User:Veritas Aeterna/Draft Vietnam War Nick Turse

Nick Turse, in “Kill Anything that Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam,” argues that a relentless drive toward higher body counts, a widespread use of free-fire zones, rules of engagement where civilians who ran from soldiers or helicopters could be viewed as VietCong, and a widespread disdain for Vietnamese civilians led to massive civilian deaths and casualties inflicted by U.S. troops. One example is Operation Speedy Express, an operation by the 9th Infantry Division, which was described by John Paul Vann as, in effect, “many My Lais”. In more detail,