Best Post-Second World War guerilla forces

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Originally posted by evilbu What about South America? I am especially thinking of the Farc, they have been waging their battle for more than fourty years, yet they still haven't been wiped out

Edited by Cryptic - 01-Jun-2009 at 16:07

Originally posted by Cryptic Originally posted by Sun Tzu I wouldn't say that the U.S. was that determined to win the Vietnam war... Rather than focusing on what we did not do (carry the war to North Vietnam), look at the effort that we did make....   At one time there were 450,000 American troops in Vietnam, we armed probably an equal number of South Vietnamese, we even got South Korea and Australia to send elite forces. All these men were equipped with the best equipment that money can buy and backed by incredible fire power. U.S. forces were also getting more effcient, thousands of special forces were sent out to hunt Viet Cong using counter insurgency warfare techniques. Next, the country was almost defoliated. Yet....the Viet Cong kept on fighting and out lasted all this. Originally posted by Sun Tzu Iraq although everyone denies is thought of by some to be another crusade; a religious war in which one would die for their religion. I would place more emphasis on the word "some". A small minority of the U.S. forces in Iraq do view the war directly as a defense of Christianity and / or western civilization. This small minority, however, is getting smaller.    Many people have gotten dis enchanted with the Christian ministers who issued the "fatwa" for the war.  Though their religous movement  has many members and is still strong, nominal members have drifted away and recruiting has slowed. Originally posted by Kevin Their acts during the 1990's, 9/11 and their actions against the US in Iraq and Afghanistan give them mention in my opinion. Good point about Iraq and the current war in Afghanistan. But.... I think the Viet Cong come out on top by a significant margin.

I agree with you on that, although thy could be tied with the Tamil Tigers in terms of equipment used and some other factors.

Originally posted by Cryptic Originally posted by Kevin I personally think the Viet Minh/Viet Cong, The Tamil Tigers, and Al-Qaeda are among the best and most effective of the Post-World War II era. I guess the Provisional IRA and the Afghan insurgency in their war against the Soviet Union in the late 1970s'/1980's  deserve a mention also? The Provisional IRA cannot compete with the Viet Minh / Cong.  The Vietnamese groups out lasted a determined super power with almost unlimited recesources. Meanwhile, the Provisional IRA became another criminal street gang with political overtures.   Though the Afghan insurgents were very good, I dont think that they were facing the same level of opponent in the 1980s Soviet Union as the Viet Cong were against America. Al Queda's reputation as a guerilla group in Afghanistan was far from superb (bungling amateurs).  It was only after they changed into a terrorist group did they start to consistently carry out successfully.

In terms of Al-Qaeda I was thinking much more of their role as a terrorist organization but somewhat as a guerrilla one also.

Their acts during the 1990's, 9/11 and their actions against the US in Iraq and Afghanistan give them mention in my opinion.

I wouldn't say that the U.S. was that determined to win the Vietnam war, because the war had very little popular support back home. Plus in the Vietnam war victory was never a possibility; dropping more bombs than all dropped in ww2 was not going to work unless you had a ground invasion. It's simple if someone strikes you you have to strike back in order to defeat your opponent. The U.S. never struck back only taking blows but never even setting a foot in North Vietnemese soil. That is why we failed Vietnam is unlike Iraq because vietnam was a war fought mostly for political reasons which most people would probably not die for. Iraq although everyone denies is thought of by some to be another crusade; a religious war in which one would die for their religion.

Sorry for the Rant... just stating my opinion about the Vietnam war

Originally posted by Kevin I personally think the Viet Minh/Viet Cong, The Tamil Tigers, and Al-Qaeda are among the best and most effective of the Post-World War II era. I guess the Provisional IRA and the Afghan insurgency in their war against the Soviet Union in the late 1970s'/1980's  deserve a mention also?

Originally posted by Constantine XI The Vietminh are my personal favourite, defeating one major power and one super power. The cost was terrible, but they bore it with stoic optimism. Yet one must remember that a great many guerilla warfare forces do sooner or later resort to conventional tactics. Guerilla warfare was employed because of the assymetry in military resources (e.g. US military against Vietminh/North Vietnamese military resources). When a force has the ability to match or surpass their opponents in conventional warfare, they are quick to make the transfer in order to bring about a decisive shift.

What would everyone say are the best guerilla forces that have existed in the Post-Second World War era, all the way up to modern day?

Edited by Kevin - 21-May-2009 at 01:28