Why was it difficult for American ground forces to clear areas of guerrillas?
1 Answer
This is an answer I posted several months ago (assuming you are referring to Vietnam.
Explanation:
There were a number of reasons.
Firstly most of the war was fought as a guerrilla war. This is a type of war which conventional forces such as the US army in Vietnam, find notoriously difficult to fight. Conventional forces are easy to identify, guerrillas are not. In Vietnam the Vietcong were peasants by day and guerrillas by night.
Secondly a guerrilla force only needs the support of a small % of the population to sustain its war. In Vietnam although a significant % of the population opposed the VC, their support amongst the population was easily enough to keep the war going.
Much of the terrain was suited to a guerrilla not conventional war. Again this favoured the VC. The Americans, laden down with conventional weapons and uniform were not equipped to fight in the paddy fields and jungles.
Although at a distinct disadvantage in terms of military hardware, the VC were ingenious in their use of booby traps such as punji stake traps and improvised explosives. This added to the psychological pressures faced by the US soldiers.
The organisation of American involvement was very poor. Almost 1 in 5 Americans were killed by their own side. Again this had a detrimental impact on morale and opposition to the war not only in the USA itself, but within the ranks of the common grunts mounted.
These factors combined, led to a feeling of optimism at the start to one where an American withdrawal became inevitable.
