Explain why US military tactics were ineffective against guerrilla tactics in the conflict in Vietnam (10)
Air power and chemical warfare was a tactic involving the use of bombs and aircraft as well as chemicals to defoliate the landscape of Vietnam. It aimed to halt the movement of supplies to the Ho Chi Minh trail as well as killing the Viet Cong. This was done using cluster bombs which exploded mid air and released smaller bombs. US also conducted regular air strikes over North Vietnam during Operation Rolling Thunder which involved bombing the North naval bases. They used defoliants such as Agent orange and Napalm to clear the landscape and destroy the jungles and forests to find the Viet Cong’s location. This tactic was ineffective because the Viet Cong would hide and live in the vast tunnels for long periods of time; so avoided the air attacks. Additionally, the Ho Chi Minh trail kept expanding as it wasn’t one trail, there were thousands of trails which made it even more difficult for the US to locate it and destroy it Also, they used the tactic of
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This strategy aimed to completely eliminate the Vietcong threat. US forces simply killed everyone and shot anyone they thought was Vietcong until the Viet Cong surrendered. This tactic proved to be ineffective as the Vietcong were not afraid to die and Ho Chi Minh was determined to send in more troops to fight, "You may kill 10 of my men, for every one I will kill of yours. But even at those odds you will lose and I will win." In addition, body count was unsuccessful because the US could not tell apart normal civillians from the Viet Cong, “What’s a civilian someone who works for us at day and puts on Viet Cong pajamas at night” therefore they did not know whether they were killing the enemy or not. Furthermore, US soldiers often lied about how many people they had killed, resulting in body count being