Why did the US forces lose the battle for the 'hearts and minds' of the South Vietnamese peasants?

Answer 1

because they weren't able to contain communism in Vietnam.

Answer 2

The US lost this particular "battle" because what we were doing was bringing in the poorer classes of people, because the bulk of people who enlisted in the army were the guys that were poor and needed a job after dropping from high school or who couldn't get a different job. Or they didn't all have to be poor, we dropped the youths of the nation 18 and 19 years olds who never left their state into a foreign land with people who had a very different culture. when they arrived they didn't understand and therefor turned to hating. also, when you are fighting an enemy, you expect them to be right there, in uniform completely separate from the civilians. the viet cong were the civilians, they would work their farms in the day and then fight at night, setting up booby traps. imagine being a US soldier trying to fight a war where they could not see the enemy, or when anybody in a crowd could be a vc ready to slit your throat. there is a lot of anxiety and fear that turns into hate of the whole people of Vietnam. when the people are being hated and abused they will not love the abusers, thus the "battle" for the hearts of the peasents was lost.

AnswerA lot of the reason that we didn't win the hearts and minds of the civilians is a comlicated answer. There is more than one correct answer. I would say the most correct answer was that although we could protect the villagers when we were present, when we left the area, the enemy would come back in and use terror tactics to scare the people into not supporting our cause. I mean if you were forced to watch your mayor get tied up to a tree and see his intestines pulled out wouldn't that imtimidate you? Or to see your neighbor's little kids hacked to pieces with a machette while another neighbor is being gang raped wouldn't that tramatize you? And we couldn't stop the enemy from doing this a lot of the time. Another answer is that the news media had so poisoned the minds of Americans that they no longer wanted to be there.Soldiers didnt want to sacrifice their lives for a cause that was being publicized as an unwinnable war. So as a result discipline in the armed forces became a problem. Soldiers no longer wanted to help the Vietnamese and resented being there. Another reason is that the South Vietnamese government was corrupt.

Answer 3

because they weren't able to contain communism in Vietnam.