Unconventional Warfare In The Vietnam War

Mankind has always had always waged war and will likely continue waring against itself until its own demise. War, though it may not always be a constant state of humanity, always returning eventually. War is the state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations. There are two reasons why people have always waged war against one another, to better their way of life or to protect their way of life. Every war that has been fought in some way relates back to one of these two reasons. Today there are three accepted forms of war, unconventional, conventional, and asymmetrical warfare. Unconventional warfare is the willingness to ignore conventions of war. According to The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) unconventional warfare are “Activities conducted to enable a resistance movement or insurgency to coerce, disrupt or overthrow an occupying power or government by operating through or with an underground, auxiliary and guerrilla force in a denied area." Unconventional warfare is used globally by many nations as an effective means of battle. During the Vietnam War, The United States went into the war thinking that the only enemy was the North Vietnamese, and the South Vietnamese were all their ally. However,

“What makes it ‘conventional’ is just that it adheres to the dominant conventions of the time” (Payne, par 2). The conventionalism of war is based on a society’s way of fighting, the equipment used, and the proper and fair means of fighting. Conventional warfare is always adapting and changing but holds true to the basic values of conventional warfare. Conventional warfare, unlike unconventional warfare, only involves the two or more military forces. Unconventional warfare can often involve total war. Total war is war in which leaders utilize all available resources often resulting in massive loss of life and widespread