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Westmoreland was right: learning the wrong lessons from the Vietnam War

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Abstract

More than thirty years after the fall of Saigon, historians still argue about the lessons of the Vietnam War. Most fall into two schools of thought: those who believe that the United States failed to apply enough pressure – military and political – to the Communist government in Hanoi, and those who argue that the Americans failed to use an appropriate counterinsurgency strategy in South Vietnam. Both arguments have merit, but both ignore the Communist strategy, and the result is a skewed picture of what sort of enemy the United States actually faced in Vietnam. The reality is that the United States rarely held the initiative in Vietnam. Hanoi began a conventional troop build up in South Vietnam beginning in the early 1960s, and by the time of the US ground force intervention in 1965 the allies already faced a large and potent conventional Communist army in the South. Simply employing a ‘classic’ counterinsurgency strategy would have been fatal from the beginning. Despite this fact, the US military has tended to embrace flawed historical analysis to explain our failure, often concluding that there was a ‘strategic choice’ in Vietnam – a right way to fight and a wrong way. Most blame General William C. Westmoreland as choosing the wrong way and argue that if he had eschewed a big unit ‘search and destroy’ strategy, the war might have turned out differently. However, this article argues that this is untrue. Westmoreland could not have done much differently than he actually did given the realities on the ground. The flawed interpretations of the Vietnam War are not only bad history, but they also lead military and political policymakers to bad decisions in current counterinsurgency strategy. As the US military finds itself embroiled in unconventional wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it needs clear lessons from America's longest counterinsurgency campaign – the Vietnam War.

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... To show this, we construct a principal-agent model with imperfect measurement of success and assumptions particular to the military context. 1 The principal is unable to observe (ex ante or ex post) actual operational e¤ectiveness. Instead the principal must use an imperfect performance measure (or metric) to assess information about the current con ‡ict. ...
... The …rst type has incentives that are aligned with the principal and consequently its behavior does not respond to the metric. The second type of agent has misaligned 1 There is a signi…cant literature on principal-agent relations with imperfect performance measure. Gibbons (1998) provides an excellent overview of some of this literature. ...
... Whether this strategy was apprpriate or not is still the subject of debate. For a recent critique of this strategic approach, seeAndrade (2008). For a brief overview of the vast historiography of the Vietnam War, seeHess (1994). ...
Article
We explore the impact of strategic assessment efforts on military organizations at war. To do so, we construct a model to explore the impact of a principal’s choice among imperfect performance metrics for a military operation. In doing so, the principal must consider both the incentivizing and informational properties of the metric. We show the conditions under which uncertainty regarding the nature of the agent, as well as uncertainty regarding the operational environment, drives a metric choice that induces pathological behavior from the agent. More specifically, a poor metric choice can create an overly optimistic assessment and end up prolonging the conflict. We illustrate the model’s insights in the cases of World War II and the Vietnam War.
... W warunkach, kiedy Amerykanie nie mieli strategicznej inicjatywy jedynym wyjściem byłoby wysłanie kolejnych setek tysięcy żołnierzy i trwająca lata pacyfikacja terenów Wietnamu Południowego. Nie było więc dobrego wyjścia w tamtejszych warunkach a rewolucyjna sztuka wojenna okazała się zwyczajnie lepsza (Andrade 2008). ...
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... W warunkach, kiedy Amerykanie nie mieli strategicznej inicjatywy jedynym wyjściem byłoby wysłanie kolejnych setek tysięcy żołnierzy i trwająca lata pacyfikacja terenów Wietnamu Południowe-go. Nie było więc dobrego wyjścia w tamtejszych warunkach a rewolucyjna sztuka wojenna okazała się zwyczajnie lepsza (Andrade 2008). ...
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... Westmoreland certainly was a flawed man, but his biographer's refusal to confront countervailing arguments suggests an underlying agenda aimed at condemning one general in order to lionize another. 27 By painting William Westmoreland as duplicitous, conniving, and self-promotional at all costs, Sorley can strengthen his own past work arguing that Creighton Abrams had fought a better war. In the process, however, this partisan work languishes in overly reductive analysis. ...
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A review of Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam, by Lewis Sorley.
