Vietcong Guerilla Tactics

The Vietcong

 
The Vietnamese Communists, or Vietcong, were the military branch of the National Liberation Front (NLF), and were commanded by the Central Office for South Vietnam, which was located near the Cambodian border. For arms, ammunition and special equipment, the Vietcong depended on the Ho Chi Minh trail. Other needs were met inside South Vietnam.

Main force Vietcong units were uniformed, full-time soldiers, and were used to launch large scale offensives over a wide area. Regional forces were also full-time, but operated only within their own districts. When necessary, small regional units would unite for large scale attacks. If enemy pressure became too great, they would break down into smaller units and scatter. 

Unlike the main troops, who saw themselves as professional soldiers, local Vietcong groups tended to be far less confident. For the most part, recruits were young teenagers, and while many were motivated by idealism, others had been pressured or shamed into joining. They also harbored real doubts about their ability to fight heavily armed and well-trained American soldiers. 

Initially, local guerrillas were given only a basic minimum of infantry training, but if they were recruited to a main force unit, they could receive up to a month of advanced instruction. Additionally, there were dozens of hidden centers all over South Vietnam for squad and platoon leader, weapons and radio training. To ensure that the guerrillas understood why they were fighting, all training courses included political instruction. 

By the mid-1960s, most main force Vietcong troops were armed with Chinese versions of the Russian AK-47 submachine gun. They also used a range of effective Soviet and Chinese light and medium machine guns, and infrequently, heavy machine guns. In particular, heavy machine guns were valued for defense against American helicopters. 

For destroying armored vehicles or bunkers, the Vietcong had highly effective rocket propelled grenades and recoilless rifles. Mortars were also available in large numbers and had the advantage of being very easy to transport. 

Many weapons, including booby traps and mines, were homemade in villages. The materials ranged from scavenged tin can to discarded wire, but the most important ingredients were provided by the enemy. In a year, dud American bombs could leave more than 20,000 tons of explosives scattered around the Vietnamese countryside. After air-raids, volunteers retrieved the duds and the dangerous business of creating new weapons began. 

Local forces also designed primitive weapons, some designed to frighten intruders, but others were extremely dangerous. "Punji traps" -- sharp spikes hidden in pits -- could easily disable an enemy soldier. Punjis were often deliberately contaminated to increase the risk of infection. 

Guerilla Tactics

In December 1965, Ho Chi Minh and the North Vietnamese leadership ordered a change in a way the war in the South was to be fought. From now on, the Vietcong would avoid pitched battles with the Americans unless the odds were clearly in their favor. There would be more hit and run attacks and ambushes. To counter the American build-up, Vietcong recruitment would be stepped up and more North Vietnamese Army troops would be infiltrated into South Vietnam. 

The Vietcong, following the example of Chinese guerillas before them, had always given the highest priority to creating safe base areas. They were training grounds, logistics centers and headquarters. They also offered secure sanctuaries for times when the war might go badly. 

Hiding the base areas had always been a high priority for the Vietcong. Now, with American spotter planes everywhere, it was more vital than ever to protect them. In remote swamps or forests, there were few problems, but nearer the capital, it was much more difficult. The answer was to build enormous systems of underground tunnels.

The orders coming from NLF headquarters were absolutely clear. Tunnels were not to be treated as mere shelters. They were fighting bases capable of providing continuous support for troops. Even if a village was in enemy hands, the NLF beneath were still able to conduct offensive operations. 

There were complexes big and small scattered across the country. Each villager in a NLF area had to dig three feet of tunnel a day. There was even a standard handbook specifying how tunnels were to be built. The biggest tunnel systems were in the Iron Triangle and the Cu Chi District, only 20 miles from Saigon. 

Chu Chi

The base area at Cu Chi was a vast network, with nearly 200 miles of tunnels. Any facility used by the guerillas -- a conference room or training area -- had almost immediate underground access. Hidden trapdoors led below, past guarded chambers, to long passages. At regular intervals, branches led back to the surface and other secret entrances. Some openings were even concealed beneath the waters of streams or canals. 

At the deeper levels, there were chambers carved out for arms factories and a well for the base's water supply. There were store rooms for weapons and rice, and there was sometimes a hospital or forward aid station. Long communication tunnels connected the base with other distant complexes. 

