By Bob Hall 3 October 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the 1971 Presidential election in the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). While debate has swirled around questions of which military strategy was best – Westmoreland’s attrition strategy or Abrams’ pacification strategy[1] – the political strategy has received little attention. Yet the campaign was acknowledged by all participants as essentially … Read More
Ambassador Bunker and the Tet Offensive of 1968
By Bob Hall Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker, United States Ambassador to the Republic of Vietnam from 5 April 1967 to 11 May 1973, wrote lengthy monthly reports to Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. Bunker wrote a final report to President Johnson on the President’s last days in office, on 16 January 1969. It ran to 56 pages. In it, Bunker … Read More
50th Anniversary: South Vietnam’s 1967 Presidential election
By Bob Hall and Amy Griffin Counterinsurgency campaigns are essentially politics with guns. Unlike conventional war, victory in counterinsurgency campaigns rarely comes through military action. Instead, although military action remains a key component of any campaign, counterinsurgencies tend to be resolved politically or diplomatically. This was well understood by the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) and the … Read More