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As Karl von Clausewitz noted, war is a continuation of political activity by other means and counterinsurgency provides one of the best examples of how this is true. The contest for support of a population is a contest not about the people but for their allegiance. U.S. political campaign theory developed over many decades of local, regional and national elections is about influencing the population to support one side or another. Political campaign strategy can provide a valuable and appropriate mindset for all COIN forces in addition to numerous useful practices to benefit the informational campaign within counterinsurgency because it also targets the population‟s allegiance in the same manner. This paper will present a framework based on political campaigns theory for both the Joint Task Force Commander down to the lowest tactical members of the COIN forces to take the offensive in the message war within counterinsurgency. It will also present a few of the many common political campaign practices such as benchmark polls, focus groups, development of messages and political campaign targeting and demonstrate how they can serve the counterinsurgency effort. Finally the paper makes recommendations in its conclusion on how the counterinsurgency forces could implement this model throughout the force.
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This article explores how current professional military scholarship on insurgency and counterinsurgency (COIN) uses history to frame its arguments. It then attempts to reframe the current historical problematic surrounding insurgency. First, the article shows that the historical narrative of professional military scholarship on insurgency and its theoretical grounding are highly flawed. They are both parochial and profoundly ahistorical. Second, the paper constructs an alternative narrative of insurgency beginning from the ideas of the German legal philosopher Carl Schmitt (1888–1985), returning insurgency to history. This alternative narrative emphasizes the critical role played by the fall of European public law (jus publicum Europaeum). As a consequence of this and other historically contingent events, war in Europe lost its relative autonomy from society during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In turn, insurgency became an increasingly prominent and normatively accepted form of warfare by the mid-twentieth century.
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Beginning in the Korea War, through Vietnam and continuing with the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, US forces have been involved in combat typified by close, sharp actions - often without the doctrinally prescribed firepower to support the maneuver forces. US Operations in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan, in particular, dramatically demonstrate how an adept enemy, the Taliban, place themselves in very "close proximity" to friendly forces and civilian population and as a result, they are able to negate the US firepower advantage, thus removing the ability of US forces to use lethal fires from aircraft and artillery for fear of friendly or collateral damage. The lack of developed road networks and low US troop numbers prevented US forces from massing quickly in large numbers and led to a reliance on stand-off based firepower to support the maneuver forces. The indications point to a coordinated effort by enemy forces utilizing past performances of US enemies as a basis for their tactical evolution. Though not new to warfare, these adhesion warfare tactics present a significant problem for US ground forces that must increasingly rely on maneuver to defeat our enemies in the localized, direct action combat involved in counter-insurgency and low-level military action.
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Grand strategy, strategy, and tactics—the three layers of policy and action inherent to all military efforts—are the focus of this historical analysis of the dynamics of the Vietnam War. The American theory of counterrevolutionary warfare is examined in light of American military practice, especially that of the Marine Corps, during the period of America's greatest involvement, 1965-1972, and at the site of the most intense combat, the five northern provinces known as I Corps. Drawing from two schools of thought that diverge over the appropriate strategy America should have pursued in South Vietnam, this inquiry indicates that both the number of troops and their tactical employment proved inadequate for redressing the threat within the parameters America set for itself. Specifically, this work demonstrates that the counterrevolutionary warfare strategy postulated for Vietnam was largely ignored in some quarters, and sowed the seeds of defeat in others.
Book
Toczek provides the first description of the entire battle of Ap Bac and places it in the larger context of the Vietnam War. The study thoroughly examines the January 1963 battle, complete with detailed supporting maps. Ironically, Ap Bac's great importance lies in American policymakers' perception of the battle as unimportant; for all their intelligence and drive, senior American government officials missed the early warning signs of a flawed policy in Southeast Asia by ignoring the lessons of the defeat of the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) on 2 January 1963. The outcome of Ap Bac was a direct reflection of how the U.S. Army organized, equipped, and trained the ARVN. With all the ARVN officer corps's shortcomings, the South Vietnamese Army could not successfully conduct an American combined arms operations against a smaller, less well-equipped enemy. American leadership, both military and civilian, failed to draw any connection between ARVN's dismal performance and American policies toward South Vietnam. Although certain tactical changes resulted from the battle, the larger issue of American policy remained unchanged, including the structure of the advisory system.
Article
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgetown University, 1972. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 348-360). Photocopy.
sub: Assessment of the Situation in South Vietnam
  • Memo
  • The Record
  • Westmoreland
Memo for the Record, Westmoreland, 23 October 1966, sub: Assessment of the Situation in South Vietnam, October 1966, 3, Historians files, CMH.
Letters to the South, introduction, xv. It is worth reiterating that all guerrillas prefer to fight a 'conventional' war, and they will if they can – or if they are allowed to do so
  • Le Duan
Le Duan, Letters to the South, introduction, xv. It is worth reiterating that all guerrillas prefer to fight a 'conventional' war, and they will if they can – or if they are allowed to do so.
