‘Kennedy Decided to Increase Us Involvement in Vietnam Because the South Was Unable to Protect Itself’ Explain Why You Agree or Disagree with This View.

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In many ways Kennedy did increase US involvement in Vietnam to benefit and protect the south, one of the reasons being Kennedy’s awareness of the limitations and weaknesses of the South Vietnamese Army. The instability of a demoralised army would lead to further political problems and make it very difficult for the south to defend its self from the north. However the USA still needed to protect its own vital national interests. The spread of communism was still a growing concern and a massive threat to the USA which argues that the reason USA became involved with the south was to protect USA from the spread of communism rather than to help the people of South Vietnam. Kennedy and the USA was committed to containment meaning the US foreign policy was predicated by the commitment to protect freedom wherever it was under threat which was applied perfectly to South Vietnams situation. This level of commitment became particularly important in view of the USA’s need to preserve creditability as a protector especially of newly independent states like South Vietnam which is why the US involvement was increased. But Kennedy also needed to stand against communism in order to promote his own political image which was more important than simply just protecting South Vietnam. The involvement in South Vietnam was consistent with the USA’s long term policy of establishing a form of economic imperialism in order to strengthen its position as a global power. So it can be questioned that even if South Vietnam were able to protect itself than the USA would have still intervened to strengthen America’s global power suggesting Kennedy didn’t increase US involvement to protect the south but to benefit America’s position. The intensified efforts to establish an independent and united Vietnam was something that had not existed so prominently prior to Kennedy’s election which was why

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