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General Westmoreland's Small War Strategy Analysis

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(1.) General Westmoreland implemented the “search-and-destroy” strategy for several reasons. First, in reference to the army’s Field Manual Operations book, he believed that, “wars can be won only by offensive action.” This tactic would require masses of troops in order to “root out and annihilate the enemy in the spooky terrain of the Highlands” (Boot 2014, 293). Secondly, he adopted this strategy because he misanalysed the phase the communist were in during 1965. Under the impression that the North Vietnamese were in the conventional warfare phase, he would later find out that the North Vietnamese were actually in the guerilla phase. His method of search and destroy separates U.S. forces from the local population, and subsequently exposes …show more content…

Marine Corps (Boot 2014, 284). It essentially governs tactics and strategies for commander to utilize during small wars. This manual was created based on small wars of the past, and it offers instrumental advice. To defeat the North Vietnamese, the Small Wars Manual states that it should be done “with the minimum of troops, with nothing more than a demonstration of force if that is all that is necessary and reasonably sufficient” (Boot 2014, 284). Krulak advocated for a pacification strategy and bombardment strategy. He believed that “the key to win the war was to provide security for these villagers, to reassure them that it was safe to side with the government and to resist the Vietcong’s attempts to “tax” them… (Boot 2014, 297). On top of that, he wanted to bomb and mine the Haiphong harbor—a port for North Vietnamese war materiel (Boot 2014, 297). I believe it would have worked much better for several reasons. First, by staying with the villagers, the North Vietnamese and Vietcong would be in for a surprise ambush. Secondly, it would have fostered mutual trust between the U.S. forces and the South Vietnamese residents. Lastly, Krulak’s strategy could have been more appealing to the American public since it was an initiative focused on protecting the locals and using less

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