Abrams MAC 14143 to subordinate commanders sub: Operational Guidance-Adjusting to Enemy Current Operations
  • Msg
Msg, Abrams MAC 14143 to subordinate commanders, 20 Oct 1968, sub: Operational Guidance-Adjusting to Enemy Current Operations, Abrams Papers, CMH.
Military Region 8: Thirty Years of Resistance War
  • Stanford
Stanford: Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace, 1969. Military Region 8: Thirty Years of Resistance War (1945 – 1975) [Quan Khu 8: Ba Muoi Nam Khang Chien (1945 –1975)]. Hanoi: People's Army Publishing House, 1998.
Pacification: The American Struggle for Vietnam's Hearts and Minds Jaffe, Greg. 'As Iraq War Rages, Army Re-Examines Lessons of Vietnam
  • Washington
  • Dc
  • Hunt
  • Richard
Washington, DC: US Army Center of Military History, 1981. Hunt, Richard A. Pacification: The American Struggle for Vietnam's Hearts and Minds. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995. Jaffe, Greg. 'As Iraq War Rages, Army Re-Examines Lessons of Vietnam'. Wall Street Journal (20 Mar 2006).
The Victory Division Also see Pham Gia Duc, 325th Division, Volume II
  • Long
Long, The Victory Division, 27 – 28. Also see Pham Gia Duc, 325th Division, Volume II, 40.
Schoomaker's foreword in Nagl, Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife
  • Gen
Gen. Schoomaker's foreword in Nagl, Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife, ix.
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Clarke, Jeffrey J. The U.S. Army in Vietnam, Advice and Support: The Final Years, 1965– 1973.
Su Doan 9 [9 th Division] Hanoi: People's Army Publishing House, 1990. Summers, Harry. On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam WarHow to Analyze a War Without Fronts: Vietnam
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Lubbock, TX: Texas Tech University Press, 2004. Su Doan 9 [9 th Division]. Hanoi: People's Army Publishing House, 1990. Summers, Harry. On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1982. Thayer, Thomas C. 'How to Analyze a War Without Fronts: Vietnam, 1965– 72'. Arlington, VA: Defense Advance Research Projects Agency, 1974.
The Ten Thousand Day Journey [Chang Duong Muoi Nghin Ngay]. Hanoi: People's Army Publishing House Hoang Ngoc, Lung. The General Offensives
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Hoang, Cam (as told to Nhat Tien). The Ten Thousand Day Journey [Chang Duong Muoi Nghin Ngay]. Hanoi: People's Army Publishing House, 2001. Hoang Ngoc, Lung. The General Offensives of 1968– 69.
sub: Concept of Military Operations in SVN, Historians files
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Msg, COMUSMACV to CINCPAC, 26 Aug 66, sub: Concept of Military Operations in SVN, Historians files, CMH.
White House Years Komer, Robert W
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Kissinger, Henry. White House Years. New York: Little Brown & Co., 1979. Komer, Robert W. 'Commentary'. In Second Indochina Symposium Papers and Commentary held in Arlie, Vir., 7 – 9 Nov 1984, ed. Schlight John. Washington, DC: US Army Center of Military History, 1986.
sub: Impact of Enemy Offensive on Pacification
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MACCORDS Study, 16 Sep 1972, sub: Impact of Enemy Offensive on Pacification, 2.
Cosmas, Graham A. MACV: The Joint Command in the Years of Escalation
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Washington, DC: US Army Center of Military History, 1988. Cosmas, Graham A. MACV: The Joint Command in the Years of Escalation, 1962– 1967.
The Vietnamese National Art of Fighting to Defend the Nation
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Lt. Gen. Pham Hong Son, The Vietnamese National Art of Fighting to Defend the Nation, 69.
Combined Action Program: Marines' Alternative to Search and Destroy'. Vietnam Magazine
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Donovan, James. 'Combined Action Program: Marines' Alternative to Search and Destroy'. Vietnam Magazine (Aug. 2004): 26 – 32.
Back to the Street Without Joy
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Cassidy, 'Back to the Street Without Joy,' 75, 78.
