U.S. military strategy is gradual escalation: avoid rapid draw down of forces from other commitments around the globe; reduces chance of Soviet/Chinese intervention
U.S military strategy in Vietnam is gradual escalation of bombing
of NVN; large scale bombing of communist forces in SVN; and "search
and destroy" in an effort to kill as many as possible
U.S. avoids a strategy of "take and hold" because that
would require far too many troops; ARVN is unable to perform
that mission
Johnson rejects a strategy of deliberately targeting civilians
for political and military reasons; adopts a similar "limited
war" posture as Truman in Korea
War in the south is much less limited: ferocious bombing; chemical
defoliation; assassination campaigns; "free fire" zones
Massive aid to the GVN: provides a group of officers the resources
to hold together a government under Nguyen Cao Ky and Nguyen
Van Thieu from 1966-1975
Immense system of corruption in the south based on the inflow
of U.S. funds, goods, and troops
Huge refugee population moves from the country to the city as
the rural areas are torn apart by the war
South Vietnam's society, both rural and urban, is destroyed by
the war - Saigon has 400,000 prostitutes
In spite of the continuous bombing and the huge efforts to win
the war, the NVA and NLF hold just as much territory and retain
just as much strength in early 1968 as in late 1965 - stalemate
NVA and NLF accept casualties that are 5-10 times larger than
for the U.S. and GVN and NVA matches U.S. escalation.
