I only talk about the ‘Hearts and Minds’ approach to warfare because it’s shown itself to be supremely important in conflict. We’ve talked before about how your neighbors are your greatest counterintelligence (CI) threat, whether you live in the jungles of Bolivia, eastern Ukraine, or the panhandle of Idaho. Che learned the hard way in Bolivia that if he didn’t gain the trust and cooperation of the populace, then they’d be turned against him. Ultimately, he failed to gain the hearts and minds of the populace he expected to enable him, and he was ratted out and killed. It’s very hard to establish yourself as an outsider, and that’s another reason why Che failed. If you live in a place where you don’t have the trust and support of your neighbors, then your life is going to be difficult because these people will not aid you. You’ll be lucky if you’re just shunned; otherwise they’ll be actively working against you so you’ll leave their community. No one wants a trouble maker in their community.
Che wrote in his diary (ref: the Bolivian populace):
More @ Guerrilla America
In the war of northern aggression there were pockets of union sympathizers in almost every state south of the Ohio River; Until Sherman came.... In Vietnam the Peasants hated whomever blew up grand pappys grave and killed the rice. In Revolutionary warfare, who people LOVE is IRRELEVENT its who they hate and fear the most that counts. COIN and "Hearts and Minds" are the buzz words of General Staff Mental Masturbation. The peasant ; be it a rice farmer in Vietnam or a beer swilling NASCAR fan in Alabama fights the guy (or nation) that kills his kid , or blow torches his sister to find "the revolutionaries"(or government forces) They fight whoever they see as a threat TO THEM. They DON'T CARE WHY the two army's are fighting, they just want to go back to what they were doing before the war came to their back yard. Some men will fight for an Idea but 99.99% will only fight because they like it or because they have too. After 1862 how many men on BOTH sides fought because they were press ganged?(drafted) How many in Vietnam? (both sides?) "Anyone can get men who have never seen battle to charge. The real test of a General is to get them to do it twice" (attributed to N. Bonapart) sp?) ---Ray
ReplyDelete"Anyone can get men who have never seen battle to charge. The real test of a General is to get them to do it twice"
DeleteTrue for many but,the Communists didn't have that problem in Vietnam or in any other war they fought, I don't believe. The best I ever heard was from a NVA/VC? soldier who said in so many words, "If I do charge I may not die, but if I don't, I will be executed on the spot." Kontum: The Battle to Save South Vietnam is an excellent book and details a few instances of finding NVA soldiers chained to their stations in their tanks.
i,ve seen that face before. early mid '70's SOF magazine. if it's the
ReplyDeletesame one, and i'm sure it is, he was Green Beret. nicknamed, Digger. had
a dour attitude. he charged the enemy and was never seen again. regards,
john lapienski. gaines,mi
Haven't heard of that nickname, but the story sounds the same.
ReplyDelete"........I’ve got 'em right where I want 'em, surrounded from the inside.“
http://freenorthcarolina.blogspot.com/2012/01/re-re-post-of-mad-dog-shriver-with-new.html
"No one else could engage the machinegun that trapped Shriver's men -- it was up to Mad Dog. Skittish Yards looked to Shriver and his half-grin restored a sense of confidence. Then they were on their feet, charging -- Shriver was his old self, running to the sound of guns, a True Believer Yard on either side, all of them dashing through the flying bullets, into the treeline, into the very guts of Mad Dog's great nemesis, COSVN. And Mad Dog Shriver was never seen again."