The early 1960s are considered to be a period of failure in the fight
against the Viet Cong. However, new research reveals that the VC came
very close to being defeated. They were - in their own words - being
'cut up'.
Hunting the Viet Cong: Counterinsurgency in South Vietnam 1961-1963
presents a new perspective on the early stages of the Vietnam War. It
shows how the counterinsurgency policy of the American-backed Diem
government was effective in separating the Viet Cong from many of their
supporters, forced many VC into hiding and created a platform for
further government success.
This first volume, The Strategic Hamlet Programme, examines both the
Counterinsurgency Plan and the Strategic Hamlet Programme (based upon
British success in the Malayan Emergency) and explains how these began
to strangle insurgent activity. In many parts of South Vietnam, the VC
were reduced to scavenging and intimidating the local people in order to
survive. Tragically, this was a period when victory against the VC was
possible but political ineptness, arrogance and military delusion threw
this chance away.
Using documents captured from the Viet Cong, VC prisoner interviews and
American military reports the book reveals just how close the insurgents
came to being beaten. It contradicts and challenges many of the assumed
notions of this time period; it reveals just how much American planners
knew about Viet Cong methods, shows how they developed an excellent
counterinsurgency strategy to combat insurgent violence and illustrates
how - in contrast to the established wisdom - large parts of South
Vietnam were under government control before the Diem coup in 1963.
Hunting the Viet Cong - The Counterinsurgency Campaign in South Vietnam
1961-1963, Volume 1: The Strategic Hamlet Programme includes 180
photographs of the conflict prior to major direct US intervention and a
range of specially commissioned color artworks of aircraft, vehicles and
troops.
