Antiwar Movement in America - Essay Example

Anti war protests against the Vietnam war have been long debated discussing their efficacy in actually bringing the war to a halt. I strongly feel that they were, though widespread, a big failure in actually bringing the war to a halt. The reasons for that were many- people protesting did so with different motivations. Students from various universities came together and protested against the war because they saw lack of heroism in the leadership of Lyndon Johnson which they saw in stark contrast to the way of working of Kennedy. Also, Johnson tended to keep his policies about the war a secret from the public fearing its outcome. As a result there was a gradual discontentment against his way of working. It has been seen that it was in the better institutes that there was a better participation of the students which tended to fragment the protests and not something that involved students from all walks of life. One of the main reasons behind the failure of America in the war lied at the ground level- where troops were, right there in Vietnam. The American soldiers slowly saw the futility of what they were doing. It was also heart rendering to see the middle class in Vietnam coming forward against the war. And, of course Americans underestimated the strength of soviet backed Vietnam army named as National Liberation Front. Back home, the anti war movements were more hype than substance when analyzed from the perspective of actually stopping the war. There was lack of unity between whites and blacks. Blacks weren't given equal rights at home and they in patches found it illogical to be fighting for the cause of a nation which hadn't been fair to them. One of the many confirmations of this fact came from an SNCC worker who said that "black people don't understand the warit's very far away and the trouble they see is right there in the courthouse."1 Infact, most blacks considered opting out of the anti war movements as they saw an ally in Lyndon Johnson as a support for their civil right movement. The whole scenario can be simplified like this- of those who were informed about the war, most people hated it, but for some reason or the other they couldn't afford to completely go against Johnson. There was often an ugly mix up between the issue of civil war and the protests against Vietnam. Organizations like NAACP tried to make the distinction but it wasn't always possible. In fact that very organization was accused to be too friendly to the administration time to time. American society itself was dealing with issues of internal conflict, thereby not giving full attention to something that was apparently outside their control- the war. Though powerful leadership given by likes of Martin Luther King played a big role but there were always problems with regards to unity between the black and white protestors. The movement was never pan American at any point of time. There were times to really low turn outs at places making the whole show a big embarrassment. Moreover, the media which play such a major role in portraying the image of everything wasn't always kind to the anti war protestors especially labeling the radical protestors as freaks.2 The conscious approach of using the method of approaching multiple issues back fired as it meant that any organization lacked direction and they just ended up getting entangled in other affairs, as a result, going no where. What the protests did succeed in doing was to create an atmosphere of anti-imperialism which may have played in role in Americans not interfering in issues of Angola a few years following the end of the war. In many ways the American response to Vietnam was a result of an exaggerated reaction against the spread of communism, fuelled mainly by fear and insecurity felt only by those in power. In a way, it wasn't considered a bad thing to be feeling that ways because it would mean that one tends to hold an important position, no matter how irrational this sounds. The people on the other hand tended to be more logical in their thinking. But there was an obvious friction due to different levels of thinking of the ruling and the ruled in America. Johnson in many ways succeeded in fooling the American people as well, the biggest example of which is the gulf of Tonkin incident. This lead to widespread support for Johnson and that as a result weakened the anti war movement as there was widespread against the NLF in North Vietnam, which as people would realize years later, was misplaced. "The fundamental issue of Tonkin Gulf involved not deception but, rather, misuse of power bestowed by the resolution. The language of the resolution plainly granted the powers the president subsequently used, and the congress understood the breadth of those powers when it overwhelmingly approved the resolution on august 7."3 At many places the anti war protests were opposed by anti anti war protests further complicating the situation. Most protests organized by the organizations were non violent and the ones who went violent were suppressed readily by the government with the military. So there was a clear imbalance of power and nothing could be done. There was lack of unity between the civil rights veterans and the opponents of the war. In a way, the American society wasn't mature enough to undertake the major task of uniting a fighting against a cause higher than themselves. And eventually the war ended by America's defeat, although the anti war protests because of their notable spread changed the outlook of American society, forever. More recently the Iraq war initiated by America stirred the consciousness of not only the Americans but also the whole world, due to its ridiculous justifications and also due to better media coverage as compared to the times of Vietnam War. If Vietnam War was termed Lyndon Johnson war, the Iraq war can be termed senior and junior Bush's war. The war reflected the failure of anti war protests not only in America but in the whole world. The way Bush snubbed the findings of UN Security Council stating that there were no weapons of mass destruction evoked severe criticism from all corners of the world. One most important factor that allows American leaders to carry out whatever they want irrespective of public sentiment is the form of government in USA- the presidential form. And when power goes to a sociopath such a George Bush then its no wonder that hell isn't too far away. The people though condemned the Iraq war, what kept them from really speaking out rightly against it was, in my opinion, the September 11 incident. That incident has changed the American thinking forever, in the sense, that it evoked extreme emotions against Muslims. It may sound too general but that is the level to which it has deteriorated. So the not so smart but fanatic population which constitutes the majority in any nation, never really came out with their support against the war in Iraq, even though it defied all logic. Bush on the other hand found a family foe in Saddam Hussein, and irrationally went all out for the war. Greed for oil rich Iraq is a driving force according to many people that made US fret over rights of people in Iraq as compared to any other nation in, for instance, Africa. Even though people opposed the war in Iraq protesting the killings of innocent children and women, nothing was ever too radical and intense because of the fear in their minds against the people of Middle East. So there was never really a goal to reach anyway. Even though the war, till date, is having far reaching consequences on the American economy but still there are no signs of retreat of troops from Iraq no matter how much people oppose it. Protests were seen even in countries like England as a great scale. Bush also showed a great deal of indifference towards the appeals of the people of his country. For instance he met Shehaan after her son was killed in the iraq war and tehn refused to meet her again. "We'll be the checks and balances on this out-of-control criminal government."4 Quoted Shehaan as she became a prominent person in the anti war protest. There exists, rather unfortunately, a Christian versus Muslim divide which is hard to deny. The anti war protests in this have a limited role to play. Infact they couldn't even vote Bush out of power and hence, giving him a second term. So when it comes to moving in the unknown direction, the Americans tend to take a backseat, though intellectually they may favor it. As of now patriotism isn't a very popular sentiment in America and that is a clear indicator of disagreement with the policies of the government, but the people who understand it are not the ones in power. Sadly, people are chosen on basis of emotions like fear and insecurity rather than intellect, and that has lead America to a lot of trouble which is yet to unfold completely. Till there is total eradication of the hatred that has crept up in the minds of Americans against the middle east and vice versa there can be no success of the anti war movement against the iraq war. Even now the government won't change its stance because its more of a prestige issue for them, if they back off now then it would mean that they were never right, which they weren't. Bibliography: Hall, Simon. "Peace and freedom." University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005. McNamara, Robert. In Retrospect- the tragedy and lessons of Vietnam. Times Books, 2005. Lambert. Wikepedia Online dictionary. Read More