How effective was the US response to guerrilla warfare?
- Created by: RajeevSood
- Created on: 12-06-16 14:33
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- How effective was the US response to guerrilla warfare?
- Hearts and minds
- It was hoped that improving conditions for the South Vietnamese would help secure their support
- Peasants in the countryside were helped with farming methods
- Communications were helped with the building of bridges, canals and roads
- Local democracy was encouraged
- Pros
- Helped advance the living standards of both the citizens in towns and villages
- When the North launched the Tet Offensive, the South did not support them
- This suggested that they had been won over by the US
- Cons
- The Vietcong remained in the countryside
- Many peasants continued to hide the Vietcong throughout the entire war
- It was hoped that improving conditions for the South Vietnamese would help secure their support
- Search and destroy
- Small groups of US soldiers flown into areas by helicopter
- Every home was searched and suspected Vietcong were tortured for information then killed
- My Lai - example of search and destroy mission
- 500 people killed in 2 hours
- Most killed were women and children
- Information was leaked to US public 18 months later
- Most killed were women and children
- 500 people killed in 2 hours
- Cons
- Damaged Hearts and minds campaign as many civilians killed
- Vietcong responded with capture and kill which left US troops vulnerable to ambush
- Chemical warfare
- Agent Orange used to destroy leaves and undergrowth in Vietnamese countryside
- Agent Orange dangerous to humans with contamination causing cancer
- Napalm used to attack enemy positions - human contact brought severe burning of skin
- Cons
- Didn't help advance US position in the war in any way
- Vast human impact - 500,000 since born with defects caused by chemical warfare
- Images of suffering caused by chemical warfare were sent abroad e.g. Kim Phuc running with severe burns
- This helped to turn the US public against the war
- Pros
- Defoliants destroyed parts of the Ho Chi Minh Trail
- Operation Rolling Thunder
- Created in 1965
- It was a military air based campaign against the North
- Involved bombing strategic military and logistic targets in the North
- The White House maintained strict control over which targets could be for bombing, not any military personnel in the South
- Involved US troops being brought in to guard air bases - 200,000 by end of 1965
- It was a military air based campaign against the North
- Pros
- $300 million damage done to North Vietnam
- Cons
- Highlighted the inability of the USA to identify the North's real vulnerablilities
- Targeted industrial points but most of the North's industry was coming from the USSR, its satellites and China
- Supplies dispatched through China or Cambodia not entering the North
- Created in 1965
- Hearts and minds
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