US → seen as success, but was start of long guerrilla war.

    •  ‘Search & Destroy’ = main ground tactic:

          ◦  Helicopter patrols searched for VietCong, used torture for info.

          ◦  Remaining villagers (men, women, kids) = assumed VietCong.

          ◦  Wounded often shot; healthy = tortured.

          ◦  Called ‘ raids’ ∵ troops used lighters to burn homes.

    •  Patrols acted as bait → once attacked, called airstrikes (eg. napalm).

    •  Measure of success = ‘’ (often faked); eg. 6 Vietnamese killed for each weapon recovered.

    •  Morale collapse among US troops = key reason for defeat.

5. LINE

    •  To block supplies from North, US built ‘ line’ near 17th parallel (bases, mines, barbed wire, ‘The Trace’).

          ◦  Stopped at Laos border → ‘Igloo White’ = sensors dropped into jungle to detect movement:

          ◦  Acoubuoys (sound), ADSIDs (seismic), ‘button bomblets’ (noisemakers).

    •  1968: Tet Offensive = siege at Khe Sanh → US won, but McNamara Line failed, Khe Sanh abandoned, McNamara resigned.

    •  Project continued → claimed 80% supplies destroyed → real figure = 15% → also scrapped.

6. PROGRAM

    •  Johnson appointed Robert Komer → CORDS (civilian-military ‘’).

          ◦  Main feature = Phoenix Program (1968–72):

          ◦  PRUs raided villages, captured VietCong/enemy civilians.

          ◦  Interrogation = torture; suspects = imprisoned, ‘turned’, or killed.

    •  After Tet (which killed many South VietCong), Phoenix seemed to work (↓ terrorism), but alienated people → Undermined ‘hearts & minds’.

The effects of the war on civilians in Vietnam

    •  Est. 4m Vietnamese deaths (both sides).

    •  1m+ South Vietnamese civilians killed.

    •  500k+ Vietnamese children w. birth defects from chemical poisoning.

    •  Widespread poverty:

          ◦  1/7 of South’s land (incl. best farmland) sprayed w. Agent Orange → poisoned land & ecosystems.

          ◦  1,200 sq miles bulldozed.

          ◦  Deforestation → flooding & erosion. 21m bomb craters in South; unexploded bombs/mines still kill/injure, esp. kids/farmers.

    •  4m refugees in South; 800k orphans; 500k prostitutes.

    •  Tens of thousands mutilated/traumatised → begging.

    •  North = 70% industry + all roads damaged.

    •  Vietnam isolated globally; US trade embargo till 1994 → economic crisis.