Arthur Cyr: Raids and death offer key lessons

This month’s U.S. military strikes in two countries in Africa have generated considerable news, while the passing of a major military leader in Asia prompted less coverage. But the two stories are related in providing fundamental lessons on war and revolution.

On Oct. 5, the Army Delta Force carried out a raid in Tripoli, Libya. Its members captured al-Qaida leader Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, also known as al-Libi, accused of participating in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The bombings killed 220 people.

Shortly before the Libya operation, Navy SEALs struck in the southern Somalia town of Barawe. Reports vary concerning the precise target. A heavy firefight ensued, and the leader of the American team decided to abort the mission. SEAL Team 6, the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden, carried out this operation.

Meanwhile, on Oct. 4, Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap died at age 102. He commanded Vietnam’s forces in the long and costly wars against both France and the United States.

In 1975, an enormous comprehensive military offensive by the Army of North Vietnam overran South Vietnam, captured the capital city of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) and united the country.

Photographs and films of people fleeing the roof of the American embassy by helicopters, as revolutionary forces double-timed into the capital, circulated worldwide. As implied, the collapse of South Vietnam’s military was sudden.

For many years, these forces had fought with mixed effectiveness but durable commitment to the cause.

Hanoi’s success punctuated how quickly a military situation can change. Reflecting on the strategies of Giap and associates provide useful lessons, especially for Americans.

The Vietnamese revolutionaries were able to turn their enemies’ apparent strengths to their own advantage. Before joining the Nixon White House, Henry Kissinger stated publicly he did not believe the North Vietnamese wanted the Americans to leave immediately.

A significant portion of enormous U.S. military supplies were being diverted to them, reflecting an extensive black market and infiltration of South Vietnam’s infrastructure.

From the beginning, the revolutionaries in Vietnam gave paramount importance to the dictum of China’s Mao Zedong that military efforts must be integrated fully with winning over the people at large. Intimidation was used, along with appeals to nationalism and resentment of foreign occupiers.

Vietnamese revolutionary leadership was greatly aided by familiarity with the West. Giap was a history teacher educated by the French. Leader Ho Chi Minh worked in Boston, Paris and parts of England as a cook, waiter and laborer.

Giap and associates consistently geared military efforts to wider political aims. The 1968 Tet Offensive was aimed at destroying American public support for the war, and succeeded.

This history overall is instructive regarding contemporary threats. Al-Qaida and associated groups remain relatively small, and apparently lack wide support. The 9/11 attacks were counterproductive regarding American opinion. Nonetheless, some communities in Africa and elsewhere provide shelter.

Among relatively safe havens, Somalia is probably most worrisome. There is no effective national government, and disorder is the norm. The recent raid occurred two decades after 18 Army Rangers were killed in the capital, Mogadishu.