11/13/2022 0 Comments Counter insurgency![]() ![]() To gain their support and active participation they must see and accept the political goal for which they are fighting. This is important because the guerrillas come from the people and are supported by the people. He does, however, emphasize that a guerrilla war cannot be prosecuted separately from politics.Įveryone must understand that the goal is political-freedom for the Chinese people. Mao considers this to be a war of national liberation from the oppression of the Japanese and generally avoids the usual communist rhetoric. Guerrilla Warfare was written in 1937 as a guide for the communists in China to wage a war against the Japanese. These principles are the key to guerrilla strategy and can serve as a basis for highlighting the strategy of counterinsurgency. To come to an understanding of guerrilla warfare in general and the war in Vietnam specifically, it is important to review the principles that Mao advocates. His treatise, Guerrilla Warfare, provides detailed philosophy and principles for the conduct of war by the people for reasons of nationalism and ideology. Mao Tse-tung is often viewed as the father of modern insurgency. The Marine strategy for Vietnam contained many of the important elements necessary to effectively conduct a counterinsurgency war. This does not negate the Marine strategy. Certainly, without similar efforts by the Army in the rest of Vietnam, I Corps would have been an oasis of counterinsurgency in a desert of attrition warfare. It is impossible to determine if the strategy of the Marines could have won the war. He also was a staunch supporter of Gen Walt, then Commanding General Of the Third Marine Division and III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) in Vietnam, when he was conducting a number of programs to defeat the Viet Cong (VC) in I Corps in northern South Vietnam. Krulak, as Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force Pacific, wrote several letters to senior administration officials outlining Marine programs and emphasizing the necessity of conducting counter-insurgency operations. Krulak, did have a clear view of how to conduct a counterinsurgency war. Two of the key Marine Corps leaders, Major General Lewis W. "(5:164) He maintains that the Army intended to fight an attrition war and ".gambled that it could attrite insurgent forces faster than the enemy could replace them."(5:177) The Marine Corps on the other hand, conducted a war based upon its previous experience in fighting insurgents.(5:172) "Deeply imbedded in the service's psyche, conventional operations held sway over the Army. Throughout his book he accuses Army leaders of failing to properly apply the strategy and tactics of counterinsurgency. Army for failing to fight the Vietnam war as the situation dictated. in The Army and Vietnam writes a scathing indictment of the U.S. lose? Was it a loss of national will, a failure to enter the war with the intent of winning, or did the Nation just fail to recognize the type of war it was and apply its might accordingly?Īndrew F. Probably the most basic question is why did the U.S. Questions about the morality of the United States presence there, whether it could have ever succeeded, and if the strategy was right will probably continue to be answered in a number of ways for many years to come. The war in Vietnam has been debated and discussed in scores of books and articles from the 1960's until today. ![]()
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