Vietnam War free essay sample

The Vietnam War is often interpreted by historians as a ‘Television war’ in which the unqualified access to uncensored war footage and inaccuracies with media reports caused public disillusionment. Historians such as Peter Braestrup and Mark Woodruff have argued that the T? t Offensive was undermined by a media fallacy by causing the demise of public support for the Vietnam War. The media fallacy was the misinterpretation of available evidence on the behalf of western journalists. This view is supported by the inconsistencies between media reports and the genuine outcome of this conflict. These inconsistencies are illustrated in the public perception of the South Vietnamese, the misinterpreted attack on the US embassy, the city of Hu? and the belief in a North Vietnamese victory. Revisionist historians have dissembled this argument and demonstrated how factors such as poor leadership, self censorship and the degeneracy of moral forces during the T? t Offensive have substantially shaped the perceptions of the public. In an attempt to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam by Communist North Vietnam, the United States joined forces with Britain, France, Thailand, Pakistan, Philippines, New Zealand, and Australia to for the Southeast Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO) on September 8, 1954. However, this had very limited success. Unfortunately for the Americans, situations became messy when the Led by Ho Chi Minh, the Northern Communist Party formed the National Liberation Front (NFL) on December 20, 1960, in hopes of reuniting the divided nation. The American-backed corrupt Diem government was vulnerable to the communists. Following the 1947 Truman Doctrine, the United States felt obligated to impose the â€Å"containment policy† by halting the â€Å"spread of communism. † Therefore, in the 1960s, President John F. Kennedy and his administration, devoted to defend the Southern Democratic government, began to American boys into the perilous jungles of Vietnam. The â€Å"modernization theory† also helped support the United States’ reason for entering a foreign war. The theory stated that the â€Å"traditional societies of Asia†¦could develop into modern industrial and democratic nations by following the West’s own path† (The American Pageant 913). In other words, if developed Western nations, such as the United States, assisted developing countries in other parts of the world, namely Asia, both economically and industrially, then those countries will, in turn, transform into nations with democratic governments hereby eliminating communism. Clearly referenced to in Walt Whitman Rostow’s book, The Stages of Economic Growth, the modernization theory significantly supported the United States’ decision to enter the Vietnam War. However, on November 22, 1963, President Kennedy’s tragic death gave his Vice President, Lyndon Baines Johnson, the presidency. At this time, American morale in the Vietnam War was still high. In the Cold War, tensions with the communistic Soviets were even colder than ever before, especially since they threw their support toward the communist NFL in the North against the United States-supported Diem government in the South. American citizens learned to scorn and sneer at the Soviets, and began to enlist in the army to directly defeat the communists in Vietnam and to indirectly humiliate Soviet Russia. In August of 1964, President Johnson claimed that Northern Vietnamese had fired at American ships in the Tonkin Gulf while attacking Southern Vietnam. Using this as the perfect excuse, President Johnson persuaded both houses of Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, virtually giving him a â€Å"blank check† for the Vietnam War. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution states for â€Å"the United States†¦to take all the necessary steps, including armed force, to assist any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom† (The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Archives). Although the Vietnam War had noble intentions, the number of â€Å"doves,† those who opposed the war, back home was increasing. In response, the Johnson Administration decided to advocate for a policy of gradual escalation on December 1, 1964. This policy eventually led to the meaningless loss of over 50,000 American soldier lives in the Vietnam jungles. As a result, popularity for President Lyndon B. Johnson began to plummet considerably. In February of 1965, Viet Cong guerrillas attacked Pleiku, South Vietnam, an American air base. In retaliation, President Johnson ordered for â€Å"Operation Rolling Thunder† to take place. This operation was a full-scale bombing raid against North Vietnam during the middle of March 1965. Before the end of 1965, more than 184,000 U. S. soldiers, under General William C. Westmoreland, were â€Å"slogging through the jungles and rice paddies of South Vietnam searching for guerillas† (The American Pageant 927). Following the policy of gradual escalation, President Johnson sent more and more young men to the Vietnamese frontier: 385,000 in 1966, 485,000 in 1967, and 538,000 in 1968. During the fighting, the South Vietnamese watched the war on the sidelines as it became increasingly Americanized. Numerous corrupt and weak governments were put in place in Saigon, only to be overthrown shortly after. However, American officials still remained faithful to defend the democratic government. However in January of 1968, situations in South Vietnam became even tenser. The North Vietnamese conducted an attack on South Vietnam, nearly capturing the American embassy in Saigon. Although this proved to be a significant turning point in the war, President Johnson underestimated the Northern Vietnamese by informing his people that the United States was winning the war. However, the nearly successful and sophisticatedly planned Tet Offensive showed American military experts that perhaps the Northern Vietnamese were not as â€Å"underdeveloped† as previously believed. Although in 1965 the number of Americans that favored withdrawal from Vietnam was only 15%, four years later, 69% of Americans claimed that â€Å"the war was a mistake† (The American Pageant 928). With almost 60,000 American casualties by the end of the war, it is no surprise that the majority of American citizens opposed the war. Upon learning the increasing