Editing Viet Cong (section)

===Launches armed struggle===
The Communist Party of Vietnam approved a "people's war" on the South at a session in January 1959 and this decision was confirmed by the [[Politburo]] in March.<ref name="HistPlace"/> In May 1959, [[Group 559]] was established to maintain and upgrade the [[Ho Chi Minh trail]], at this time a six-month mountain trek through Laos. About 500 of the "regroupees" of 1954 were sent south on the trail during its first year of operation.<ref name="Victory-xi">''Victory in Vietnam'', p. xi.</ref> The first arms delivery via the trail, a few dozen rifles, was completed in August 1959.<ref name="Prados">Prados, John, (2006) "The Road South: The Ho Chi Minh Trail", ''Rolling Thunder in a Gentle Land'', editor By Andrew A. Wiest,  Osprey Publishing, {{ISBN|1-84603-020-X}}.</ref>

Two regional command centers were merged to create the [[Central Office for South Vietnam]] (''Trung ương Cục miền Nam''), a unified communist party headquarters for the South.<ref name="HistPlace"/> COSVN was initially located in [[Tây Ninh]] Province near the Cambodian border. On July 8, the VC killed two U.S. military advisors at [[Biên Hòa]], the first American dead of the Vietnam War.<ref group=nb>Major [[Dale R. Buis]] and Master Sergeant [[Charles Ovnand]], the first names to appear on the [[Vietnam Veterans Memorial]].</ref> The "2d Liberation Battalion" ambushed two companies of South Vietnamese soldiers in September 1959, the first large unit military action of the war.<ref name="Pentagon"/> This was considered the beginning of the "armed struggle" in communist accounts.<ref name="Pentagon"/> A series of uprisings beginning in the [[Mekong Delta]] province of [[Bến Tre]] in January 1960 created "liberated zones", models of VC-style government. Propagandists celebrated their creation of battalions of "long-hair troops" (women).<ref name="Gettleman187">{{cite book |last= Gettleman |first= Marvin E. |author2=Jane Franklin |author3=Marilyn Young  |title= Vietnam and America |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=SVtNalqmYgAC |publisher= Grove Press |year=1995 |isbn= 0-8021-3362-2 |page= 187}}</ref> The fiery declarations of 1959 were followed by a lull while Hanoi focused on events in [[Laos]] (1960–61).<ref>Ang, p. 7.</ref> Moscow favored reducing international tensions in 1960, as it was election year for the U.S. presidency.<ref group=nb>This is sometimes referred to as the "Genoa Policy" and later inspired Khrushchev to take credit for Kennedy's election.({{cite book |last= Lynn-Jones |first= Sean M. |author2=Steven E. Miller |author3=Stephen Van Evera  |title= Soviet Military Policy: An International Security Reader |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Zb_q4i9faI4C |year= 1989 |page= 28 |publisher= MIT Press |isbn= 0-262-62066-9}})</ref> Despite this, 1960 was a year of unrest in South Vietnam, with pro-democracy demonstrations inspired by the [[South Korea]]n student uprising that year and a failed military coup in November.<ref name="Pentagon"/>

[[File:1964 Brinks Hotel bombing.JPG|thumb|right|[[1964 Brinks Hotel bombing|Brinks Hotel]], Saigon, following a Viet Cong bombing on December 24, 1964. Two American officers were killed.]]

To counter the accusation that North Vietnam was violating the Geneva Accord, the independence of the VC was stressed in communist propaganda. The VC created the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam in December 1960 at Tân Lập village in Tây Ninh as a "[[united front]]", or political branch intended to encourage the participation of non-communists.<ref name="Ang58">Ang, p. 58.</ref> The group's formation was announced by Radio Hanoi and its ten-point manifesto called for, "overthrow the disguised colonial regime of the imperialists and the dictatorial administration, and to form a national and democratic coalition administration."<ref name="Pentagon" /> Thọ, a lawyer and the VC's "neutralist" chairman, was an isolated figure among cadres and soldiers. South Vietnam's Law 10/59, approved in May 1959, authorized the death penalty for crimes "against the security of the state" and featured prominently in VC propaganda.<ref>Gettleman, p. 156.</ref> Violence between the VC and government forces soon increased drastically from 180 clashes in January 1960 to 545 clashes in September.<ref name= cmh>{{cite book
 |url          = http://www.history.army.mil/BOOKS/Vietnam/90-23/90-23C.htm
 |title        = History of Special Forces in Vietnam, 1961–1971
 |publisher    = [[United States Army Center of Military History]]
 |first        = Francis John
 |last         = Kelly
 |orig-date    = 1973
 |year         = 1989
 |location     = Washington, D.C.
 |id           = CMH Pub 90-23
 |page         = 4
 |access-date  = August 5, 2010
 |archive-date = February 12, 2014
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20140212151656/http://www.history.army.mil/books/Vietnam/90-23/90-23C.htm
 }}</ref><ref name= Vo>Nghia M. Vo Saigon: A History 2011 – Page 140 "... on December 19 to 20, 1960, Nguyễn Hữu Thọ, a Saigon lawyer, Trương Như Tảng, chief comptroller of a bank, Drs. Dương Quỳnh Hoa and Phùng Văn Cung, along with other dissidents, met with communists to form the National Liberation Front..."</ref>

