Sen. John McCain diagnosed with brain cancer

[Bengalzona]

(07-25-2017, 08:35 PM)Dill Wrote: I know I am going on too long, but I'll risk one more point cuz I know you like military history. The US also handled Diem and successive regimes thereafter ineptly. They for the most part had little understanding of the complexity of Vietnamese politics, what drove resistance to Diem and what made Communism attractive to so many Vietnamese. The first half of the war, they only imagined upping firepower would produce results. By the time the US finally realized that the RVN had no chance without winning the hearts and minds of its population, it was largely too late, and impossible to take back all those arc bombings and agent orange.  There is an interesting book by Stuart Harrington called Silence Was a Weapon. He was an intelligence officer helping run Operation Phoenix in 70-71, and makes an interesting case for its belated effectiveness. As one of the few US soldiers actually fluent in Vietnamese, he was out in the hamlets speaking directly to peasants and captured Viet Cong to figure out what the war was about for them. Why did 19-year-old North Vietnamese walk south for months, living on a handful of rice a day, and refuse to retreat in battle while their ARVN counterparts took paychecks till they had to fight, then deserted and sold their weapons on the black market? He answers this question very well. I recommend the book for anyone interested in COIN issues, in fact.

That is sort of what happens when your handlers have no idea about the different types of communism. Also, they really didn't understand about the history of the people. Even powerful Chinese dynasties were not too interested in moving into the area because of the fierce resistance they faced. Unfortunately, their reputation was conveniently forgotten.