SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group
 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext  
To: Bilow who wrote (48405)10/1/2002 12:55:28 AM
From: Hawkmoon  Read Replies (1) of 281500
 
I don't know how the Communists convinced people to fight against the government in the South.

Pretty easy when 80% of the population is Buddhist, but then suddenly required to absorb almost a million Catholic Vietnamese from the north.

Combine that with a Catholic ruler, who's catholic constituency is demanding jobs and food (at the general expense of the Buddhist population) and you have a political environment ripe for turmoil.

The Buddhists were generally long established in the South. But the Catholics from the north were not and anything they obtained generally came at the expense of the local population as they attempted to integrate and find their place in the south.

At least that's my hypothesis...

Again.. I'm not justifying anything Diem did.. It was certainly counter-productive and provided a fertile ground for recruiting Viet Cong (which were all but wiped out during Tet)..

But the real issue was that the NVA had the benefit of "interior lines" as they hid in Laos and Cambodia. They could shift their operations readily along the border while the US and S. Vietnamese had a longer distance to travel.

The reason S. Vietnam was utterly lost is due to the failure to cut the Ho Chi Minh trail as well as bombing the dikes above the DMZ..

And btw, having all of those weapons and not being properly trained to use them properly are two different things.

And you also have to recall that Nixon stopped supplying ammunition to the South, so having weapons with nothing to shoot is next to worthless.

iwvpa.net

Hawk
Report TOU ViolationShare This Post
 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext  

HomeMailHotSubjectMarksPeopleMarksKeepersSettings
Terms Of UseContact UsCopyright/IP PolicyPrivacy PolicyAbout UsFAQAdvertise on SI
© 2026 Knight Sac Media.  Data provided by Twelve Data, Alpha Vantage, and CityFALCON News