Was the Vietnam War Winnable

American soldiers either volunteered or got drafted to serve their country. Most soldiers feared or hated the Vietnamese. While most wars are fought through conventional means, there were basically two wars that took place in Vietnam; the traditional war from 1964 – 1968 and the unconventional war from 1968 – 1972. “From the American G.I.’s point of view, the enemy was the North Vietnamese army whose members could be easily recognized and thus killed legally. The G.I.’s could related

The Vietnam War was one of the most deadliest wars in America, many were killed and even more injured. The war began because of America’s efforts to stop the spread of communism. The Vietcong may of won the war but America showed that we will not let communism spread, the domino theory come into effect, and America’s faults in our war program and way to attack the Vietcong. The war was lost but from a overview of the war America learned from their lose.

For the sake of conciseness, and in order to focus the bulk of the content on the main topic, this essay will make certain assumptions. Most importantly, the essay assumes that the conflict in Vietnam was, indeed, lost by the US. It also presupposes that � due to the political climate in the US � the war itself was unavoidable. Finally, the essay takes for granted

The Vietnam war has been referred to by many names, one of the longer ones was 'the cornerstone of the free world southeast Asia'. It was called that by John F. Kennedy. He was talking about Vietnam being and essential country in a non-communist world. He believed that if Vietnam became a communist country, all of the surrounding countries would also become communists. This is the main reason America was involved in the Vietnam war. Another reason was that America wanted to spread their “political ideas around the globe”. They wanted to do this so that their anti-communism stance was clear. The public also wanted to keep communism from spreading. To soldiers, the war was like a crusade, a great journey to purge the communists from Vietnam.

The war in Vietnam was a very contestable event for America and an overall major impact of the cold war. Fear of the spread of communism was on the rise again as Ho Chi Minh, the leader of North Vietnam wanted to unite the country under one communist leadership. The United States entered into the war to prevent this spread of communism to further their reputation of containing it as they have done in the past. While there are positives to the war in Vietnam, it seems as if there are more negatives in the situation which include massive casualties on both sides, chemical warfare, and a divided nation back home.

The Vietnam War was the first major war American’s had suffered defeat. The Vietnam war was a war of confusion, competition and biasness. The outcome of the war was far greater than an upset American nation, but a severe breakdown of the Vietnamese culture, economy, environment and government. It also had a tremendous impact on American society even up to present day. It was unclear from the beginning of the war if the American’s should even be involved. It was a war between Northern and Southern Vietnam but the U.S saw it as an indirect way to challenge the USSR’s sphere of influence in Southern Asia and to prevent the domino effect and the further spread of communism. The Vietnam War completely changed the way the United States

The Vietnam War was a conflict, which the United States involved itself in unnecessarily and ultimately lost. The basis of the conflict was simple enough: Communism vs. Capitalism, yet the conduct of the Vietnam War was complex and strategic, and brought repercussions which had never been seen before. The struggle between North and South had an almost inevitable outcome, yet the Americans entered the War optimistic that they could aid the falling South and sustain democracy. The American intentions for entering the Vietnam conflict were good, yet when the conflict went horribly wrong, and the resilient North Vietnamese forces, or ‘Viet Cong' as they were known, refused to yield, the United States saw they were fighting a losing battle.

In 1961 the worst war ever fought by America had just started. The Vietnamese of the north also known as the Viet Cong had invaded the south to take control of the entire country. America and other democratic countries felt the spread of communism to this country would be a stepping-stone for other communistic countries around the world, also known as the Domino Effect. America, as cocky as they were, invaded Vietnam to help the southern Vietnamese. Although America is one of the most powerful countries in the world, it extremely underestimated the dedication of their enemy. Backed by China and the USSR, the Viet Cong were a determined and very tough enemy. The Vietnam War as a whole was a terrible act by the US government. Vietnam was

Howard Zinn says it best when he writes that “from 1964 to 1972, the wealthiest and most powerful nation in the history of the world made a maximum military effort, with everything short of atomic bombs, to defeat a nationalist revolutionary movement in a tiny peasant country – and failed” (Zinn, 460). Zinn does not mince words when expressing his thoughts about the Vietnam War, because as Zinn says, Vietnam was basically a modern portrayal of David vs. Goliath. One could even go as far as to say that Vietnam was in essence a case of mass genocide in Vietnam. Thousands and thousands of Vietnamese and America soldiers were killed along with thousands upon thousands of innocent, Vietnamese citizens. War is an infectious disease and the Vietnam War is a perfect example of how deadly of a disease war can be. Everybody involved in the Vietnam War was affected, whether it was Vietnamese citizens, Vietnamese soldiers, American soldiers, or even American citizens back home. The disease that was the Vietnam War infected the hearts and minds of two countries half way across the world from each other.

