LogFAQs > #908095321

DarthGravid posted...

The NVA/VC won because of tactics. General Westmoreland was fighting "the last war", referring to WWII. He saw Vietnam as a series of objectives, and kept trying to fight as such, expecting to fight head on, in the traditional European/American style. General Giap knew that he could not defeat the US head on. He employed ambushes, hit and run tactics, diversion, a huge spy network, and deceit to win. The US killed the VC nearly 10-1, but the US civilians support of the war declined from nearly 80% approval at the beginning to less than 20% by the end. General Giap won the war on American soil, in the minds and hearts of the American people.

Read this, it was Giap's inspiration for his tactics;
http://classics.mit.edu/Tzu/artwar.html

goes a bit beyond this. VC ceased to exist after the tet offensive.

the US couldn't actually attack the NVA directly with ground troops, only bombing. we had our hands tied by our relatonship with china and the USSR, essentially there was a risk of fighting the korean warall over again, and that had to be avoided.
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And when the hourglass has run out, eternity asks you about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.