Base kitchens were always near the surface, with long, carved-out chimneys designed to diffuse cooking smoke and release it some distance away. Near the kitchens were the guerilla's sleeping chambers, where they could survive for weeks at a time if need be. Everywhere on the top level, there were tunnels leading upwards to hundreds of hidden firing posts for defense of the base.

 

 

Douhet's Theory and the Failure in Vietnam

Douhet was an Italian who formulated the theory of Air Power. As per Douhet a favorable air situation and strategic bombardment from the air was a recipe for victory in any war. There is no doubt that Douhet was a far sighted man and deserves credit for the formulation of his theory on Air power.

But Vietnam is a different kettle of fish and one wonders whether Douhet was correct in his assumption that air power is the only requisite for a victory on the ground. In Vietnam the United States Air force certainly had a favorable air situation as well as complete control of the skies. In addition the US President Lyndon Johnson had ordered a strategic bombardment of Military targets over North Vietnam.

The United States Air force carried out heavy air bombardment from their bases at Guam and Japan over 'military' targets' in a sustained manner. Yet this favorable air situation and interdiction by the B 52 bombers failed to translate into a positive result on the ground. The Viet Minh supported by the North were able to harry the US Army to a great extant and slowly sapped the will power of the United States to wage a war in hostile environment.

A study of Douhets theory shows that Vietnam was not a test case as the basic ingredients of air power were studiously neglected. Firstly coming to the Bombing of North Vietnam. This by itself was more of a deterrent as the targets were carefully chosen to avoid 'collateral' damage. Moreover Johnson and his coterie chose the targets keeping in mind the prevalent political atmosphere and world opinion which was against the US bombing of North Vietnam.

Thus the US Air force never had a free hand over the targets and the bombing over North Vietnam. Douhet in his theory had not anticipated 'restrictions' in aerial bombardment. Coming to the second point of a favorable air situation in South Vietnam itself.The USAF certainly had the upper hand and had complete mastery over the air. But the terrain consisting of thick tropical jungles, offered a natural camouflage to the enemy which was difficult to track from the air.

Douhets concept of a favorable air situation referred to battle in the conventional sense between opposing armies. The war in Vietnam was guerrilla war and was fought by irregulars. thus it was not a conventional war as the enemy could be any one or any body and the US army on the ground was hard pressed to distinguish between friend and foe.

The solution was total war which because of political constraints was ot possible.Hence on the face of it Douhets theory appears suspect in Vietnam. But as it has been pointed out the US never applied Douhets theory in to and thus paid the price for half measures.We must remember that in a modern war there are no stop gaps or ambivalence in any field.Least of all on the battle field.

New Terrorist Scare Tactics - Chlorine Bombs

As if the world didn't have enough horrible problems to contend with, now terrorist and insurgents in Iraq are using chlorine in attacks on troops and civilian populations. U.S. officials and military leaders are concerned these recent attacks could signal a new approach to cause terror and instability in the region.

An Iraqi town 12 miles north of Baghdad was engulfed in a cloud of deadly toxic gas on February 20th after a tanker truck carrying chlorine exploded. The explosion occurred outside a restaurant, killing 6 people and leaving many more choking on chlorine fumes. Over 150 people were sickened by the fumes with many of those requiring medical attention. An Iraqi Interior Ministry official said the explosion was caused by a bomb on board the tanker.

U.S. military leaders are warning that terrorists in Iraq are adopting new guerrilla tactics in a campaign to spread fear and panic. Troops recently discovered a car bomb factory complete with chlorine cylinders and propane tanks. Insurgents have detonated 3 trucks containing chlorine canisters in the past month. Another attack on January 28th involved a dump truck filled with explosives and a chlorine tank that killed 16 people. United Nations weapons inspectors believe large quantities of chlorine are widely available in Iraq.

The amount of chlorine in a railroad tanker can cause devastating results if released. Homeland Security officials fear a scenario involving terrorists using explosives to detonate chlorine tanker cars in heavily populated areas in the United States. In 2005, a train crash in South Carolina released 60 tons of liquefied chlorine; about 6 times the amount that was released in the Iraqi tanker truck attack. U.S. security experts fear a coordinated railroad chemical attack involving strategically placed explosives in a series of chlorine tanks could have devastating effects on local populations exposed to the fume cloud.

