IEB History.
Details the reasons behind the USA's failure to defeat Vietnamese forces, including the American bombing campaign, the use of napalm, war crimes like the My Lai Massacre, the W.H.A.M initiative, the anti-war sentiment that spread among American troops. Acknowledges Vietnamese disill...
• U#lised guerrilla warfare — booby traps, ambushes
• Such tac#cs were unconven#onal and so, US troops were uncertain of how to counter Vietnamese
a>acks
• The USA’s counter-act a>acks ul#mately demoralised their troops
• The Vietnamese also made use of a network of underground tunnels which served as their very own
army base
• Vietnamese troops fought for their personal libera#on and independence which supplied them with a
determina#on and a vigour the American troops were not able to comprehend
• Their cause was the reason morale between the soldiers remained so high
• The Na#onal Libera#on Front engaged posi#vely with peasants which ul#mately led to ever-increasing
local support
Support for The Vietnamese
• The Vietnamese were con#nually supported by the USSR and by China throughout the war
• In terms of the Cold War, communist na#ons provided N Vietnam with assistance in hopes of securing a
sphere of influence (Cold War concept!)
• The NFL were supplied with military hardware via the Ho Chi Minh Trail
• The ideological support and military exper#se from the USSR and China were also greatly effec#ve and
significant in their defeat of the US
Failure of USA Tac5cs
• Failure of Opera#on “Rolling Thunder”
- Bombing mission from 1965 to 1968
- Aimed to destroy N Vietnamese economy and in so doing, prevent the North from helping the
South
- Aimed to destroy the Na#onal Libera#on Front
- However, the US government was ill-advised and misguided in the u#lisa#on of such bombing
• Failure of Opera#on “Ranch Hand”
- The USA’s use of chemical defoliants
- Targeted agricultural land with Agent Orange and Agent Blue
- Targeted Ho Chi Minh Trail with Agent Orange to destroy concealing canopy and end the supply of
military arms and the food supply
- Unsuccessful in destroying the Ho Chi Minh Trail
- However, it successfully destroyed the environment
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