The Vietnam War Was a Pointless, Costly Failure - Report Example

Running Head: VIETNAM WAR The Vietnam War was a pointless, costly failure No: The Vietnam War was a pointless, costly failure There were numerous causes that led to failure of America in Vietnam War. Guerrilla war was on the rise in South Vietnam and guerrillas were known as Vietcong. They were launching guerrilla attacks on North Vietnamese army known as Saigon’s army. President Eisenhower sent small military advisory group to help Saigon’s army. Slowly the American forces were sent in Vietnam who had no idea of guerrilla warfare. From limited war, it was named as American war which was a serious blunder in war history. The war was poorly managed and all tactics of American troops failed. It lacked clear strategy, military and diplomatic goals and was not required at all to be fought. America could not control its media and media had uninterrupted access to all battlefields. Media covered the war on daily basis and exposed the truth to American nation which was very agitating for them. American leaders lied that they are nearing a victory in the war but nation knew the fact. Cost was as high as 58000 American soldiers’ death and about 3 million Vietnamese had also died by the end of war. Vietnam War was the war which America lost. US remain committed in Asia for more than a decade. America fought war to push back communism, which was a threat to its way of life. Death of American soldiers was ever rising during the war. American people felt they are paying too high a price. American media was uncontrolled and had all the access to warfront and war was shown on American TVs on daily basis. American president Johnson conceived that they need to send regular troops in Vietnam for suppressing insurgency activities being undertaken by Viet Cong guerrilla forces. US believed that if South falls in the hands of communists than complete South East Asia would follow it which was not acceptable to US authorities. This was a poorly conceived idea because ground realities were different from what was conceived. US Generals talked a lot of victory in the war but all was illusion1. War started and was on peak in 1965. Vietcong guerrillas attacked Plieku and killed eight American soldiers on 7 February 1965. Johnson ordered bombing North in which factories farms and railroads in Northern Vietnam. After tonnage of bombing, air power was ineffective to minimize political and guerrilla insurgency in principally agricultural country. American bombing, supply of dollars and presence of US military advisors were all ineffective. Heavy casualties werebeen inflicted on army in the North2. Johnson was not efficient in understanding foreign policy and what is going on in the world. Most of the times, he had to rely on the diplomatic staff of previous president for opinion on various world issues. He was handicapped due to his inability and made American nation to pay for this.Johnson rejected Westmoreland’s plan including “head for exit”. National emergency was not declared and reserved were not called up to implement Westmoreland plan. Other failures on diplomatic front include no rise in tax and no resolution in senate including absence of any speech3. After sending more ground troops to Vietnam, Johnson turned it to be an American war. Johnson committed a mistake by micromanaging the Vietnam War. Johnson never headed for an exit from the war, as it should have been an option when America was badly trapped in Vietnam. Another leading mistake committed by Johnson in American War was sending marines to Vietnam. Sending marine forces for just a political cause was shocking on his face. It was obvious that America is not taking the war very serious as outcome was not properly visualized. They thought Vietnam is a practice ground for them where they can practice their military drills and procedures but they paid heavily. There was an option for backing away in 1969 from the war front as ground realities clearly dictated that war is not winnable. Johnson never wanted to back away because withdrawal under such intense situation was a defeat for them. Still, Johnson never considered backing away as an option4. The rise in death casualties was alarming for US. Huge death rate of servicemen was due to poor tactics on the battlefield. Depression in the nation resulted in questioning the government and it turned against the war. Richard Nixon was elected through election in 1968 who pledged to immediately end the war. Nixon knew that if he promise to end the war immediately only than he was able to win elections. Nixon did not keep his promise and never wanted to withdraw under the cloud of defeat. Under his rule, war was once again intensified in Vietnam without sufficient justification. He started bombing Cambodia and Laos and forced North Vietnamese to come on the negotiation table for withdraw of US forces. Finally this strategy helped and Paris peace talks resulted in a ceasefire in 1973. After the withdrawal of US forces Vietnam was once again united5. Henry Kissinger said consequences of the war were not assessed at diplomatic level. There was a big void in American higher authorities on the purpose and ultimate aim in the war. Adventure on Cambodia was a colossal and costly failure without imagining the end result of such aggression. Strategists are still unable to clearly argue about American invasion of Cambodia. Certain diplomats resigned, as they were not informed about military aggression on Vietnam. Johnson also feared the domino effect, which was a misjudgment