America lost in Vietnam, Indonesia lost in West Papua?

On April 30, 1975, the North Vietnamese revolutionary army entered Saigon, the capital of the US puppet state of South Vietnam.

That day, the world was stunned to see the frantic scene of the evacuation of the last American soldiers and diplomats. Many asked how could a superpower with its military superiority be defeated by ordinary soldiers from a small country? To this day, the Vietnam War is never finished being discussed.

Why did America lose in Vietnam?

From all I have learned, I concluded that there were three main factors in the US defeat in Vietnam:

1. The US failed to understand the resolve of the Vietnamese revolutionaries and their willingness to sacrifice their lives for victory.
2. International opinion strongly condemned the violence of American soldiers against Vietnamese civilians that was exposed in various media.
3. The US army's morale was low and its advanced military equipment was of little use as the Vietcong who controlled the terrain used guerrilla tactics that favored close combat.

In short, the US lost because of the arrogance that blinded it. Faced with a fait accompli, the US finally conceded defeat in Vietnam.

West Papua, Indonesia's Vietnam?

On a different scale, a "Vietnam war" also took place in West Papua, a territory in the Pacific that was annexed by Indonesia in the 1960s. For more than six decades, the Indonesian army has been fighting the West Papuan Liberation Army without being able to defeat it.

But unlike the United States, which admitted defeat and withdrew its troops from Vietnam, Indonesia insisted on retaining West Papua. The war continued despite hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Why Indonesia is still in West Papua?

West Papuan guerrillas posing with a captured combat drone.

Although Indonesia's war in West Papua appears to be based on territorial integrity, critical thinkers can see that the main reason is actually economic, given West Papua's abundant natural resources. West Papua has the third largest gold and copper reserves in the world.

Indonesia's current position in West Papua is as bad as that of the US in Vietnam in the early 1970s. Globally, the morale of Indonesian troops is low, with many of them willing to sell their weapons just for money. Some are even rumored to have defected. The heavy war equipments brought from Jakarta have also proved ineffective as West Papuan guerrillas are experienced in mountainous terrain and close combat. They are now able to fend off drone attacks and even bring down helicopters.

War in West Papua: a tie game?

In my opinion, the only factor keeping Indonesia afloat is the lack of media coverage of its crimes against West Papuans. These events didn't get as much exposure as the U.S.'s misdeeds in Vietnam. The multinationals operating in West Papua help Indonesia hide its shame. To this day, access for foreign journalists is almost non-existent in West Papua.

Despite its cavalier propaganda, I think the Indonesian regime at some point realized that its time was running out. They know that their war in West Papua cannot be won until all West Papuans are exterminated.

What about the West Papuan freedom fighters themselves? Far from a decisive victory, they still need coordination to unite the different resistance factions. Moreover, given that more than half of the population in West Papua is now Indonesian, steps need to be taken to appeal to their sympathy for the cause. Ultimately, the war in West Papua is a tie game. 

Americans only win in Hollywood movies... Similarly, the Indonesian army only claims victory in West Papua in the local media.