The Vietnam War Issue - Essay Example

South Vietnam came under the rule of the Vietnamese who had cooperated with the French in the past.
The war itself did not have a starting point but began in a series of steps and several American Presidents had a part to play during the period. With the French fighting a losing battle to retain control of the Indochina colony and Vietnam, the then US President Harry Truman offered small economic and military support to the French. But after the Vietnamese defeat of the French and the northern half came under communist rule, the threat of the southern non-communist half also falling under northern control was unacceptable to the next US President Dwight Eisenhower who sent military advisers to train the South Vietnamese army.

The domino effect that communism might have on Asian nations was the main reason why the US became involved in the war. To prevent the Communist Vietnamese from gaining control, the United States 1965 sent military forces to Vietnam to keep the weak South Vietnamese government in power in their region. America had other political ambitions tied with economic ones. Trade domination in the Asia Pacific region would open US markets to Japan. The British who had rubber plantations in Malaya would be comforted with the American presence in the region. Aid would enable France to send their troops back to Europe to assist in the rearmament of West Germany permitting the US to have an upper hand in the cold war. The prevention of the spread of communism was the primary focus of the US. Communism to America meant disregard for democracy, human rights violations, military hostility, and the creation of closed economies that rarely traded with the West. All this the US took as a threat to freedom and liberty.
Following John F Kennedy’s assassination, the next US president, Lyndon B. Johnson committed the US to the Vietnam conflict with prolonged bombings of North Vietnam. The war took a heavy toll on the Vietnamese who lost 3 to 4 million lives on either side, along with 1.5 to 2 million Lao and Cambodians. 58,000 American lives were lost. The war cost American taxpayers $150 billion during the time (Dan’s History 2006).

The Vietnam War was the longest military conflict in U.S. history. On the whole Americans at home backed the government’s rhetoric that it was fighting communism but
the antiwar movement had gained momentum and proved to be a major force in determining the foreign policy stance of the then and future governments.
When the Vietnam War ended, the United States was unsuccessful in achieving its objective. US troops withdrew, leaving the country to be reunified in 1975 under Communist rule. The following year Vietnam officially became the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It was a major victory for communism.
Except for the rise of the anti-war movement America gained very little from the Vietnam conflict. It was a long and unpopular war that divided Americans more than anything else. Read More