That is why the Viet Cong was not a viable fighting force, but required reinforcement from the North
So, political popularity equals military might? By this logic, when Hitler crushed France, it was because he was more popular than the French government. LOL!
The NLF (Viet Cong) was the only popular political group in South Vietnam. This was well understood by the U.S. government and military.
<<< If the South could be devastated without interference, Washington could overcome a problem that was "of overriding importance in the precariousness" of the U.S. position, as a White House memorandum of March 1965 observed: "The lack of a political base for the GVN [the Saigon government] of sufficient strength to counter Viet Cong political and psychological superiorities." "We are very weak politically and without the strong political support of the population which the NLF have," the ruling generals complained in December 1966, so that while we now have "a strong military instrument" thanks to "our Allies (the U.S., Korea, etc.)," we are "without a political instrument that can compete with the communists in the South," a problem that was never solved. >>>
zmag.org
Tom |
