War in Vietnam - Essay Example

? War in Vietnam Task: Introduction The Viet se war lasted over two decades. The conflicted pitted American forces againstNorth Vietnamese rebels. This conflict culminated in massive a loss of life. Initially, the conflict entailed the North Vietnamese and the French forces. The rebel forces were able to overcome the French in the initial stages of the conflict. Consequently, the two parties opted to settle the conflict via an accord. However, the American government failed to recognize the pact. Therefore, the American government took over the conflict in Vietnam. The American government perceived the French defeat as a defeat of its economic ideology (Oberdorfer 2001, p. 45). The North Vietnamese rebels adhered to communism. Their win in this conflict showed that this region would assume communism. This occurred at the height of the cold war in which the Soviet Union and America were seeking to propagate their economic models. America’s refusal to admit the defeat of France in this conflict aggravated the conflict. The strategy relating to the conflict changed significantly with changes in regimes. The write-up will examine the factors, which resulted in the involvement of America in this conflict. This conflict generated massive controversy in the America owing to fatalities. This conflict lasted over two decades. This reveals that America was not ready to lose since it would signify weakness in its ability to dominate the globe politically. American was embroiled in this conflict due to several reasons. The reason varied from economic to political reasons. However, they all culminated in the aggravation of the conflict (Kissinger 2003, p. 32). Reasons from America’s involvement in the conflict At the time of the conflict, the Soviet Union and America were locked in a cold war. The cold war entailed each nation sabotaging its enemy indirectly. The cold war erupted as the two dominant nations in the globe embarked on a campaign to increase adoption of their economic models. The American government was popularising capitalism while the Soviet Union sought to popularize communism. The economic model, which would prevail, would make its source nation an economic powerhouse. The Northern Vietnamese were supported by a communism nation (Lawrence 2008, p. 124). Therefore, American viewed this as the spread of communism. The defeat of French forces in this nation meant that Vietnam would become a communist nation. Additionally, it meant that the capitalist world represented by France had failed. America viewed it as its responsibility to ensure that the rebels do not prevail. The need to ensure that Vietnam does not become a communist nation resulted in this conflict since the French had already negotiated a pact that would ensure peace in the nation. However, the Americans felt that conceding defeat meant that capitalism had lost. Subsequently, communism would become the dominant economic model. The Soviet Union had prevailed in this region of the Asia, which was dominantly communism. Vietnam was in a strategic position in relation to the communist world. Therefore, the loss of this nation to communism policies would weaken America’s quest to spread its economic model to this part of the globe. This conflict ensured that America was able to contain the spread of communism to this part of the Vietnam (Brigham 2012). During this time, the Soviet Union and America were the world dominant nations. Each nation sought to surpass the other by becoming the dominant nation both politically and economically. These nations could not fight directly. Therefore, they opted for sabotaging tactics. These tactics entailed America supporting Soviet Union’s foes. Similarly, the Soviet Union would support America’s foes. This resulted in an ongoing conflict where the two nations did not take direct military action against each other. The Vietnamese conflict provided the perfect situation for the two nations to implement their tactics (Burgan 2006, p. 238). The Northern Vietnamese had China’s backing. Therefore, they represented the communist side of this conflict. The French was an American ally hence; they denoted the capitalistic faction in the conflict. Therefore, the Americans had a chance to utilize their military superiority to suppress their communist counterparts. The two nations opted for such tactics since the war between the two nations would have a catastrophic impact. The two nations had nuclear capability. Therefore, none was willing to engage in a direct military aggression. Direct military action would have resulted in massive casualties and loss of property. The probable damage from such a conflict would be massive. Hence, the two nations were unwilling to engage directly. Therefore, the two nations adopted tactics, which would impede the advancement of its counterpart. Therefore, the Vietnamese conflict provided a platform for their conflict (Willoughby 2001, p. 301). America got embroiled in the conflict owing to a diverse array of reasons. One of the core reasons, which triggered the war, was an attack on the American forces. President Johnson, in his 1964 message highlighted this issue, which culminated in the conflict. The American forces came under attack from rebel elements. The attacks occurred in international water where the forces could operate freely. The attacks also culminated in the loss of two American planes. The attacks on American forces angered the government. Hence, the American decided to make an offensive on the rebel elements (PBS 2008). Therefore, the action by the rebel forces to attack American forces was one of the reasons, which culminated in the conflict. The American forces had to respond to such attacks. Failure to respond would have been an indication of defeat. The American forces had the capability to counter the Northern Vietnamese rebels. The rebels employed guerrilla tactics (PBS 2012). Such tactics proved challenging to the American fighters due to the environment. The guerrilla operated in swampy areas. These areas were hard to access. Therefore, the rebels could launch attacks and retreat to such remote locations. The rebels’ guerrilla tactics characterized the conflict. This made suppressing such rebels exceedingly challenging. This is one of the reasons, which made the conflict last a lengthy duration. Additionally, the conflict claimed the lives of countless American marines. This is one of the conflicts where the American forces encountered challenges pertaining to logistics and an elusive opponent favoured by the environmental setting (Levy 2004, p. 185). The changes in political regimes in American necessitated changes in policies. Thus, resulting in changes in strategy adopted towards this conflict. During JF Kennedy’s reign, the government adopted a conservative approach. The government avoided direct intervention in the conflict. Consequently, the American authorities only assisted the group they supported. The American forces supported the Southern Vietnamese fighters. The assistance entailed military training. This