Chlorine is a potentially dangerous chemical because it reacts with water in moist tissue, creating acid that burns the tissue. The respiratory tract and eyes are particularly susceptible. Just a few breathes of air containing a chlorine concentration of 1,000 parts per million can be lethal. Lower exposures can cause chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea and burning in the eyes, throat and nose.

Although chlorine can cause severe discomfort and even death in high concentrations, a chlorine bomb is not necessarily a weapon of attack, but more a weapon of terror. The intent is not to produce mass casualties, but to strike fear and panic in the population.

This is where many chemical weapons differ from biological weapons. Biological weapons are derived from disease causing bacteria and viruses or their byproducts. The purpose of biological weapons is to create extremely lethal and immediate epidemics that kill or disable on a massive scale. Pound for pound, biological weapons are the most lethal type of munitions ever produced.

To help combat biological terrorism, the Department of Defense has awarded a contract Boeing and a team of U.S. biological defense companies to use particle counter technology to detect the presence of airborne biological warfare agents. This program was developed by the Department of Defense Threat Reduction Agency to specifically to detect and protect against bioterrorism.

More Military Uses For Crossbows

With the increased interest in crossbows, some would think that they are new on the scene. This couldn't be further from the truth. Actually, crossbows have been used for military purposed for several millennia. One might also assume that with the advent of more modern and more lethal weapons that the crossbow would have been replaced by more modern weaponry. While this is largely true, there are still many active applications for crossbows in modern warfare and in guerrilla actions worldwide.

In Europe, the British manufacturer of Barnet crossbows supplied many to the Serbian military that used them "in ambushes and as a counter-sniper weapon" against the Kosovo Liberation Army in the Kosovo War. Special Forces in Greece and Turkey are still using crossbows for military purposes due to their psychological effect as silent killers. The Green Berets of Spain continue to use crossbows as well.

The Chinese and other Asian countries use the crossbow at all levels of their military and Special Forces. Chinese traffic police have also been seen carrying crossbows - perhaps for the psychological effect they have. In 2009, during the Xinjiang riots, crossbows were used along with conventional arms to control protesters. The Indian Navy's Marine Commando Force used crossbows in place of suppression handguns until the late 1980's.

In North and South America the crossbow has served in several different capacities. The Peruvian army has provided crossbows and special rope for the purpose of establishing zip-lines where the terrain is difficult. The United States uses a crossbow launched type of grapnel hook as a mine neutralizer and to detonate mines triggered by trip wires. It was designed specifically for use in conflicts in the middle-east. Such devices can be used multiple times without revealing the user. The Brazilian Jungle Warfare Center also trains soldiers in the use of crossbows. They have proven to be of great value where noise discipline is essential. On this note, one can draw their own conclusions as to the many other military and clandestine applications this ancient weapon has and can be used for - and you will probably be right!

The Current Violence in Iraq: A Closer Look

The massacre of more than 200 persons in Baghdad on the American Thanksgiving Day holiday highlighted anew the violence that is now tearing Iraq apart. During the 2006 U.S. political campaign, progress in Iraq was overstated and setbacks were discounted at times. Behind the scenes, the situation in Iraq was growing steadily worse. At present, the real situation in Iraq is grim.

Semantics and political posturing aside, Iraq is embroiled in a civil war. Various sectarian groups are fighting one another over power and authority. "The fight to define post-Saddam Iraq has been primarily an intra-Arab struggle to determine how power and authority will be distributed... The conflict...is increasingly a sectarian struggle for power and the right to define Iraq's future identity," Lieutenant General Michael Maples, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency told the Senate Armed Services Committee on November 15, 2006. In speaking before a business forum in the United Arab Emirates, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said that he would describe the current situation in Iraq as a civil war. "I have been using it [the term "civil war"] because I like to face the reality," Powell explained.

For historic perspective, both recent wars in the Balkans, which were sparked by secession efforts rather than a quest for control over the fragmenting Yugoslavia, were termed civil wars. Iraq certainly fits that definition. Moreover, just as "set piece" ground battles no longer fully define conventional warfare among states, tactics and technologies have also evolved in civil wars. Across Africa and parts of Asia, guerrilla tactics have taken precedence over large-scale ground battles in civil wars.

