Poge Six'
rHE MICHIGAN DAILY
Sunday, October 29 1972
Page Six VHE MICHIGAN DAILY Sunday, October 29, 1972
Vietnam: Lesson for
U.S. Army
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SPECIAL! HOT CHOCOLATE
By HOLGER JENSEN
AP News Analysis'
SAIGON - The hawks said it
wasn't fought right. The doves
said it shouldn't have b e e n
fought at all. But the Vietnam
war has given the United States
what no other superpower h a s
right now - a combat-bloodied
military machine..
Drugs at the front, demonstra-
tions back home and a diehard
military opposition that refused to
succumb to some of the world's
most sophisticated weaponry have
left to U.S. military establish-
ment sadder and perhaps wiser.
Not everyone will agree with
the details, but to some bystand-
ers these are some of the les-
sons learned here:
-Don't fight an unpopular war
on foreign soil with conscripts.
The mass insertion of draftees in
Vietnam led to moral problems,
drug addiction, "fragging" of
officers, combat refusals and oth-
er disciplinary ailments that fol-
lowed the services back to their
U.S. bases.
-Don't fight an American-
style war, geared to kill ratios
and combat effectiveness percent-
ages, against an enemy to whom
casualties are meaningless.
The North Vietnamese a n d
Viet Cong repeatedly surprised
U.S. tacticians with their ability
to absorb staggering losses and
come back for more. This void-
ed the "searchtand destroy" con-
cept and limited the value of
American bombing in North Viet-
nam.
Some military analysts now con-
cede the bombing results didn't
justify the cost in dollars and
prisoners of war, particularly
since the POWs gave Hanoi its
biggest bargaining card in nego-
tiations for a settlement.
-Miracle weapons are no match
for guerrilla guile. While t h e
United States tried to find the
Communists with people sniffers,
outsmart them with computers
and kill them with video-guided
smart bombs, the Viet Cong
perfected a punjee stake to stab
the GI infantryman where it hurt
him most, his feet.
Multi-million-dollar American
body-odor sensors were foiled by
bags of human feces, hung in
trees by an elusive foe. North
Vietnamese Premier Pham Van
Dong noted: "The computer
merely magnifies the stupidity of
man."
-Firepower only helps against
a locatable enemy, and the Viet
Cong and North Vietnamese were
difficult to find.
Defoliation failed to destroy all
the Communist's hiding places
and risked permanent damage to
South Vietnam's ecology. Elec-
tronic gadgets and aerial surveil-
lance were no substitute for the
grunt on the ground, the hunter
in camouflage fatigues.
American patrolling helped
keep the Viet Cong at bay. The
South Vietnamese did not patrol
aggressively and Communist
movements became more of a
mystery. As a result, U.S. air
support often blasted acres of
jungle without hiting a single
Communist.
-Western-style logistics o n I v
hamper an army of Asian pea-
sants. Beer in the boondocks fell
short of consoling reluctant draf-
tees; but the American army had
the money and manpower to
feed its logistical monster of
swimming pools, supermarkets,
steam baths and movie theaters.
Sprawling base camps are being
left behind for the South Viet-
namese, but they lack the troops
to defend them or the technic-
ians to maintain them. But many
Vietnamese soldiers have de-
veloped an American appetite for
air conditioners and officers'
clubs.
A guerrilla war cannot be won
without popular support, and
both sides failed to "win t h e
hearts and minds" of S o u t h
Vietnam's war-weary peasantry.
The Americans were just be-
gining to realize the importance
of civic action programs 1 i k e
Medcap teams when they were
swept up in U.S. troop withdraw-
als. The South Vietnamese never
filled the gap.
Some of these lessons tool;
years to learn. Some haven't
been learned yet. One over-all
lesson is that knowledge gained
in old wars do not necessarily
apply to new wars.
Conventional tactics perfected
in World War II and Korea fail-
ed to benefit the United States
in Vietnam. They might have
done some good against Hanoi's1
latest invasion of the South, but
by then it was too late.
The grunts had gone.
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0
T
:E THE TENSION
OF YOURTRIP
OUT
VAGINAL
POLITICS
is coming
Amtrak to Chicago for only $11.50
Who needs tension when you travel? All you really
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Delicious snacks and beverages in the buffet lounge.
And money-saving Family Fares available to most
destinations. Next trip, go the safe, sure way. Go
Amtrak. All the comforts of home all the way to
Chicago.
Westbound - Read Down
Lv. 9:15
Lv. 10:00;
Arr. 10:45
Arr. 11:40
a.m.
a.m.
a.m.
a.m.
p.m.
p.m.
p.m.
3:30 p.m.
4:15 p.m.
5:00 p.m.
5:55 p.m.
6:25 p.m.
7:20 p.m.
8:15 p.m.
Detroit
Ann Arbor
Jackson
Battle Creek
Kalamazoo
Niles
Chicago
Arr. 4:50 p.m.
Lv. *4:05 p.m.
Arr.
Arr.
Arr.
12:10
1:05
2:00,
Arr.
Arr.
Arr.
Arr.
Lv.
Eastbound - Read Up
3:20 p.m.
2:25 p.m.
1:55 p.m.
12:55 p.m.
10:00 a.m.
11:05 p.m.
10:20 p.m.
9:35p.m.
8:40 p.m.
8:10 p.m.
7:10 pm.
4:15 p.m.
Other Low One-Way Coach Fares: Ann Arbor to
To Kalamazoo $5. To Niles $7.
All schedules effective October 29
Detroit $2.
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