TODAY'S GUERRILLA WARFARE

On March 14, 1954 a force of 40,000 Vietnamese guerrillas began the attack on about 15,000 French troops at Dien Bien Phu.   The French assumed their superior armaments and artillery would demoralize and eventually destroy the attacking force.  However, they underestimated the effectiveness of guerrilla warfare.  On May 7, 1954 Ho Chi Minh’s troops over ran the French positions bringing about Vietnam’s independence from France, and ending a war which had turned the tide of public opinion in France against the war.

The American Army of the West was forced to contend with the unconventional warfare utilized by the Native American Indians whose attack and retreat methods coupled with their ability to launch deadly assaults from hiding created such unease that time and again the forward progress of the nation was stalled, and Eastern newspapers reflected a growing frustration with the military’s failure to affect a speedy victory over the disparate tribes.

Fidel Castro made guerrilla warfare so popular in the Western hemisphere, as he operated from remote mountains to eventually overthrow and depose Fulgencio Batista of Cuba in 1959, that revolutionaries sprang up in nearly every Central American Country.   The “Big Stick” diplomacy of Theodore Roosevelt evolved to a “Walk Softly” approach as the Communist advanced inexorably forward under the leadership of Castro disciples like Che Guevara who became the spiritual leader of revolution in the Banana Republics, due in no small part to the fear of entanglement in more prolonged, costly, and painful guerrilla warfare.

Then the ominous and effective tactics of Ho Chi Minh, when once again pitted against overwhelming military power, led to the disenchantment of yet another nation as America lost her will to defend an embattled people.  The public clamoring for an end of American participation in the bloody conflict, led to an ignominious retreat from Saigon and the consignment of millions of Vietnamese to the brutal atrocities perpetrated by their new communist masters.

Ho Chi Minh, an autocratic dictator who ruled by force of arms,  was not constrained by the need for popular support.  Casualties, wrought in pursuit of the ultimate goal of victory, were little more than logistical inconveniences.  Hoards of sapper squads penetrating defenses in suicidal attacks did little to affect military victory, but the emotional effect they left on the fragile psyche of a soft American populace cannot be overstated.

Today, America again stands against multiple foes who are little influenced by public opinion or the need for popular approval.  While these enemies give little thought to affecting a military victory, they are purposeful and vicious in their attacks upon the soft underbelly of the collective American psyche.    Lacking the firm resolve with which to confront these enemies we might well return to the wavering and mushy “jello diplomacy” of the late 1970's & the Obama years.

Middle Eastern Terrorism, Chinese Expansionism, and Russian Militaristic Intrigue have been relegated to back burner priority as the Covid-19 pandemic has decimated the nation’s once explosively dynamic economy.  And the battle raging across the fruited plain has devolved into a blame game, as leftists on the West Coast, Big Cities, and Upper East Coast, with a complicit national media, seem more intent on attempting to discredit a President, than in returning the country to her former prosperous, powerful, and influential position.

Never doubt that the guerrilla tactics of the main players have lessened, however.  China’s actions in the aftermath of the spread of the Huwan originated virus have exposed that countries leadership as ruthless and ambitious for world dominion, while Russia appears to be playing their typical waiting game as they foment confusion and probe for weaknesses which will allow them to gobble up yet another indefensible country.    The Middle East Terrorists, meanwhile, are experiencing fewer disposable monies directed toward terrorism because of the oil glut and decline in demand for oil.

Perhaps the most odious participants in the current drama are the Pelosi/Schumer liberals who are continually attempting to hijack every initiative by attaching onerous plan after onerous plan intended to build some measure of political capital, rather than affirm integrity and statesmanship.  They obfuscate to the degree that their tactics seem drawn from the Guerrilla Tactic Handbook.

What lies ahead should we not stand firm and establish policies which will deliver us from dependence upon these self-serving governments whose sole desire is to subjugate and/or destroy America, is a repetition of both real and contrived crises until the American people either capitulate, or rise up and strike out decisively against our foes.

I believe the greatest threat to world peace would be our unwillingness to seize this moment in history to re-establish our complete independence and become once again self-reliant.  I pray our politicians and the American Public grasp this moment.