However, in Iraq, the situation is even more complex. The Shia are seeking domination. Some Sunnis are seeking a restoration of Sunni power. Other Shia and Sunni groups are seeking to break away from Iraq. Al Qaeda is seeking to re-establish a base from which it can export its jihad. One senior member of Iraq's government described the violence as "worse than a civil war." He explained, "In a civil war, you at least know which factions are fighting each other. We don't even know that anymore. It's so bloody confused."

Brutality, ethnic cleansing, indiscriminate attacks, and the targeting of religious institutions characterize the furious storm of violence now raging in Iraq. "What is happening round the clock, in detail, is kidnapping of all that is living in a nation that washes in its blood and counts its days and nights with the number of those missing, killed and tortured from among its sons," Khayri Mansur, an Iraqi commentator wrote Al-Bayan, a Baghdad daily newspaper. In Al-Zaman, the Baghdad edition of a London-based newspaper, columnist Fatih Abd al-Salam observed that police patrols "which are supposed to exude a sense of security, cannot move safely in many Iraqi towns and cities." He also explained in an earlier column, "The failure to stop sectarian displacement in Baghdad is a clear indication that that situation is out of control and that the centers of political power are isolated; except for ambiguous and general statements that make no difference."

In the ongoing maelstrom of violence, Iraqis have increasingly lost confidence in the ability of the United States to stabilize the situation. Columnist Khamis al-Rubay'i, writing in Baghdad's Al-Dustur daily newspaper stated that U.S. troops have proved to be "incapable of establishing security and curbing terror." In Sotaliraq, an electronic newspaper published in Baghdad, Muhammad Abd al-Jabbar al-Shabbout, declared, "The U.S. is no longer capable of solving the Iraqi problem on its own." Alwan Hilayil, another columnist for the same publication, asserted, "America's gift to the people of Iraq has boiled down to this huge parade of turbaned, bearded clerics with silver rings on their fingers, who have done irreparable damage to the essentially tolerant doctrine of Islam and stooped to the basest depths of corruption to hoard enough money to last their next kin for generations to come."

Some U.S. commanders also believe the situation threatens to become unmanageable. A classified Marine Corps intelligence report written by Col. Peter Devlin warned that unless an additional 15,000 to 20,000 troops and billions of dollars in assistance were added to the ongoing efforts in the Anbar Province, "there is nothing" that the U.S. "can do to influence" the insurgency in that region. ABC News reported on November 28 that the Pentagon is now considering a plan to pull U.S. forces out of the Anbar Province. "If we are not going to do a better job doing what we are doing..., what's the point of having them out there?" one senior military official asked. With Al Qaeda forming an "integral part of the social fabric" in that part of Iraq according to Devlin's assessment, such a decision would have the potential to concede territory to Al Qaeda on which it could establish the base it had lost when the Taliban were driven from power in Afghanistan.

Violence along the lines of ethnic cleansing is also manifesting itself. "The intimidation and killing of ethnic and religious minorities is of particular concern," the United Nations observed in June 2006. According to that UN report, 2,400 Christian families fled Mosul to areas in which there is a Christian majority. That development is occurring on a much larger scale. Increasingly, Iraqis are moving to areas dominated by their own ethnic group or fleeing the country outright. Iraq's Immigration Minister, Abdul-Samad Sultan observed that approximately 890,000 Iraqis have moved to Jordan, Iran, and Syria since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Another 300,000 have fled to other areas within Iraq, largely to areas in which their ethnic group predominates.

The situation has grown so bad that some Iraqis are even yearning for the "old days" under Saddam Hussein's dictatorship. "There is no question that democracy is important, but more important still is to pluck Iraq out of this runaway chaos, which is the direct result of unrestrained democracy," Dr. Abd al-Khaliq Husayn explained in Sotaliraq. "What is more, I do believe that security with tyranny is better than insecurity with unlimited democracy. The unspeakable suffering of Iraqis as a result of continuous deterioration in security and public services has grown so acute that they have come to regard any talk of democracy as absolutely otiose, many of them even wishing for a return to Saddam's dictatorial reign."

Neither Iraq's government nor its security forces are currently capable of meeting the challenges presented by the ongoing civil war. Presently, two Shia militias comprise a significant share of seats with Iraq's Shia-dominated government. The Mahdi Army and Badr Militia, both of which have been active in the sectarian violence, currently hold more than 20% of the seats in Iraq's parliament.

