Why The Vietnam War?: Nuclear Bombs and Nation Building in Southeast Asia, 1945-1961

In Denial explores the ongoing conduct of officially deniable military action across the globe during four decades of the Cold War, from Tibet and Laos to Cuba and into Africa in the Congo and Angola. Its resurgence in the 21st Century, with new justifications, new sponsors and new tactics is also detailed in this book.National leaders often turn to secret and deniable military action in order to avoid the political challenges – and consequences – of officially and openly ordering military action. These type of operations are a constant temptation for leaders as they offer intervention without the risk of combat losses or major economic impact.Experienced military personnel may be used in such actions – if they are covertly detailed to secret projects, detached from regular service or released to work as “contractors”. But in pursuit of official deniability, actual combat - with its casualties and collateral damage – must be left to indigenous volunteers or to the contract employees.But these operations come with inherent problems.In Denial explores how deniable military actions were conducted during the Cold War, the challenges of command and control in secret warfare, and the reality that deniable military action was never abandoned, even while repeatedly failing in both its political and military goals.That exploration digs deeply into one of the most dramatic and highly public failures of ostensibly deniable military action – the American effort to oust the regime of Fidel Castro, from its beginning under President Eisenhower to the eventual disaster of the Bay of Pigs amphibious landings. In Denial provides an in depth examination of the propaganda, political action, and military elements of the separate phases of the fourteen month long Cuba Project – examining and detailing key elements of its two separate failures, with the first some six months prior to the Bay of Pigs. In doing so it offers dramatic new insights into the causes and responsibilities of both failures.There were lessons learned at the Bay of Pigs, but driven by political pressures they proved to be short lived in actual practice. In Denial traces those practices from the Kennedy Administration onwards – and in a new century examines how covert military action has reemerged, with operations conducted by regimes in Russia, China, and Iran in pursuit of regional political and economic sovereignty. In doing so it deals with the question of whether certain new practices of secret warfare – seemingly effective by comparison – will actually prove to be more successful, or only prove to have delayed consequences.Praise For Larry Hancock's previous national security booksSurprise Attack “In clear and detailed writing, the author focuses on the widespread American command and control networks that examine strategic/national and tactical/local intelligence… An important topic for everyone to comprehend, as the threat of a new attack is constant, both from home-grown extremists as well as foreign groups.” — Library Journal Starred ReviewShadow Warfare “The authors’ attention to tactical methods, such as the use of front companies, may interest readers of intelligence history, while those concerned with the constitutionality of this subject will be sated with discussion of its legal aspects. Because its extensive research is wrapped in politically neutral prose, Shadow Warfare engages a range of readers with a controversial topic.” – Booklist ReviewCreating Chaos "Hancock shows how age-old tactics have moved into new forms of cyber technology as governments on both sides have sown disinformation in order to create chaos. Creating Chaos makes startling charges but it is matter of fact, never veers towards sensationalism” — Kirkus Reviews