Insurgency research/analysis paper History Essay Paper

Historical Insurgency
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Historical Insurgency
It's hard to talk about insurgency without the thought of Vietnam crossing the mind. There have been numerous insurgencies around the globe, but the Viet-Cong (VC) of South Vietnam fought tooth and nail against the counter-insurgents to an extend that can only be equated with the Ming dynasty of the 15th century (Jones, 2017). The VC insurgency fought against president Diem, allied to the United States, and the resistance went on from the 1950s to 1975. Diem’s administration was that of a dictator and failed to live up to the promised he made on land reform. Also, Diem was staunch catholic, fueling the much resistance from the Buddhist community that dominated southern Vietnam. The VC had help from the north, and its guerrilla tactics ensured that it overpowered Diem's regime in coaction with the Americans.
The different components of an insurgency that including underground, auxiliary, and Guerrilla (SFUW TC, 2016), were well portrayed by the VC insurgent group. The military personnel relieved of their duties and ordered to revert to their places of origin defied the order and remained underground within the southern Vietnam territory. Although the army had not made their intentions clear, they remained underground and formed operational cells equipped with sufficient workforce ready to orchestrate an insurgency in the south. The undergrounds were responsible for carrying out assassinations of the foreign sympathizers of Diem's government through targeted bombings and murder.
Psychological warfare played a major role in the Vietnam War, and select groups of people were useful in these tactics. The VC often conducted open meetings to spread propaganda. A more robust method that they used in spreading propaganda involved the use of leaflets. These roles were dedicated to the auxiliary component of the insurgence. Women also made up a critical part of the resistance. Other than the typical work of women in a battle like nursing, provision of food, and shelter, they also took part in some critical operations that are vital for the auxiliary functions. The women took roles like courier services, snipers, intel gathering, and recruitment process (Taylor, 2008). The civilians also played the auxiliary function in the Vietnam War, informing on the American army and feeding intel to the VC rebels. The auxiliary component was also tasked with testing the loyalty of recruits, baiting them to undertake non-existent assignments so that they can prove themselves.
The larger population of the insurgency was made up of the guerrillas. Although they had some trained military personnel in their midst, the larger population constituted of inadequately trained, young, and fearful communists that were up against the well-trained, and well-eq...