Editing Search and destroy (section)

{{Short description|Military strategy}}
{{other uses}}
{{redirect|Seek and destroy|the Metallica song|Seek & Destroy}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=September 2007}}
[[File:Vietconghuntcrop.jpg|thumb|An American soldier searching a Vietnamese house for [[Viet Cong]] guerrillas during the [[Vietnam War]].]]

'''Seek and destroy''' (also known as '''search and destroy''', or '''S&D''') is a [[military strategy]] which consists of inserting [[infantry]] forces into hostile territory and directing them to search and then attack enemy targets before immediately withdrawing. First used as part of [[counterinsurgency]] operations during military conflicts in [[Southeast Asia]] such as the [[Malayan Emergency]] and the [[Vietnam War]], the strategy was developed to take advantage of new technological capabilities available to Western militaries such as the [[helicopter]], which allowed for the adoption of new tactics like the [[air assault]]. 

Primarily used in [[jungle warfare]], the strategy was developed with [[Asymmetric warfare|asymmetric tactics]] in mind rather than [[conventional warfare]]. A related strategy known as [[clear and hold]], which entailed military forces clearing an area of enemy personnel and then keeping the area clear of enemies while winning the local population's support, was developed around the same period and used alongside the search and destroy strategy. [[Body count]]s were commonly used to determine the success of the strategy, which entailed fighting a [[Attrition warfare|war of attrition]] against an [[insurgency]].<ref>Starry, p. 221</ref>