Aside from the Sunnis who are politically-disenfranchised in such an arrangement, Iraqis now have little confidence in the Iraqi government. In a November 14 op-ed piece in Al-Sabah al-Jadid, a Baghdad political daily newspaper, columnist Hasaballah Yahya complained, "Even as death carries on with its relentless daily harvest of Iraqi lives, our elected legislators, who represent none but themselves, continue to wallow in peace and wealth, totally unconcerned that their nation is drifting fast into the realm of the unknown or that their motherland is being burnt to cinders." Hasan Hatim al-Madhkur, a columnist for Sotaliraq described the present government as "promoting their own 'divide-and-rule'" agenda at the expense of Iraq's welfare and charged that its leaders are "engaged in a feverish race to stoke up sectarian tension."

Iraq's security forces remain largely impotent and heavily tainted by militia elements. Lieutenant General Maples told the Senate Armed Services Committee, "The Ministry of Interior and the police are heavily infiltrated by members of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraaq or SCIRI's Badr Corps and Moqtada al-Sadr's Jayish al-Mahdi. The Jaysh al-Mahdi often operates under the protection or approval of Iraqi police to detain, torture, and kill suspected Sunni insurgents and innocent Sunni civilians." Of Iraq's current 134,000-man army, just 10 battalions or fewer than 10,000 men are deemed effective. In contrast, Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army now has 40,000 to 60,000 fighters. Worse, if provincial elections were held, a U.S. intelligence officer predicted that Sadr's group would win most of the seats from southern Iraq and in Baghdad.

All said, the current on-the-ground situation in Iraq has grown very bad. The violence has advanced to the extent that one commentator, Mahdi Qassim proclaimed in Sotaliraq that "Saddam managed to ruin half of Iraq in thirty years" but the present arrangement has "succeeded in ruining the other half in just three."

If a better outcome is still to be realized in Iraq, the United States, its allies, and moderate Arab states will need to proceed from the vantage point of the harsh reality that currently defines Iraq. The task ahead will be difficult. It will entail developing a legitimate Iraqi government, drafting a constitution that safeguards the rights of all Iraqis, establishing security, disarming the militias, developing political and legal institutions, allowing Iraqis to share ownership of the nation's oil wealth, and reconstructing Iraq's economic infrastructure. Otherwise, Sunni disenfranchisement will only grow, Al Qaeda could attain a new base, the ongoing civil war could intensify, and Iraq could ultimately fragment, with mixed-ethnicity areas becoming horrific killing zones as the country breaks up.

Col Rex Applegate and the Ultimate Book on Defensive Tactics Kill Or Get Killed

There are a lot of books out there about close combat, a few are even worth reading, but the quintessential close quarters combat and defensive tactics book is Kill or Get Killed. If you want to get an inside look at the skills that will help you survive real combat you need to read Kill or Get Killed. In the pages of this classic work is everything you need to know about close combat and self defense as well as how to handle riots and firefights. First published in 1943 to help Allied soldiers in their fight against the Axis powers, it has been revised several times. Even to this day it still helps police officers and soldiers in countless situations. Its author Colonel Rex Applegate learned close combat from the best, and what he wrote cannot be ignored by anyone serious about being a modern warrior.

Born in Oregon on June 21 1914 Applegate's family tree includes heroes of the American Revolution and pioneers who settled in the Pacific Northwest. Applegate grew up in Oregon and early on he developed a love for the wilderness. One of his first teachers was his Uncle Gus Peret, an employee of Remington firearms, who taught the young Applegate not to aim at targets, but to point and shoot instinctively and convulsively. By the time Rex Applegate graduated the University of Oregon with a business degree he was already a crack shot. The 6'3" and powerfully built Applegate excelled at football. But it was here Applegate began his military career when he took part in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). His first assignment would be with the 3rd Infantry Division, an Army Reserve unit that was based out of Fort Lewis Washington.

Prior to the outbreak of World War II Applegate spent his spare time doing research into firefights. His thirst for knowledge about real hand to hand gun fights began extensive research that included police reports and accounts of gunfighters in the old west. The research supported what he already believed; police officers and soldiers weren't being taught what they needed to know to survive a real life gun fight.

Applegate was openly critical of the training the military provided, but instead of getting the proverbial "shaft" he was given an opportunity. Col. Applegate received a commission in the regular Army. When the United States joined the fight against the Axis powers Applegate was eager to go, but he would instead be recruited into America's fledgling clandestine intelligence community.

