over the course of late 1965 and early 1966 the viet cong ( vc ) and the pavn intensified Cause_change_of_strength their military threat along the dmz .

although dozens of vc were killed Killing , the operation took Conquering a hard toll on the populations as civilian casualties eroded popular support for diem and resulted in growing peasant hostility toward america , which was largely blamed Judgment_communication for the unpopular resettlement program as well as the bombings .