[dfwgator]

Vietnam was lost because the government of the South favored the Catholic minority over the Buddhist majority, can’t win ‘hearts and minds’ like that.

[Kickaha]

But where did the “hearts and minds” doctrine come from?
Precipitously withdrawing support was as disastrous there as it was in Afghanistan.

[PsyCon]

I've seen & heard that claim, especially from Habersham and other anti- Diem writers, but think it's more propaganda than fact. According to Mark Moyar most Vietnamese practiced a form of ancestor worship. That actually fits better with what I saw in I Corps. But even some Buddhist sects such as the Hoa Hoa & Cao Dai were strongly opposed to the Viet Cong.

Suggest getting a copy of Phoenix And The Birds Of Prey: The CIA's Secret Campaign to Destroy the Viet Cong. “The majority of villagers actually favored the Siagon government over the Viet Cong during the latter years of the war.”
It wasn't “hearts and minds” it was 22 Divisions of NVA.