reveals that the American government was embracing a passive approach in relation to the conflict. However, Kennedy’s regime was halted by his assassination. This development resulted in election a new president. The new president had new ideas on the conflict. The new president Johnson adopted a more direct approach to the conflict. The president ordered direct attacks on the rebels. This denotes a change in the approach towards the conflict resulting from the change in presidency. The change in regime resulted in change in policy on such matter. President Johnson opted for a direct approach on the conflict owing to his uncompromising stance. Conversely, President Kennedy preferred a cautious approach (Wiest 2008, p. 236). A cautious approach would result in reduced human loss in the marines. Johnson direct approach indicated that his government was not afraid to address this thorny issue. However, strategy was bound to result in massive human loss. The latter strategy required deployment of soldiers. This would require the president to seek congress funding and approval. Johnson sought the approval and funding of congress on this matter result in deployment of soldiers. This reveals that the change in regime affected America’s stand on this issue. Kennedy’s regime preferred a more passive role in conflict while his successor preferred a direct approach. Therefore, Johnson regime culminated in American participating in the conflict directly. However, the Kennedy’s regime would have resulted in the country undertaking a passive role (Lyndon Baines Johnson 2007). Presidents encounter many challenges. Presidents have to ensure that they maintain a majority support in the Senate and Congress. This means that they have to make compromises on certain issues. Kennedy was a president who preferred a passive approach to this conflict. This president preferred a peaceful solution with minimal deployment. However, such presidents have to compromise their stand for political reason. The republican regarded communism as a disease, which the American should contain. The containment should ensure it does not spread to the entire southern Asia. This means that such politician had strong stands on such a debate. The republican were not compromising on their position on this matter. The republicans sought direct military action, which would suppress the Northern Vietnamese fighter. As such, these fighters would not control the entire Vietnam. This would impede the spread of the Soviet Union’s economic model. Therefore, the president had to decide on the stand with regard to the matter (Jasper 2009). Opting for a passive approach would culminate in loss of republican support. Therefore, most presidents would opt for parliamentary support. This implies that the president would take direct action with regard to this matter. This analysis shows presidents had to make certain compromises with the political function. Therefore, politics affected the decisions of the American government to engage in this conflict (Short 1989, p.198). In 1954, a Geneva treaty was signed. The treaty was supposed to provide the way forward for this nation. The treaty came after the defeat of the French. The treaty chattered a way forward for this nation. The treaty divided the nation twice. Bao Dai was to lead the southern part of that state while Ho Chi Minh was to lead the north. The treaty outlined that the nation would hold elections in 1956. Prior to the election, Northern Vietnamese fighters spread the news that the entity would embrace communism. However, the southern was largely Catholic and anticommunism. Southern Vietnam had American backing owing to their stand against communism. Any nation that was anticommunism received American backing unconditionally. The clash in the preferred economic model resulted in a conflict. The American government accused the northern section of Vietnam of breaching the terms of the agreement. This necessitated the American government to take part in the conflict (Divine 1991, p. 109). Despite the American government citing breach of the treaty as the key reason, which triggered the conflict, it is evident that it was their fight against communism, which resulted in their participation. Americans were completely obsessed with stopping the spread of communism. American also shouldered the responsibility of protecting any nation against communist aggression. The Vietnamese situation provided such a situation where a nation was encountering communist backed aggressors. Therefore, America had to protect the spread of this economic model to this nation. Impeding the spread of communism would benefit America directly since such a nation would assume the alternate economic model, which is capitalism. This would enable America dominate the globe since it adhered to its model (Schlesinger 2007, p. 249). Conclusion To the American, communism was a fraud economic model. Therefore, most conservative politicians viewed this economic ideology propagated by the Soviet Union as a disease. The American regarded it as their responsibility to contain its spread. Prior to the commencement of the Vietnamese conflict, communism was spreading rapidly in Sothern Asia. Therefore, Americans decided to stop its spread by supporting the only opponents of communism, South Vietnam. America’s government involvement in this conflict culminated primarily from their endeavour to stop the expansion of communism. The involvement of the American government was either passive or active. In Kennedy’s regime, the participation was passive. Therefore, Americans only offered tactical assistances to fighters. In other regimes, which opted for a direct approach, there was direct deployment of marines. The American government preferred to offer assistance than commit soldiers owing to casualties in its forces. Another reason, which triggered participation of the Americans in this conflict, was strikes on its forces by the rebels. The American forces had to retaliate in such situations to assert themselves as the international military powerhouses. Overall, the containing communism was the key reason that triggered the participation of America in this conflict. The participation of American entailed deployment of its forces to fight rebels. Bibliography Brigham, R 2012, Battle field Vietnam, Viewed on July 26, 2012 from Burgan, M 2006, The Vietnam War, Gareth Stevens Publisher, New York. Divine, R 1991, Historiography: Vietnam Reconsidered, Routledge, New York. Jasper, F 2009, Seven Myths about the Vietnam War, Viewed on July 26, 2012from Kissinger, H 2003, Ending the Vietnam War, Simon & Schuster, New York. Lawrence, A 2008, The Vietnam War: A Concise International History, Oxford University Press, UK. Levy, D 2004, The Vietnam War. Lerner Publication Company, Minneapolis. Lyndon Baines Johnson, 2007, Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union, Viewed on July 26, 2012 from Oberdorfer, D 2001, The Turning Point in the Vietnam War, Johns Hopkins University Press, Maryland. 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