casualties nd unnecessary violence in Vietnam, the number of student protests skyrocketed, causing civil unrest back home in the United States. In the spring 1967, more than 500,000 protested in New York City’s Central Park by burning their draft cards. However, protests began to sprout from within the American army as well. From 1960 to 1973, around 500,000 soldiers abandoned the U. S. army. In addition, more than 30,000 fled to Canada to escape from the conscription. Impenitent critics and protestors of the war taunted at President Johnson, â€Å"Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today? † (Los Angeles Times 1997). Numerous citizens questioned the morality of the Vietnam War. When the My Lai Massacre occurred in 1968, the American public was both appalled and outraged by the actions of the American soldiers. At the My Lai Massacre, U. S. soldiers had allegedly abused, tortured, and murdered up to 400 innocent Vietnamese civilians that were too frail to fight. The horrors of the Vietnam War became even worse when a U. S. soldier, Keith Franklin, was killed tragically in battle. However, his death was significant in the letter that he wrote to his parents, which revealed the true horrors of this bloody war. He wrote: â€Å"The war that has taken my life†¦is immoral, unlawful, and an atrocity. So as I lie dead†¦help me inform the American people†¦that their silence is permitting this atrocity to go on and that my death will not be in vain if by prompting them to act†¦in some way†¦to bring an end to the war that has brought an end to my life† (The Vietnam War 56). Was this war avoidable? In President Johnson’s point of view, the answer is negative. He claims that the United States had to defend its â€Å"vital interests in Vietnam† (Los Angeles Times 1997) and thus, the war was unavoidable when the NFL attacked the Democratic government of South Vietnam. Although America was not directly affected by the Vietnam War, President Johnson and his administration knew that they were obligated to stop the spread of communism, as stated by the containment policy. In other words, the â€Å"vital interests in Vietnam† were simply the Democratic Diem government in South Vietnam. However, for the majority of Americans at the time, they claimed the war was clearly preventable and unnecessary. Many believed the United States was not directly affected by the Vietnam issue and should stay out of the war, especially since the disastrous Korean War ad just ended. The horrifying violence and hostility of the war only helped strengthen their beliefs against the opinion American government. Although President Johnson used the Truman Doctrine to defend his actions in Vietnam, it was not a good enough excuse for the 69% of Americans in 1969 who declared the war was both pointless and immoral. Along with the rising number of student protests and the i ncreasing frustration brought by numerous failed military tactics, American politicians argued whether the United States should engage in a full-scale attack against the communists. If the United States was able to defeat and conquer Northern Vietnam and reinstate a Democratic government, both China and USSR would continue to supply communist Vietnamese rebels and encourage them to overthrow the Democratic government. This possibility frightened many American politicians and citizens, which certainly had a significant impact on the Vietnamese foreign affairs from 1968 to 1975. President Nixon, elected in 1968, took those possibilities into consideration and started a process called â€Å"Vietnamization. † He began to withdraw troops, but the war continued until 1975 when Saigon eventually fell to the North Vietnamese Army. In the end, the American soldiers finally came home, but the American public still pointed fingers at who was at fault for this embarrassing loss. Although it is true that neither President Johnson nor Defense Secretary McNamara had faith that America could win the war, it is also high probable that they could have with more troops, fewer restrictions, and better military tactics. However, if this was executed, it is also very likely that bigger consequences would have resulted: potential bloody and violent conflicts with communistic China and USSR. Whether the United States should have won the Vietnam War refers to the moral implications of the war. When Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara eventually admitted that â€Å"he and Johnson’s other aides knew that their Vietnam strategy had little chance of success†¦[but] pressed ahead with it†¦sending young Americans to their deaths†¦because they had no other plan† (Los Angeles Times 1995), it only proved to the American people that the Americans should not, and did not, win the war. Along with the My Lai Massacre, the Vietnam War only demonstrated how incapable the United States was to prevent the spread of communism. Despite whether the war could or should have been won, it is possible that the United States avoided the Vietnam War all together. Engaging in the war was completely unnecessary, as many American citizens had voiced. Despite the Truman Doctrine, the United States should not have mingled in another foreign country’s affairs and violating that country’s sovereignty. However, the Vietnam War began at a time when McCarthyism was weakening and ending. Nevertheless, the Red Scare that Joseph McCarthy had brought frightened the American public. As a result, the Vietnam War was at first encouraged by 85% of the nation when the fighting seriously began in 1965. Perhaps without McCarthyism and the Red Scare, it is possible that the Vietnam War would have been avoided if the American public had not pushed for it so urgently in the mid 1960s. As one of the most discussed issues, the Vietnam War left a â€Å"controversial footprint in American history. Many historians questioned the actions of President Lyndon B. Johnson during the war. The war is often tied together with the symbolic mass student protests back home and the immoral, bloody violence in Vietnam. With more than 55,000 young American lives lost, was it possible that the conflict could have been avoided? Was it possible that the war could have been won or was it moral that the war should have been won? Although these questions have been debated frequently, the answers can only be found within the opinions of the American public itself.