Before WWII there were no elite military units or intelligence gathering agencies. Any units that had existed prior to the war had long since been disbanded. There weren't even facilities to train new personnel. In the wake of Japan's 1941 attack the military rushed to adapt to meet the new threat, so the Allies began from scratch, setting secret training camps like Camp Richie in Maryland all over North America and England. Applegate along with others was called in to make the best recruits even better, so the Allies could take the war to the Axis.

Before any recruits could be trained, the instructors had to be trained. They were given a crash course in combat martial arts by British Colonel William E. Fairbairn. At the start of training most of the American instructors thought they had little to learn from the British who had only been losing the war up to that point. Though Fairbairn was a veteran police officer and Royal Marine he looked too many like a kindly gray haired school teacher and was hardly intimidating. Fairbairn put an end to any of the misconceptions the American instructors might have had when Fairbairn took on the much stronger and larger Applegate tossed with him with ease into a crowd during a self defense demonstration. From that point forward everyone was willing to listen to what Fairbairn had to say when it came to hand to hand combat.

Though exact numbers are unknown it is believed that some 10,000 recruits trained at Camp Richie where they learned how to take out enemy sentries, hand-to-hand combat, close combat shooting, and other espionage techniques. It was at Camp Ritchie that Applegate and Fairbairn discovered they shared similar views on shooting. Col Applegate quickly learned the importance of martial arts in close combat situations. A point should be made that both men and women received the same training at Camp Ritchie. Many of those men and women were deployed throughout Europe and the Pacific. Commandos and secret agents would help turn the tide of the war, and would set the ground work for Special Forces units in the future.

After the war Applegate would continue to have adventures and keep learning. He would go south of the border as a representative for several American firearms manufactures, and would advise Mexican soldiers and police officers on how to deal with riots and guerilla fighters. At first they didn't think they could learn much from a gringo, but is short time Col Rex Applegate's skills impressed and training were so effective that to this day, his methods are still taught in Mexico.

When Applegate returned to the United States, he would travel and lecture about tactics and training for both law enforcement and military organizations. He would advise the military in during the Korean and Vietnam wars. He authored a number of books and even helped design a number of combat knives (the most famous is the applegate-fairbairn fighting knife). He would continue to update his master work Kill or Get Killed, incorporating changes in technology, but the fundamentals always remained sound. If you're serious about learning about close quarter combat tactics then you'd better pickup a copy.

50 Years of Cuban Revolution

The two legendary figures of Fidel Castro's rebel army - Ernesto Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos was in charge of the two guerrilla columns that attacked the city of Santa Clara, Cuba's third largest city and the capital of Las Villas province. It was the last important bastion of Batista's defensive strategy where his army had consolidated a huge force to resist the rebels. The rebel army's plan looked suicidal as it had just 300 men and were comparatively ill equipped in arms and supplies. In contrast, the Batista army had the strength of 3500 soldiers and ten tanks. Also an armored train was on its way from Havana carrying another 400 well-armed soldiers, weapons, ammunition and supplies. Che had chalked out a three tire battle strategy: to keep the Batista troops confined, to stop the armored train and to involve the generally supportive locals to assist the rebel force. All his plans worked perfectly. The locals restricted the movements of Batista army's tanks and armored vehicles by creating barricades all over the city; the supply train was attacked and seized after a part of the railroad track were removed with tractors by the rebels. With considerable firepower at their disposal the rebel army was able to triumph over the already dispirited defenders to surrender. The battle of Santa Clara was the conclusive battle in the Cuban revolution. Less than 12 hours after the fall of Santa Clara, Fulgencio Batista fled Cuba. The day was 31 December 1958, fifty years ago, when Fidel and his comrades created history.

50 years after the revolution, under half a century of scrupulous blockade and economic warfare, Cuba has attained many considerable achievements to be proud about. It has completely eradicated illiteracy, an unparalleled achievement amongst the countries of Latin America, or even the US. The Cuban government provides free education to all its children up to University level. The country has the highest school retention rate, highest number of teachers per capita and the lowest number of students per classroom among the whole world.

