DILAN MASHRU 10 B

VIETNAM WAR QUESTIONS (ASSESSMENT)

1) Up till 1954, the US had no direct involvement in the war efforts against the Communist forces in
(then) Vietnam led by Ho Chi Minh, other than indirectly helping by supplying aid to the French armies
that fought against the Communist forces for power. A peace conference was held, and elections were
to be held; to maintain the peace, Vietnam was to be temporarily divided into two halves to reduce
tension, North Vietnam for Communism and South Vietnam for 'Democracy'.

The US, in 1954, fearing that the elections would be won by Minh, prevented the elections from
happening, a hypocritical move by them considering they had criticised Stalin for not holding free
elections. This was due to the then popular 'domino theory' regarding Communism, which believed that
a state falling into Communism would cause other states around it to fall to Communism too, in this
case: Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, India, and Burma. Via this move, they believed they could 'contain'
communism to only North Vietnam, and, to ensure that South Vietnam didn't fall to Communism, he
aided an extremely corrupt politician Ngo Din Diem in the setting up of the government. He was
extremely dictatorial, appointing family members in important government positions and refusing to
hold elections.

By 1962, Diem had been overthrown by other, equally corrupt leaders with more hostile attitudes
towards the Viet Cong, a revolutionary communist group that was created by the increasing support
towards the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam due to atrocities committed by the
government in South Vietnam. This caused USA to grow more worried, in turn increasing their
involvement as to stem the growth of this group. Unfortunately, the aid received was distributed
unevenly due to the discriminatory policies that the South Vietnamese government held. Due this
escalating situation, Kennedy sent troops and military personnel.

An alternative theory suggests that the policy of containment and the domino theory was just a guise for
US's 'military-industrial complex', that the arms industries were so huge and immense that the large
spending in wartime was actually beneficial to the nation's economy, with the arms manufacturers
profiting.

2)

DATE EVENT STATE OF US

INVOLVEMENT

1945 War between Vietnam and French start No direct involvenment

1949 Aided French war efforts by aid of 500 million dollars/year. Financial support
1954 Stopped elections in Vietnam from occurring after failing French war Political involvement
efforts.
1955 US helps dictator Diem set up government and aids w/ 1.6bn$. Political & Financial
1962 Kennedy sent military personnel as 'advisors' to Vietnam. 'Political'
1963 Kennedy assassinated; Lyndon Johnson launches full scale war effort Military
1964 North Vietnamese patrol boats open fire on US ships at the Gulf of N/A
Tonkin.
1965 Op. Rolling Thunder launched, bombing of North Vet cities, factories. Military
1965 Marine troops dispatched. Military/War
DILAN MASHRU 10 B
VIETNAM WAR QUESTIONS (ASSESSMENT)

3) The US army was poorly equipped strategically to deal with the extremely unpredictable guerrilla
warfare that the Viet Cong used. The Viet Cong knew that the US arms and forces were greater than
their own; they instead chose to fight in close quarters which made their guns useless, staged
ambushes, planted booby traps, utilized stealth to an extreme degree (they had no apparent uniform or
headquarters),and used the cover of the forest to their advantage; they also had an intricate tunnel
system laded with booby traps as to ensure fast travel and fool US troops. This resulted in frustration on
the US' side, they responded with search and destroy campaigns, often causing injuries to soldiers due
to booby traps and ambushes, and in a large civilian death toll due to poorly informed intel. This, along
with the bombings that caused needless suffering, alienated the citizens of Vietnam, causing them to
comply with Viet Cong requests. The use of biochemical weapons too effected the Vietnamese in a
negative way, causing more unpopularity. In the early stages of the war the US troops were well trained,
however, due to the large amount of injuries caused by booby traps and ambushes combined with the
conscription meant that most of the incoming soldiers in the mid to late stages of the war were poorly
trained to handle warfare of this kind, causing low morale compared to the extremely driven Viet Cong
soldiers.

4)i) Gulf of Tonkin: The Gulf of Tonkin occurred when patrol boats from North Vietnam opened fire on
American ships in August 1964. This caused much anger and aggression in the US, leading to the
approval of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution by the Congress which enabled Johnson to launch a full-scale
war, which he did take advantage of by sending 15,000 Marine troops and launching a campaign of
bombings.

ii) Tet Offensive: The Tet Offensive was an attack on more than 100 cities and military targets launched
by the Viet Cong in 1968. A comparatively low number of Viet Cong troops were lost, and 4,500 Viet
Cong captured the American Embassy in Saigan, holding it for two days against larger forces of US
troops. This offensive led to widespread disillusionment among not only the US public but the army and
those higher up in the chain of command too, signalling the beginning of the end of the war.

iii) My Lai Massacre: The My Lai Massacre occurring in March 1969, was conducted by a group of
soldiers known as the Charlie Company, whom believed under orders that they were to kill everyone in
the My Lai region, resulting in a death toll of 400 civilians and a sum total of 4 weapons being found. The
operation was hailed as a success, and was only later realized after an investigation that majority of
casualties were women, children and peasants, furthering the feeling of disillusionment regarding the
Vietnam War in the US.

5) American policy in Vietnam failed due to a multitude of reasons. Their erroneous decisions started
from them aiding the French in the previous war, and later aiding a largely unpopular, dictatorial,
corrupt, and oppressive government led by Diem. Their interference in the elections in 1954 also caused
distrust and alienation of Vietnamese citizens, to them, it seemed that all the problems with the current
regime were caused due to the US' meddling in their political affairs, which was not far from the truth.
Their meddling alienated the Vietnamese, causing further support for Communism, to which the US
responded with more meddling, feeding a vicious cycle that only raised support for Communism and the
unpopularity of the USA.
DILAN MASHRU 10 B
VIETNAM WAR QUESTIONS (ASSESSMENT)

When the war actually started, both Viet Cong and US troops committed atrocities, but the US' were on
a larger scale with the utilization of bio-chemical weapons, bombings of cities and the largely
unsuccessful search & destroy mission conducted by US military forces. Towards the latter parts of the
war, US troops were growing more inexperienced due to conscription, this enabled the Viet Cong to take
advantage of the inadequacy of US soldiers training and knowledge using guerrilla warfare inspired by
the communist revolution in China. This summarizes why American policies failed in Vietnam.

6) The Vietnam War was the event that brought on the large-scale disillusionment with American anti-
communist efforts that manifested itself in the policy of containment. Furthermore, even with drastic
actions such the bombings, chemical weapons, and massacres conducted in the war, the US had failed
to stop the spread of Communism, painting USA as both inadequate and inhumane. While military
strategies were brought under scrutiny, so was their meddling in Vietnamese politics: their hypocrisy
regarding free elections came to light and people questioned the real intentions of US political leaders-
was the Vietnam War actually for containment or for the profit and growth of US-based arms dealers
and the nation's economy? In light of these inhumanities, USA tried to establish relatively friendly
relationships with Communist countries in an effort to secure itself.

7)

Case Study Why were Methods used Problems Outcome Success or

Americans for faced failure?
involved? containment
Vietnam Policy of Financial aid to Guerrilla Worked in the FAILURE
Containment, Diem and warfare, non- opposite way: 1/10
Domino France, compliance of reinforced
theory(scared Political citizens, Poor Vietnamese
of Laos, support for tactics, belief in
Cambodia,etc. Diem, disillusioned Communism
falling to Interfering and less and it spread
Communism.) with 1956 experienced into Laos and
BONUS elections, soldiers. Cambodia.
CONSPIRACY Military
THEORY: involvement.
As an excuse
to pump more
money into
arms and
therefore
profit,
improving
nation's
economy.