The Viet Minh, or League for the independence of Vietnam, was a nationalist organization that was created during World War II. It was an underground army established by Ho Chi Minh fighting against foreign occupation by using guerrilla warfare. The Viet Minh de-emphasized the communist social revolution to attract broadest possible coalitions. After Germany had conquered France, German's ally, the Japanese, moved into Vietnam. Japan did not have enough resources to rule over Vietnam as France had. The lack of control over the Vietnamese led to the formation of many nationalist organizations. The most effective being the Viet Minh.
In 1960, the National Liberation Front (NLF) was founded by the main members of the Viet Minh. The NLF operated in South Vietnam and swore to overthrow the South Vietnamese government in order to reunify Vietnam. The Viet Minh began to fade as their members began to join the NLF. During the French Indochina War (1946–1954), the VPA (Vietnam People's Army) was often referred to as the Viet Minh. In the context of the Vietnam War (1959–1975), the army was referred to as the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) or the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). This allowed the U.S. Military, and the general public, to distinguish northern communists from the southern communists, or Viet Cong. However, northerners and southerners were always under the same command structure.
by Dancing with Fire June 20, 2011
The Gulf Cartel is one of the oldest and most powerful of Mexico’s criminal groups but has lost territory and influence in recent years to its rivals, including its former enforcer wing, the Zetas.
The Gulf Cartel is one of Mexico’s most storied, wealthy and established operations. Working with Colombian suppliers, this group moves drugs north from its stronghold in Tamaulipas, and is known to outsource other activities, especially those related to human trafficking, to local “enforcer” gangs. Its one-time boss, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, was considered the country’s most powerful underworld leader at one point, and its enforcers, the Zetas, Mexico’s most feared gang.
by Dancing with Fire July 09, 2011
The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), led by Joseph Kony, operated in the north from bases in southern Sudan. The LRA committed numerous abuses and atrocities, including the abduction, rape, maiming, and killing of civilians, including children. In addition to destabilizing northern Uganda from bases in Sudan, the LRA congregated in the Bunia area in eastern Congo. They linked up with the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR) and other rebel groups that were battling with forces from the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD).
The Lord's Resistance Army continued to kill, torture, maim, rape, and abduct large numbers of civilians, virtually enslaving numerous children. Although its levels of activity diminished somewhat compared with 1997, the area that the LRA targeted grew. The LRA sought to overthrow the Ugandan Government and inflicted brutal violence on the population in northern Uganda. LRA forces also targeted local government officials and employees. The LRA also targeted international humanitarian convoys and local NGO workers.
by Dancing with Fire June 23, 2011
The Central Intelligence Agency of the United States, formed in 1947 to conduct foreign intelligence collection, covert action, and counterintelligence operations abroad.
by Dancing with Fire September 03, 2012
The professional activity of helping individuals, groups, families, organizations, and communities to enhance or restore their capacity for social functioning and to create societal conditions favorable to their goals. Social work requires knowledge of human development and behavior; of social, economic, and cultural institutions, and of the interaction of all these factors.
Social workers use their knowledge and skills to provide social services to clients, as defined by the National Association of Social Workers. They help people increase their capacities for problem solving and help them obtain needed resources, facilitate interactions between individuals and between people and their environments, make organizations responsible to people, and influence social policies. One common misconception of social workers is that people believe that most of them are "baby snatchers.” People don't see the services provided by social workers, the families social workers have helped, or the children social workers have saved, or the parents that come back to thank the social workers.
by Dancing with Fire October 16, 2011
SAVAK has been described as Iran's "most hated and feared institution" prior to the revolution of 1979 because of its practice of torturing and executing opponents of the Pahlavi regime.
by Dancing with Fire April 08, 2013
by Dancing with Fire June 24, 2011