By 1960, the Sino-Soviet split was a public rivalry, making China more supportive of Hanoi's war effort.<ref>{{cite book |last=Zhai |first= Qiang |title= China and the Vietnam Wars, 1950–1975 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=A3RGSQlasIUC |page= 83 |year=2000 |publisher= Univ of North Carolina Press |isbn= 0-8078-4842-5}}</ref> For Chinese leader [[Mao Zedong]], aid to North Vietnam was a way to enhance his "anti-imperialist" credentials for both domestic and international audiences.<ref>Zhai, p. 5.</ref> About 40,000 communist soldiers infiltrated the South in 1961–63.<ref>Ang, p. 76.</ref> The VC grew rapidly; an estimated 300,000 members were enrolled in "liberation associations" (affiliated groups) by early 1962.<ref name="Pentagon"/> The ratio of VC to government soldiers jumped from 1:10 in 1961 to 1:5 a year later.<ref name="Victory-xii">''Victory in Vietnam'', p. xii.</ref>

[[File:Thuong Duc, Vietnam - A Viet Cong prisoner awaits interrogation at the A-109 Special Forces Detachment in Thuong - NARA - 531447.jpg|thumb|left|A Viet Cong prisoner captured in 1967 by the U.S. Army awaits interrogation.]]

The level of violence in the South jumped dramatically in the fall of 1961, from 50 guerrilla attacks in September to 150 in October.<ref>Ang, p. 113.</ref> U.S. President [[John F. Kennedy]] decided in November 1961 to substantially increase American military aid to South Vietnam.<ref name="historynet">{{cite web |last=Pribbenow |first= Merle |title=North Vietnam's Master Plan |url=http://www.historynet.com/north-vietnams-master-plan.htm |work= Vietnam |date= August 1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409052605/https://www.historynet.com/north-vietnams-master-plan/?f|archive-date=April 9, 2023}}</ref> The {{USS|Core|CVE-13|6}} arrived in Saigon with 35 helicopters in December 1961. By mid-1962, there were 12,000 U.S. military advisors in Vietnam.<ref>Karnow, p.694</ref> The "special war" and "strategic hamlets" policies allowed Saigon to push back in 1962, but in 1963 the VC regained the military initiative.<ref name="Victory-xii"/> The VC won its first military victory against South Vietnamese forces at [[Battle of Ap Bac|Ấp Bắc]] in January 1963.