Relating to Appy’s claim, as escalation grew after the Tonkin Gulf, America began to wage an unmoral war that was not supported by the Americans and Vietnamese or understood by American soldiers. Agreeing with Appy’s claim, the prime issue of an immoral and unjust war is one that America must realize and understand the full consequences that this has had on the nation if it is to learn any lessons from Vietnam. Originally told that the war was fought to contain communism, bombing campaigns as Operation Rolling Thunder annihilated many villages and the countryside where it was believed that the Viet Cong were stationed. Proven more often than not to be unsuccessful, only to produce the numbers of unidentified Vietnamese bodies and remains that

“Vietnam divided America more deeply and painfully than any event since the Civil War.” (Readings 9, To Avoid a Defeat, 231). The steady stream of American casualties suffered at the hands of the NVA made a difficult situation intolerable as American support for the war diminished with each soldier laid to rest. President Lyndon B. Johnson made a dire mistake in approving General Westmoreland’s request on to put combat troops on the ground in Vietnam, as the threat to American security had not been triggered to the point where it was worth the lives of American soldiers. The American military was severely underprepared for war, and the eventual withdrawal of troops would become a global embarrassment that continues to haunt the United States decades later. Further, President Johnson sought to put an end to the conflict in Vietnam for questionable reasons, driven more by political expediency than thoughtful consideration for the lives entrusted to him as Commander in Chief.

Tensions were not only rising in Vietnam but they were also rising on American soil. Opposition to the war escalated as the casualties grew, which created divisions among people of the American society. The United States government

Due to the information collected, compiled, and analyzed, it is clear that the United States could not have won the Vietnam War. Despite this seeming different than the societal notion surrounding the war, there are a few instances where the United States faced hardships, yet did not complete or take the necessary steps to overcome them. For example, the U.S. soldiers were unfamiliar with the terrain, the fighting tactics the soldiers had been taught were not adequate, and the soldiers were all young and inexperienced, could be rebutted by the fact that the U.S. had the capability to scout out the areas with local residents, not use 20th century tactics, and not require young men to be placed into a battle with little knowledge of what even to do (Bernstein), but that’s not what happened. To better understand how the U.S. would have lost the Vietnam War, it’s best to look at what went wrong and what contributed to the impending loss.

To understand the US involvement in Vietnam, it is necessary to understand the background of traditional independence and opposition to larger powers throughout Vietnamese history. The Vietnamese had a long history and tradition of opposing invading powers. This opposition and culture was to draw the U.S. into the longest war it has been involved in. This was an indirect but vitally important cause of US involvement in the Vietnam War. As early as 500BC, Vietnam was a country that held a strong sense of nationalism, and endeavoured for the goal of autonomy, independence, and self-rule. Up until modern history, there have been several events that have contributed towards intensifying this sense of nationalism and resistance against foreign powers. National resistance against the Chinese empire was one of the earliest examples of resistance against nationalism. Throughout the period of pre-modern history from 210 BC to 1789, resistances against foreign control and rule such as that against the Nan Yue, the Song, the Ming, and the Qing, were frequent. These attempts at national resistance came down to the basis that the nationalist Vietnamese did not want foreign influence determining the political future, culture, or customs of their country. Another main example that increased a sense of nationalism was French Colonialism. The French, who were appealed by Vietnam’s unique location, natural resources, and the extensive economic opportunities

The United States intervention in Vietnam is seen by the world as America’s greatest loss and longest war. Before the start of the war in Vietnam, the thought of the United States losing this war was unheard of because America was technologically superior, no country in south East Asia could contend with them. Lyndon B. Johnson announced that he would not be the president to allow South East Asia to go Communist . Why the United States lost the war has been a huge debate since the end of the war, because there were so many factors affecting why they lost; the war was a loss politically, after losing support from not only the American public but also the South Vietnamese and losing a political mandate for the war by 1973, when the last