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The USA's failure to secure victory in Vietnam by 1968 was due to…

- - - - There was also a lack of support for conscription, there was an over-saturation of African Americans in the draft for Vietnam. Muhummad Ali protested this by refusing the draft. Martin Luther King made speeches highlighting how the draft was institutionally racist.
  - - - Bobby Kennedy - Assassinated in 1968 whilst running to be the democratic candidate
        
        Martin Luther King assassinated in 1968
    - - Clearly the US was not united domestically and thus would struggle to be united in Vietnam
- - - - Indeed, more bombs fell on Vietnam during this war than were ever dropped during the entirety of WW2
    - - Napalm - a gel that spread over a wide area and set on fire, alienated the Vietnamese and lost hearts and minds
        
        Operation Ranch Hand - involved spraying chemicals such as Agent Orange to defoliate the jungle. Agent Blue was also sprayed to deprive the enemy of crops
- - - - Chieu Hoi - enacted from 1963
        
        Utilised by Diem's government to encourage defection from the PAVN and Vietcong to the side of South Vietnam.
        
        Encouraged through use of propaganda, usually leaflets delivered by artillery shell or dropped over enemy-controlled areas by aircraft.
        
        Invitations to defect, which acted as safe conduct passes, were printed on clear plastic waterproof bags used to carry ammunition for the US soldiers' M16 rifle, when the bag was ripped and discarded, the hope was that an enemy soldier would find it.
        
        Vietcong soldiers were offered $2000 for defection
        
        All 'hearts and minds' tactics were quite unsuccessful and unpopular, Diem was an incredibly unpopular leader and assassinated in 1963, somewhat loosening the grip of the Americans on the psyche of the Vietnamese
        
        According to the US, 150k Vietcong soliders defected but analysts speculate that less than 22% of these defections were genuine - the rest were likely seeking temporary respite from the conflict before slipping back into the VC
  - - - These were ultimately unsuccessful, farmers were moved from their rice paddies, which led to starvation. Peasants / families were split up and moved from their ancestral homes, which only increased disillusionment with the American soldiers, lessening cooperation and increasing the chance of recruitment by the Vietcong