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Pacification Gone Awry: The U.S Failure To Underpin Hearts And Minds In South Vietnam, 1966–1968, Simon Mai

Phi Alpha Theta Pacific Northwest Regional Conference

Abstract: Throughout the escalation of American involvement in Vietnam from 1964 – 1968, one key strategy focused on pacification – the winning of the allegiance of South Vietnamese civilians to the Saigon-based Government of Vietnam (GVN). This paper will argue that American/GVN implementation of pacification programs at the provincial and village level revealed three fundamental factors that proved fatal and counterproductive. These factors were the political and social entrenchment of the Viet Cong or National Liberation Front (NLF), the provincial cronyism and corruption of GVN, and the indiscriminate application of American firepower in support of General William Westmoreland’s strategy of …