Glossary: Indian Country
Vietnam-era military slang meaning "An area
where the people's allegiance belongs to the enemy."
Of course, pretty much the entire nation was Indian Country. With remarkably few
exceptions, the Vietnamese people in the south of their country supported
expulsion of foreign occupiers and reunification with the north. An enormous majority
supported the guerilla movement known as the National Liberation Front. Support
was especially strong in the countryside, where the majority of the people lived.
To American soldiers,
"Indian country"
in effect meant every place, especially every rural place, outside their fortified bases.
Today much of Afghanistan and Iraq is Indian Country. Like Vietnam in the early days of the
American occupation, local fighters are learning to neutralize
American technological advantages. In time their resistance will become increasingly
successful, as it did in Vietnam. It's unfortunate that so many will die for such an
ignoble purpose.
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