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After the failure of the hit-and-run tactics the Viet Cong decided to change their strategy. As in the early Indochina War the communists placed their faith in the remarkable Vietnamese ability to endure heavy losses and deprivations until they finally achieved victory through wearing down the will of the enemies. The Viet Cong also wanted to attack the enemies in surprising actions to have better chances. In applying their strategy they enjoyed some special advantages by fighting on home ground. They didn\'t have problems with the deep jungle, the changing climate, the dangerous mountains and the puzzling landscape. To give the fighters shelter wide spread tunnel systems were elaborated, where they could store food, arms, people and munition: the support of increasing numbers of troops sent from the north. These tunnels were very important for the result of the war.
In the meanwhile the government in Saigon had started efforts for pacification, but they failed and were opposed by the United States, who wanted to come to an end by war. In the years 1966 to 1967 the troops tried to clean up the country from communism as well as possible. Only twenty miles north of Saigon there was a real hotbed of communist activity that the ARVN had never dared to enter. In January this area was stormed by thirty thousand US troops and the enemies had to escape to Cambodia or into their underground system. Whenever the American troops discovered such tunnels they destroyed the whole environment by contaminating and moving the earth. Aircrafts used aerosols containing AGENT ORANGE to defoliate whole areas in order to destroy the crop and the jungle. Although the United States tried to get support from the native people and to achieve their trust, more and more people sided with the Viet Cong, who found new recruits. They still found enough food and received munition over Cambodia. Things hardly went better for the allies and even heavy airstrikes could not stop the supply of the communist troops, who sat in the underground and awaited the chance to seize the offensive.
Despite the victory in the Central Highland Viet Cong troops were infiltered again. Of course the United States had the better equipment, but their enemies had much more successful tactics and seized the jungle and their knowledge of the surrounding. When they were defeated they went back to Cambodia to prepare the next battle. Several times they launched surprising attacks against American garrisons, who were finally protected from being doomed by massive support from the Air Force.
The Marines had different problems than the US Army during 1966 and 1967. They had enormous problems with demilitarised zone between North and South Vietnam. In July 1967 DRV divisions infiltrated through the three mile zone and established positions near the coast. With support of the ARVN the Marines launched a counter offensive by air and sea an greater forces became involved when the battle extended inland. After bitter fighting the communists returned into the DMZ, but the soldiers weren\'t allowed to follow them because they would surely come again. In order to counter further invasions via the DMZ the Marines built a string of combat bases from the coast to the mountains. In the same year the DRV troops started heavy shelling from the other side of the border to destroy these bases. Like in WW1 the American troops had to stay in underground or behind the protection of sandbags for a long time. Although the gun fire wouldn\'t stop for the rest of the year the Marines were nevertheless requested to hold the DMZ line due to its high importance for the war.
At the same time hundred thousands of people fled the fighting areas to live in the safety of the cities. Around the airbases there were many shantytowns. Young women became prostitutes for the soldiers to earn some money and a lot of drugs were traded. Obviously the American troops were destroyed morally and physically due to drugs, alcohol and laziness. Critics said that America would destroy South Vietnam instead of saving it.
Back to the war more and more young soldiers were sent to Vietnam. As the DRV showed no sign of ceasing its aid to the resistance the bomb line was extended northwards into the communist territories. In the middle of 1966 the Red River Delta was attacked for the first time by the allies, who tried to destroy the heart of the DRV. Great care was given to avoid hitting targets by the border to China or hitting Soviet and Chinese cargo ships in the port of Haiphong. North Vietnam had a very good air defence system with Russian technology and within one year they eliminated more than one thousand US planes. These heavy air losses over the DRV, as well as the disappointing results of the Operation ROLLING THUNDER, urged President Johnson to react. With his \"San Antonio Formula\" he made a proposal to Ho Chi Minh´s government. America would stop all bombings if Hanoi would agree productive peace talks. However, the communists rejected the formula due to the disappointments some years ago and kept on fighting. By the end of 1967 the air war seemed as deadlocked as the ground war. The costs had exploded too.
Although America was the world\'s greatest superpower the enemy nevertheless grew stronger and the troops were already resigning. Despite all the causalities suffered from the bombing of the Ho Chi Minh Trail the CIA estimated that one hundred thousand communist fighters had reached the ROV again and the same amount of people was waiting behind the borders to Laos and Cambodia. Without any doubt America had underestimated the power of these troops, which had great ambition to fight for the common freedom of Vietnam. The situation for America became more and more critical until the government was split. The one party wanted to stop all actions to reach peace talks with Hanoi or letting an improved ARVN fight instead of the own troops. The other party still supported the Operation ROLLING Thunder. The government under Lyndon B. Johnson\'s was also opposed by peace movements at home in the United States. Details will be mentioned at the end of this speech.
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