and it did not happen. It shows how pointless the decision was to go for a war. Even now America enjoys good trade relations with Vietnam. Import and export activities are a common feature between both countries. If America had never gone for a military aggression on the foreign land even then there were rare chances of domino effect6. The war was a foolish act of Johnson administration and big decisions were taken without a clear goal. Huge cost was paid in men and material simply because government never wanted to lose face. At the end of war, America lost prestige as an invincible military power. Another reason was that America considered its obligation to act at every corner of the world where a country had not decided to join one big power out of available two. America tried to contain post-colonial nations which were bending towards Soviet Union. That is again one of the major reasons for going for war in Vietnam as well7. America thought that communism will spread in Vietnam which will slowly spread in complete Asia. This was known as domino effect, which was not a reality. Indochina had a bad fate for being chosen as a battleground for major powers to test their military muscle. Initially it was projected as a limited war but soon America sent its ground troops and then it was recognized as American war. Johnson knew that limited wars have different type of goals with different tactics which was not applicable to battlegrounds in Vietnam. The major failure was character of the war which America failed to judge. America had no idea of fighting guerrilla war on a foreign land. Vietnam had no strategic significance and was an agricultural country. Vietnam was not a strategic place where battle could result in turning the balance of power. Thus despite knowing these facts and strategic location of Vietnam, American decision to go for war is not understood8. It is also said that if it was not a military failure in Vietnam than definitely it was failure of political policies and national morale . However, it was a military failure as well because American forces did not know how to fight guerrilla and tunnel warfare. America committed blunders as its foreign policy was not on the right lines, government was not genuine and moral fiber was also lacking. American leaders lied during the war and soldiers committed atrocities. American aircraft used chemical defoliants in Vietnam to suppress the insurgency which was a serious hazard for people. The cause was wrong and they were not saviors in Vietnam as claimed by American leaders9. Vietnam was a misadventure for America and lack of preparation / planning for the war caused huge loss. Less time was given by authorities for war preparations. Seals had no idea and were also ordered to join war without any warning. American president Johnson most of the times did not agree with the plan presented by the field commanders on the ground, which resulted in taking the war in undesired direction. This was the major failure, which resulted simply due to lack of harmony between civil government and military strategists at the war front. If plans of field commanders would have been accepted than definitely the outcome could be largely different than what is now10. War is lost when goals are not attained as outcome of the war. America lost because they could not attain goals and then wanted to withdraw. America could not get its goal of domino effect, as it was not a reality in the region. Strategic importance of Vietnam was not weighed before waging the war. Vietnam was an agricultural country without having any worthwhile strategic importance for global players. Even then, Vietnamese and American paid the price, as it was huge for both sides11. It can be concluded that Vietnam War was failure of America on military and diplomatic fronts. The war was poorly managed and all tactics of American troops failed. It lacked clear strategy, military and diplomatic goals and was not required at all to be fought. America learnt a lot and paid the price for fighting a pointless war. America lost because they could not attain goals and then wanted to withdraw.American leaders lied that they are nearing a victory in the war but nation knew the fact. Cost was as high as 58000 American soldiers’ death and about 3 million Vietnamese died by the end of war. Bibliography Anderson, D. L. 1999. The Military and Diplomatic Course of the Vietnam War. [online] Available at: http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/vietnam/anderson.htm [Accessed: 1 Mar 2014]. Bator, F. M. (2008). No Good Choices: LBJ and the Vietnam/Great Society Connection*. Diplomatic History, 32(3), 309-340. Crofton, I. 2011. World History: 50 Key Milestones You Really Need to Know. Quercus Publication Ltd. Los Angeles Times Articles. 1995. Kissinger on Vietnam. [online] Available at: http://articles.latimes.com/1995-12-19/local/me-15546_1_cambodia-vietnam-war-assess [Accessed: 1 Mar 2014]. McMaster, H. R. 1998. Dereliction of duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the lies that led to Vietnam. Perennial. McWilliams, Wayne C. & Piotrowski, Harry. 1997. The World since 1945: A History of International Relations. Lynne Rienner Publishers, London. Sanders, V., Waller, S., Leonard, A. M., &Jones, M. 2007. The USA and Vietnam, 1945-75. Hodder Murray. The Montreal Review. 2013. Vietnam: Explaining Americas Longest War. [online] Available at: http://www.themontrealreview.com/letters/the_vietnam_war.php [Accessed: 1 Mar 2014]. Wiest, A. A. 2002. The Vietnam War, 1956-1975.Osprey Publishing. Read More