The Vietnam War

Background:

Indo-China war, 1946-1954, De-colonization of the French, Ho Chi Minh, Dien Bien Phu, Geneva Agreement 1954, 17^th Parallel, North (Minh), South (Diem), Opposition to the South through the NLF and Vietcong.

President Kennedy increased “Military Advisors” because the USA feared Saigon could not control the Communist problems in the South
1962 – Number of military advisors goes from 500 to 10,000
1963 – the corrupt Southern leader Diem is overthrown with CIA help
The initial fact finding missions of the state department kept telling the USA to get out, it was a no win situation
But, the American leaders were blinded by their fear of Communism and the Domino Theory.

The Gulf of Tonkin Incident – 1964, The North apparently torpedoed a US destroyer
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution – by President Lynden Johnson led to regular ground troops and air support
200,000 troops in 1965 increased to 600,000 troops by 1968
The NLF and the Vietcong were getting massive support form the North through the HO Chi Minh Trail
This was a supply route from the North through Laos into Cambodia and into the South
Johnson changed the term advisors to combat troops
1968 the Tet Offensive – massive attack by the North – America was winning the battles, but losing the war.
The Vietnamese knew the territory, jungle fighting, were there for a purpose, while the Americans began to wonder why they were fighting in a jungle far away from home.
The media became very important as American ate dinner at home and watched the war every night on the news.

By 1968 Johnson was totally discredited by the war – it forced him to no seek re-election.
Richard Nixon became the next president of the United States on a peace in Vietnam platform, but would not just pull out of the war right away.

The anti-war movement in the USA had reached a huge level – college rally of stop the war were frequent, troops returning home were treated rudely, not as war hero’s
Nixon was forced to try and find an honorable way to pull out, not just quit
Nixon’s Secretary of State Henry Kissinger would play a vital role in the plan
Vietnamization meant making the millions of South Vietnamese capable of defending themselves, while allowing the USA to withdraw slowly – they had to train the Southern troops
Train the Southern troops and establish a credible Southern Government (Diem had done damage)
The first withdrawals began in 1969 of troops but Nixon increased the air war – the B-52 bombers were unleashed onto the North to try and get the North to make some concessions at the peace talks.
By 1971, the war was almost totally an air war, bombing North Vietnam
By 1972, the US had only 200,00 troops, but continued bombing
By Jan. 27, 1973 – a cease fire was signed – all the USA got out of 20 years of war was the return of their POW’s – the USA had 60 days to get out.
Aug. 15 1973 – all US forces were out of Vietnam
By the spring of 1975, the South was completely collapsed into the North, Saigon fell.

The war cost the US $150 billion – 2 million Americans saw action – 57, 939 died
The US dropped more tonnage of bombs on the North than all the bombs dropped by both sides during WWII
The US lost some influence in South-East Asia
Violent turmoil resulted at home in the USA – America lost her innocence, and acted like an old colonial power, thus losing some international credibility
The Presidency lost some of its power in how it could wage war, in fact the state of war in Vietnam had never been declared.

Even nuclear superpowers had their limitations, constant threat of Russian or Chinese retaliation
Without popular support, a democracy cannot win a war
Military intervention in popular uprising can be futile
The conscription of troops is not a reliable way to produce an army
The Domino Theory collapsed after Vietnam
The experience in Vietnam helped to bring about a serious questioning of many fundamental beliefs in American society

The Cambodian Communists called the Khmers Rouge began to challenge for power in 1964
During the Vietnam War Cambodian neutrality was violated by the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and the secret operations by the Americans in their search and kill operations.
In 1975 a military coup established the Khmer Rouge with Pol Pot as an absolute dictator
Pol Pot over the next 4 years massacred around 1 million people in what is been called the Killing Fields (movie)
Pol Pot was removed in 1979 by the people of the Vietnamese Army
Cambodia is now democratic after Vietnam left in 1989
Vietnam tried to force another Indo-China federation in 1979, and China attacked the Vietnamese – to teach them a lesson
This created the Boat People – a refugee problem