Cuba has also successfully created an incredible 'cradle to the grave' national healthcare system that is completely free for its citizens. The infant mortality rate of Cuba is also the lowest in Latin America. Compared with the conditions of 1959, when average life expectancy was just 58 years, figures according to World Health Organization (WHO) suggest that life expectancy in today's Cuba is 78 years - a remarkable increase of 20 years. Its healthcare system has completely eradicated many infectious and contagious diseases like polio, malaria and dengue from the country. Today, Cuba has the highest number of doctors per capita than any other country in the world. It is also training 76,000 foreign medical students free of charge and is exporting health care facilities to other poor countries. To provide first-rate health care facilities to the underprivileged people all over the third world, in 2008 Cuba has sent 36,500 doctors to eighty one third world nations. It has a flourishing biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, has developed a vaccine for meningitis B and world-wide exports the world's best hepatitis B vaccine.

Today, the Cuban people enjoy cent-percent social security covers and the advantages of institutional equality provided by their government. Cuban society is absolutely free from racism and exploitation and has accomplished remarkable success on women empowerment. Cuban women constitute 40 percent of Cubans labor force, 66 percent of the country's technical and scientific workforce and 36 percent National Assembly Members. It has also attained considerable success in the sporting arena. Today, Cuba has the world's best environmental record, having increased its forest coverage by over 50 percent, drastically reducing electricity used for lighting, and implementing a revolution in organic agriculture. The World Wildlife Fund has described Cuba as the only environmentally sustainable country in the world.

It is significant to note that all of Cuba's major social achievements are principally acquired through social solidarity - by the active involvement of the organized Cuban mass under a brilliant and inspiring leadership of Fidel Castro. When a tiny Latin American country provides free health care and education to its people, endows them with full social security and liberates them from the bondage of social injustices - the country and its ideals are certainly dangerous! And when the same country inspires other deprived nations to revolt against imperialists and neo-liberal crooks, stimulates them to contravene the US superpower - it must be considered as a grave threat!

Cuba was the first Latin America country to achieve liberty from incessant imperialist domination through an armed revolt. It was a brilliantly original revolution; passionately inspiring to ignite waves of revolutionary struggles across the globe. It is also an extraordinary revolution in connotation with the fact that none of its leaders were steadfast communists but young radicals with a broad, democratic and anti-imperialist vision. The origin of these radical youths was a popular movement called the 26 July movement which primarily aimed to bring social justice for the Cuban people through its struggle against the despotic and corrupt rule of Fulgencio Batista, an avaricious scrooge and loyal US agent. After the revolution, the ultimate decision-making power of the revolutionary government remained with the guerrilla fighters of Sierra Maestra under the leadership of the young and unorthodox revolutionary leaders like Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos, Raul Castro, Celia Sánchez and Juan Almeida. These young leaders represented the true spirit of the revolt, believed in collective struggle and ideological novelty. They did not follow any dogmatic revolutionary recipe to achieve their objective. In their early discourses, words like 'communism' or 'socialism' was never even uttered by the rebel leadership. But gradually things changed when the 'naked truths of imperialism' started to reveal its hideous face. This revelation ultimately enforced the leadership to consciously explore the path of socialism. In April 1961, two years and four months after the victory of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro declared the rebellion as a socialist revolution. The US establishment transpired into a state of colossal dismay when Fidel confirmed that he is a Marxist-Leninist.

A commendable aspect of the Cuban revolution is Internationalism, the convenient assistance it provided to countries engaged on processes of radical transformation. Cuba had played a radical role by extending its hand of international solidarity towards the exploited and oppressed regions world over, to abolish the 'exploitation of man by man'. The Cuban attitude of internationalism is best expressed by Che. In the speech delivered on February 1965 at the Second Economic Seminar of Afro-Asian Conference in Algeria, Che had stated:

There are no boundaries in this struggle to the death. We cannot be indifferent to what happens anywhere in the world, for a victory by any country over imperialism is our victory; just as any country's defeat is a defeat for all of us. The practice of proletarian internationalism is not only a duty for the peoples struggling for a better future, it is an inescapable necessity. If the imperialist enemy, American or any other, develops its attack against the underdeveloped peoples and the socialist countries, simple logic determines the necessity of an alliance between the underdeveloped peoples and the socialist countries. If there were no other uniting factor, the common enemy should be it. 

