There were several factors that created this general distrust. One of these factors included America’s continued presence in Vietnam when funding was out of the country’s budget. On top of warfare spending, President Johnson implemented and Congress supported a number of much needed domestic programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Federal Education spending (“Great Society,” 2009). However, as taxes were not raised to help support these new programs, President Johnson’s Great Society agenda resulted in inflation and an incredible contribution to the federal debt. Another event that impacted the public’s view of government dishonesty during this time was President Nixon’s involvement with the infamous Watergate scandal which eventually led to his resignation on August 9, 1974.
The True Meaning of Liberation When the United States led an invasion of Iraq in 2003, there was great dissent over whether there was enough justification for the invasion. The president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, had been accused of holding weapons of mass destruction as well as committing several crimes against the people of Iraq. The United States government held that Saddam’s regime was threatening to the world and its own people, and many Americans supportive of the government since 9/11 thought the same. However, there was a wave of protests across western countries condemning the act. These protestors argued that there were not enough reasons to justify an invasion of Iraq.
When the war started many American people was against it and want this to end son as possible. They were against it because United States didn´t have any trade with Vietnam or something like that. Many people give their opinions about the war in Vietnam. In the next paragraphs I am going to talk about two American groups fell about the war, the two groups are the American public and the soldiers. The first group the American public at the beginning of the war agreed with the fact that Us was helping South Vietnam, this because the president of the united States in this year told the people that they need to go to war and they have to go even if they don´t like the idea.
The USA entered the war to stop the spread of Communism in South East Asia. Americans fear of Communism meant that American governments in the 1950s and 1960s used their economic and military strength to support anti-Communists around the world. In South-East Asia, the USA became heavily involved in the defence of South Vietnam. In the early stages of the Vietnam War, many Americans supported US government policy. By 1968, however, over half a million US soldiers and marines were fighting in the jungles of South Vietnam and there had been thousands of US casualties.
Many people believe we win wars, when in actuality, no one does, especially those who serve in the armed forces (Suicide Wall, 11-10-2000). The Vietnam and other wars have mentally and sometimes physically dismembered many veterans. Another factor that plays a role in a war-related suicide is the addition of many on-site diseases such as defoliants, Agent Orange in particular. Made up of equal parts N-Butyl Ester 2,4,-D and N-Butyl Ester 2,4,5,-T, Agent Orange made many Vietnam soldiers go insane (Vietnam Veterans, 11-10-2000). This atrocious chemical lead and still today leads to death, deformation, and diabetes.
All previous wars that Americans were part of could actually be traced back to the actual cause of the war in the first place (Peter). During the time of the Vietnam War, the media began to give the movement a fiercer stance against the war because people were able to see actual war footage. It can be said that if other wars Americans were involved in leaked actual war footage, there would have been a stronger stance taken against those wars as well. The Vietnam War was dissimilar to other wars because there was no actual prompt or threat that could have harmed the American people. The government wanted to continue its firm engagement against communalism.
This extract from the short story 'The Truth about War' deals with the ambiguity and contradictions of war; particularly focussing on the comparison between the beauty and brutality of it. O'Brien tries to convey to us through the use of compare and contrast that there is hope of peace in war. War will make you grow up due to what you have experienced. War will make you value life. O'Brien's extract conveys to the readers the contradictory feelings that war evokes in a person.
This evidence shows that the way people saw the war was changing. The people didn’t want to see their husbands, kids, friends, or their neighbors fighting in such a horrifying war. The media coverage changed the way people saw the war because it made them realize that there were thousands of Americans dying overseas in a war that they didn’t need to be involved in. The Vietnam changed people’s view about the war, “The Vietnam War was the most extensively covered war in history. This coverage was thought to have had a powerful influence on public opinion and therefore on political decision making”.
The images that were broadcasted all over America did not please the public and before long riots and protests were being held in the streets to end the war. This was because hundreds of American soldiers had died in a war they thought was coming to an end. The Tet Offensive proved otherwise and caused a major disagreement between the public and the American government. Many people believe that this almost forced the government to end the war because without the moral support from their own country there would be no chance in another. On the other hand, the Americans actually won the fight and in doing so managed to kill thousands of Vietcong’s, unmasked Vietcong’s, which they had not been able to do very well until this point.
Although the Tet Offensive was unsuccessful for the North Vietnamese Army, they showed that United States had seriously underestimated them and their capabilities. The United States boasted prematurely that the war was nearing its end and the North Vietnamese were all but defeated. However those statements were discredited by the media who brought the Tet Offensive into the homes of millions of Americans which resulted in the highest disapproval of any war amongst American citizens in the history of the United States. In addition the Tet Offensive also showed that the North Vietnamese were willing to fight until the last man and that regardless of how many casualties they suffered, they would fight the United States until the end. SGT Jordan Alvarado SFC Delong 13F ALC Class 017-13 19 July 2013 The