A landmark party meeting was held in December 1963, shortly after a military coup in Saigon in which Diệm was assassinated. North Vietnamese leaders debated the issue of "quick victory" vs "protracted war" (guerrilla warfare).<ref name="Ang74">Ang, p. 74–75.</ref> After this meeting, the communist side geared up for a maximum military effort and the troop strength of the PAVN increased from 174,000 at the end of 1963 to 300,000 in 1964.<ref name="Ang74"/> The Soviets cut aid in 1964 as an expression of annoyance with Hanoi's ties to China.<ref name="Zhai128">Zhai, p. 128.</ref><ref group=nb>There was also a U.S. presidential election in 1964.</ref> Even as Hanoi embraced China's international line, it continued to follow the Soviet model of reliance on technical specialists and bureaucratic management, as opposed to mass mobilization.<ref name="Zhai128"/> The winter of 1964–1965 was a high-water mark for the VC, with the Saigon government on the verge of collapse.<ref name="Victory-xiii">''Victory in Vietnam'', p. xiii.</ref> Soviet aid soared following a visit to Hanoi by Soviet Premier [[Alexei Kosygin]] in February 1965.<ref name="Karnow427">Karnow, p. 427.</ref> Hanoi was soon receiving up-to-date surface-to-air missiles.<ref name="Karnow427"/> The U.S. would have 200,000 soldiers in South Vietnam by the end of the year.<ref name="libcom">{{cite web |title=1957–1975: The Vietnam War |url=http://libcom.org/history/1957-1975-the-vietnam-war |work=libcom|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517200320/https://libcom.org/article/1957-1975-vietnam-war|archive-date=May 17, 2022}}</ref>
[[File:A-1E drops white phosphorus bomb 1966.jpg|thumb|A U.S. Air Force [[Douglas A-1 Skyraider|Douglas Skyraider]] drops a [[White phosphorus munitions|white phosphorus bomb]] on a Viet Cong position in South Vietnam in 1966.]]
In January 1966, Australian troops uncovered a tunnel complex that had been used by COSVN.<ref name="Digger">{{Cite web |title=VC Tunnels |url=http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-conflicts-periods/vietnam/tunnels.htm |work=Digger History}}</ref> Six thousand documents were captured, revealing the inner workings of the VC. COSVN retreated to [[Mimot]] in [[Cambodia]]. As a result of an agreement with the Cambodian government made in 1966, weapons for the Viet Cong were shipped to the Cambodian port of [[Sihanoukville (city)|Sihanoukville]] and then trucked to VC bases near the border along the "[[Sihanouk Trail]]", which replaced the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Many VC units operated at night,<ref>{{Cite book |last= Zumbro |first= Ralph |title=Tank Sergeant |publisher=Presidio Press |year=1986 |isbn= 978-0-517-07201-1 |pages= 27–28, 115}} The VC were commonly referred to by the Vietnamese rural population as "night bandits" or the "night government".</ref> and employed terror as a standard tactic.<ref>Zumbro, pp. 25, 33</ref> Rice procured at gunpoint sustained the Viet Cong.<ref>Zumbro, p. 32.</ref> Squads were assigned monthly assassination quotas.<ref name="human">U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, ''[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112041209948 The Human Cost of Communism in Vietnam]'' (1972), p. 8-49.</ref> Government employees, especially village and district heads, were the most common targets. But there were a wide variety of targets, including clinics and medical personnel.<ref name="human"/> Notable VC atrocities include the massacre of [[Massacre at Huế|over 3,000 unarmed civilians]] at [[Huế]], 48 killed in the bombing of My Canh floating restaurant in Saigon in June 1965<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://phulam.com/mycanh.htm|title=The My Canh Restaurant bombing|access-date=July 30, 2008|archive-date=November 25, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125043130/http://phulam.com/mycanh.htm}}</ref> and a massacre of 252 [[Montagnard (Vietnam)|Montagnard]]s in the village of [[Đắk Sơn]] in December 1967 using flamethrowers.<ref name="Dakson">Krohn, Charles, A., ''The Last Battalion: Controversies and Casualties of the Battle of Hue''. pg. 30. Westport 1993.<br />Jones, C. Don, ''[http://www.deathinthehighlands.com/images/Dak_Son_Massacre.pdf Massacre at Dak Son] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129175530/http://www.deathinthehighlands.com/images/Dak_Son_Massacre.pdf |date=November 29, 2014 }}'', United States Information Service, 1967
<br />{{cite news |title= On the Other Side: Terror as Policy |url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901626,00.html?promoid=googlep |magazine= Time |date= December 5, 1969 |access-date= July 17, 2008 |archive-date= May 22, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130522205231/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901626,00.html?promoid=googlep }}<br />{{cite news |title=The Massacre of Dak Son |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,837586,00.html |magazine=Time |date=December 15, 1967 |access-date=June 15, 2008 |archive-date=July 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130721101649/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,837586,00.html }} Pictures of Dak Son can be viewed {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20200219153831/http://vnafmamn.com/VNWar_atrocities.html here]}}.</ref> VC death squads assassinated at least 37,000 civilians in South Vietnam; the real figure was far higher since the data mostly cover 1967–72. They also waged a mass murder campaign against civilian hamlets and refugee camps; in the peak war years, nearly a third of all civilian deaths were the result of VC atrocities.<ref>[[Guenter Lewy]], ''America in Vietnam'', (Oxford University Press, 1978), pp272-3, 448–9.</ref> Ami Pedahzur has written that "the overall volume and lethality of Vietcong terrorism rivals or exceeds all but a handful of terrorist campaigns waged over the last third of the twentieth century".<ref>Pedahzur, Ami (2006), ''Root Causes of Suicide Terrorism: The Globalization of Martyrdom'', Taylor & Francis, p.116.</ref>
[[File:Viet Cong Captives Dong Ha, RVN 1968.jpg|thumb|Viet Cong soldiers captured by US Marines outside of Dong Ha, RVN 1968]]