Cuba had extended its support to the Algerian patriots in their struggle against French colonialism. In 1963, when Algeria was attacked by the Moroccan armed forces Cuba shipped a battalion of 22 tanks and several hundred troops to assist the endangered Algerian revolution. In Republic of Congo, Cuba supported the popular leader Patrice Lumumba. After CIA assassinated Lumumba, in 1965, Che Guevara led a group of more than 100 Cuban guerrillas in Congo to help the Simba movement and the Congolese rebels to fight against the US and Belgian colonialists. Cuban internationalism helped to pave way for the independence of Namibia when in 1966 Cuba extended its all-out support to SWAPO and Cuban troops, united with Angolan and Namibian forces defeated South Africa. Between 1973 and 1975, Cuban force aided Syria to guard the Golan Heights from Israeli aggression. In 1975, Cuba assisted Agostinho Neto's MPLA in the struggle against the US backed racist South Africa in Angola. Thousands of Cuban volunteers participated in defending Angola from the attacks of South African troops.

Cuba's role in Africa is acknowledged by none other but Nelson Mandela when he had remarked that, 'Cuban internationalists have done so much for African independence, freedom, and justice'. Cubans had extended solidarity with the heroic fighters of Vietnam and fought in Bolivia. Cuba also actively helped the revolutionary organizations in Nicaragua from 1967 and trained the courageous Sandinista guerrilla force to fight the US backed reactionary Contras. When the US troops invaded Grenada in 1983, Cubans fought along with Grenadian soldiers to resist the invasion. Even today, thousands of Cubans are assisting to implement the Barrio Adentro health mission and the Robinson literacy mission in Venezuela. Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, Bolivia's Evo Morales or Ecuador's Rafael Correa would have faced greater difficulty implementing the popular political empowerment projects in their respected countries without the towering inspiration of the Cuban revolution and the vital support of the Cuban leadership. Without Cuba, it is difficult to imagine the rise of the self-respecting Latin American voices, those who are challenging the hegemony of the US imperialism in their unique way today.

The right wing mainstream media was always pejorative about Fidel and his men from the days they took power. In fact it was this propaganda apparatus which the reactionary forces used as their main bludgeon against Cuba for the last 50 years. Instead of looking at the miraculous survival of Cuba under violent economic, military and counter-revolutionary attacks for almost half a century, instead of looking at the triumphs it has achieved with very limited resources, the mainstream media meticulously continues to supply trite observations, spurious news and analysis. Millions of dollars are spend in the name of academic research to prove why the Cuban revolution is a failure. Today when they proclaim that the island is near to bankruptcy, they do not mention about the illegal economic embargo imposed upon Cuba in context. When they mention about the embargo, it is only to mock Fidel and his team for artfully using the embargo pretext to cover-up their 50 years of misdeeds. The 'most influential' English-language weekly The Economist embraces high hope that once Barack Obama is in office, he will lift the embargo. Well, this 'tremendous' hope is not because The Economist is a friend of the Cuban people. It is also not because lifting the unlawful economic blockade will provide a mouthful of air to the suffocating Cuban economy. It is because, 'Cubans would know they had nobody except their rulers to blame for their plight.' The mainstream media is showing signs of restlessness since Fidel has stepped down and handed over the charge to Raul.

The luminous Cuban revolution has brought sovereignty and dignity to the people of Cuba by ending decades of imperialist exploitation and oppression. From an informal US colony the revolution transformed Cuba into a confident and dignified nation. The Cuban revolution has also in many ways transformed Latin America from the subjugated backyard of the US into a distinguished voice of its own. The US authorities greatly wanted and still want to destroy Cuba because it has become a symbol for others to follow. For 50 long years, Cubans have deeply respected and heroically defended their revolution with admirable courage and dignity from the illegal embargo, forced isolation, aggressive counter-revolutionary military attacks, sabotages, assassination attempts and repeated threats of the US establishment and its lethal foreign policy. Noam Chomsky in a recent interview has accredited Cuba as 'a symbol of courageous resistance'.

Despite of unbelievable odds, Cuba's splendid achievements helped to keep a bright beacon of hope alive in the hearts of millions of people all around the globe. Cuba has shown us how to subsist in a better and humane way which is founded on the principals of peace, social justice and human rights. Today, Cuba is the inspiration to millions who keep on believing that an alternative society, a better world is certainly possible.

Hasta la victoria siempre!