Analysis of the Vietnam War - Essay Example

Gulf of Tonkin incident Vietnam War is historically based on United s’ capitalism campaign in which they wanted to expand their political ideology to communist North Vietnam through the capitalist South Vietnam. In their efforts to fight communism, they initiated war with North Vietnam who rebelled and defended themselves with significant threats to capture south. It is evident that prior to Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which gave congress approval for expansion of the Vietnam War, United States was already showing aggressive military signs towards North Vietnam (Dare 33-6).

The event in which U.S. destroyer Maddox (conducting electronic espionage nearby) was fired on by North Vietnamese torpedo boats was just a good opportunity and reason on which United State could boldly declare war in the name of retaliation. Reports indicates that during the spring of 1964, military planners had developed a detailed design for major attacks on the North, but at that time President Lyndon B. Johnson and his advisers feared that the public would not support an expansion of the war (Dare 54-8).

This explains two critical aspects of the war. First is that United States had prior plans to attack North Vietnam. The fear of President Nixon over possible public opposition indicates that significant taxpayers’ money had been spent on the war without any economic gain. These are clear evidence that United States had prior arrangement to strike North Vietnam under the shadow of supporting South Vietnam. Their actual challenge was whether the public would approve the military action and the undefined reaction of the international community.

Work citedDare, Lorna. Cias Gulf of Tonkin Secrets: A Novel Based on True Events. New York ; Bloomington: iUniverse, 2010. Print.