They wouldn’t find the role of the US anywhere. People seemed to forget that it was the US who initiated the conflict. It was the US who backed the Southern Vietnam Government with 16300 military advisors, money and half a million troops so that they could refuse to hold the unification election (“Digital History”). The US also sent 193 B-52 Stratofortress aided with 48 F111 "Aardvark", lots of F4 and graphite noise generator bombs to crush Hanoi (Head 73). And then they withdrew.
Armed with this knowledge, the trusted broadcast journalist decided to air grim editorial detailing his own impressions of the war in Vietnam" (pg 120, 121) When he did this editorial his understanding of the war got the public to feel they were being lied to because they had believed we were winning. Even President Richard Nixon believed that the television was something harmful to Americans. In 1971, Nixon even stated that "aside from the communists, our worse enemy seems to be the press." With this understand we
1 The USA was deeply hostile towards the Soviet Union and fearing a spread of communism, adopted a policy of containment. 4 In Vietnam the target of containment was Ho Chi Minh and the Vietminh front he had created in 1941. Ho and his chief lieutenants were communists with long-standing connections to the Soviet Union. 5 Hoping to halt a takeover by the communist North Vietnamese (led by Ho Chi Minh) 6, US officials chose to support the anti-Communist prime minister of South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem1,. As opposed to the other superpower, America got directly involved, sending not only financial aid1 but actively participating in the military effort.
11, 2001: "We will stay on the offense against the terrorists, fighting them abroad so we do not have to face them here at home." Former Pentagon adviser Richard Perle believes the message sends a mixed signal. "It's certainly true the president has not succeeded in inspiring the belief that we face an existential threat," says Perle. "The problem with the term 'war on terrorism' is it leaves the enemy ill defined." A few weeks ago, one of the president's advisors told NPR that Mr. Bush never wanted to burden the public with the war; that, in his mind, he was hired by the American people to do the job on their behalf.
Many American citizens in 1959 viewed the Vietnam War as a righteous battle against communism, similar to the Iraq War today however now many view this war as a necessary battle against terrorism. Looking at America's overall goal in Vietnam, it is evident that we did not come close to keeping South Vietnam from collapsing, who fell to communist rule in 1975 (Frankum 210). America's involvement in the conflicts of Vietnam and Iraq were so discordant that our government, people, and military were constricted. Yet both wars were fought with the knowledge that America may change the invaded nation, which brings a precarious question; what makes the government believe that they have the right to go into a country and change it to the way they
This occurred some years after 1950. In the 1960s and 70s, the American public became very angry and frustrated with the military-industrial complex. The protest against the Vietnam War had reached its very highest. In President Eisenhower‘s farewell address, he warned, “ In the councils of government, we must guard against acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.” The American public should refrain from gaining any negative or unauthorized influences by the military-industrial complex.
However, all of this is nulled by the fact that America was set back at all when it appeared that America was invincible. This caused a great distrust in the American people with the military leaders on how optimistic the war could really be. All of this occurred in the late sixties, which was a time of rebellion (and utter ignorance in some sense) going against mainstream ideas. The liberation of other countries was not important to the American people, regardless of
The government they set up was failing so in 1965 the United States send in troops to prevent collapse of it. The horrible tactics of the Diem government eventually led to opposition within South Vietnam. Ngo Dinh diem’s government represented a minority of Vietnamese who were mostly businessmen, Roman Catholics, large landowners, and others who had fought with the French against the Vietnamese. The United States first tried to help the Southern Vietnamese government with military advisers and financial assistance, but more involvement was needed to keep it from collapsing. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution gave President Johnson permission to escalate the war in Vietnam.
The French were not involved in this war but a played a role in how and why it started. After World War II the French had control of Vietnam, The French rule was harsh and once Ho Chi Minh came to rule he tried for independence from French and as this happened communism came about. The U.S.A was worried about the spread of communism in Asia and believed that they too should have a democratic government. What sparked the interest of the United States was the “Domino Theory” which meant that the goal of communism was
Tragedy of 9/11 “Our enemies have made the mistake that America’s enemies always make. They saw liberty and thought they saw weakness. And now, they see defeat. (Bush,George.www.wordpress.com)” Is the words George W. Bush said that was part of his speech after America was attacked. He couldn’t even believe what was happening.