Toczek, David M. The Battle of Ap Bac, Vietnam: They Did Everything but Learn from It Tran The Long et al., The Victory Division: A Report Hanoi: People's Army Publishing House
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Thompson, Robert. No Exit From Vietnam. New York: David McKay, 1969. Toczek, David M. The Battle of Ap Bac, Vietnam: They Did Everything but Learn from It. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001. Tran The Long et al., The Victory Division: A Report, Volume 2 [Su Doan Chien Thang: Ky Su, Tap 2]. Hanoi: People's Army Publishing House, 1980. Tran Tinh, ed. Collected Party Documents, vol. 28, 1967 [Van Kien Dang Toan Tap, Tap 28, 1967]. Hanoi: National Political Publishing House, 2003. Tran Van Quang, Doan Khue, and Van Tien Dung. Review of the Resistance War Against the Americans to Save the Nation: Victory and Lessons [Tong Ket Cuoc Khang Chien Chong My Cuu Nuoc: Thang Loi va Bai Hoc]. Hanoi: National Political Publishing House, 1995. Victory in Vietnam: The Official History of the People's Army of Vietnam, 1954–1975.
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Accelerated Pacification Campaign sub: A Statistical Study of APC Results as Reported in the Hamlet Evaluation System
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Rpt, Accelerated Pacification Campaign, 1 Oct 1968– 31 Jan 1969, sub: A Statistical Study of APC Results as Reported in the Hamlet Evaluation System, 31 Mar 1969, CMH.
US Marine Corps Oral History Collection
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William C. Westmoreland Interview, 4 Apr 1983, 7, 19, US Marine Corps Oral History Collection. Also see Smith, U.S. Marines in Vietnam, footnote 10.
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Quoted in Clarke, The U.S. Army in Vietnam, Advice and Support, 345.
The Army and Vietnam
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Krepinevich, Andrew F. The Army and Vietnam. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986.
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Sorley, 'The Conduct of the War,' 183– 84.
A Military War of Attribution'. In The Lessons of Vietnam
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Westmoreland, William C. 'A Military War of Attribution'. In The Lessons of Vietnam, ed. W. Scott Thompson and David D. Frizzell. New York: Crane Russak & Co., 1977.
How to Analyze a War Without Fronts: Vietnam
  • Thomas C Thayer
Thayer, 'How to Analyze a War Without Fronts: Vietnam, 1965– 72,' 789.
sub: Concept of Operations – Force Requirements and Deployments
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Westmoreland Cable COMUSMACV 20055, 14 June 65, sub: Concept of Operations – Force Requirements and Deployments, South Vietnam, 6, Historians files, CMH.
The Battle of Ap Bac. Small Wars & Insurgencies 21. Victory in Vietnam
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See Toczek, The Battle of Ap Bac. Small Wars & Insurgencies 21. Victory in Vietnam, 124.
Vietnam at War: The History
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Davidson, Vietnam at War: The History, 1945– 1975, 571.
Combined Action Program
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For example, see Donovan, 'Combined Action Program.' 52. Birtle, U.S. Counterinsurgency and Contingency Operations Doctrine, 1942–1976, 399– 400.
A Military War of Attribution
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Westmorland, 'A Military War of Attribution,' 65.
The Haldeman Diaries
  • Haldeman
Haldeman, The Haldeman Diaries, 259.
Abrams Papers US Army strength reached a high of 365,600 (total military: 542,400) men in April 1969; two years later it stood at 227
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Msg, Wheeler JCS 5988 to Abrams, 16 May 1969, Abrams Papers, CMH. 178 D. Andrade 112. Army Activities Rpt, 8 Nov 1972, 3. US Army strength reached a high of 365,600 (total military: 542,400) men in April 1969; two years later it stood at 227,600 (total military: 301,900).
Combat Operations, Stemming the Tide DC: US Army Center of Military HistoryBack to the Street Without Joy: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Vietnam and Other Small Wars
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Carland, John M. Combat Operations, Stemming the Tide: May 1965 to October 1967. Washington, DC: US Army Center of Military History, 2000. Cassidy, Robert M. 'Back to the Street Without Joy: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Vietnam and Other Small Wars'. Parameters (Summer 2004): 47 – 62.
Concluding the 30-Years War, Foreign Broadcast Information Service translation
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Tran Van Tra, History of the Bulwark B-2 Theater, vol 5, Concluding the 30-Years War, Foreign Broadcast Information Service translation, JPRS 82783, 2 Feb 1983, 37.
The Victory Division, 28. See also the memoirs of the 312th Division's commander, Col. Gen. Hoang Cam, The Ten Thousand Day Journey
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Tran The Long et al., The Victory Division, 28. See also the memoirs of the 312th Division's commander, Col. Gen. Hoang Cam, The Ten Thousand Day Journey, 73 – 74;