Why Did The United States Lose The War In Vietnam?
Why did the US lose the war in Vietnam?
When the year 1973 came around, the most powerful economic and military force America, were being forced to come to terms with the fact that they had suffered defeat in their war in Vietnam. Despite the vast gulf in financial and military prowess which swung in favour of the Americans, 57,000 of their troops1 had lost their lives or were missing in action2, in a defeat so unanimous that the American armed forces today, use Vietnam as their key example on how not to engage in warfare. The sixteen year period between 1959 to 1975 in which the war took place, is described by the majority, as a prolonged struggle and a war America had no way of winning. ‘However the defeat of a military and industrial superpower, …show more content…
Secretary of defence at the time, Robert McNamara encapsulated the validity of this point, when he stated that “the test of endurance may be as much in the United States, as in Vietnam8”. The fact that Vietnam was the first televised war backfired horribly for the American governments and advocates of the war. The images beamed into every living room up and down the United States of the disaster of the Tet Offensive. Seeing a highly organised, unified opposition of Vietcong and North Vietnamese troops storm the American Embassy in Saigon, put pay to General Westmoreland’s claims that America were going to be victorious in the war, and that the American Army could see “light at the end of the tunnel9”. Isolated incidents like the Tet Offensive contributed to the loss in the war for America, in America, as well as 8568 miles away in Vietnam. Many American citizens, with many different political ideologies, came together in unison to form Anti-war movements across the country as a result of what they had seen, making it akin to a kind of twisted war on two fronts for the American government. These citizens ranged from students of “American Universities counting themselves among the opponents of war10”, (in particular at the University of Oklahoma) to Labour Unions such as the Labour Leadership Assembly For Peace (LLAP), who held “several marches and rallies11”. These anti- war movements only grew stronger when “The horrifying story of the My Lai massacre broke in November, 196912”, when in one horrific afternoon, around 300 Vietnamese villagers were raped, tortured and killed by American troops, hunting for allies to communism. After events such as these, it is of no surprise to me, that by 197, when asked about the war in Vietnam, 71% of the American populas voted against it. I have
When the year 1973 came around, the most powerful economic and military force America, were being forced to come to terms with the fact that they had suffered defeat in their war in Vietnam. Despite the vast gulf in financial and military prowess which swung in favour of the Americans, 57,000 of their troops1 had lost their lives or were missing in action2, in a defeat so unanimous that the American armed forces today, use Vietnam as their key example on how not to engage in warfare. The sixteen year period between 1959 to 1975 in which the war took place, is described by the majority, as a prolonged struggle and a war America had no way of winning. ‘However the defeat of a military and industrial superpower, …show more content…
Secretary of defence at the time, Robert McNamara encapsulated the validity of this point, when he stated that “the test of endurance may be as much in the United States, as in Vietnam8”. The fact that Vietnam was the first televised war backfired horribly for the American governments and advocates of the war. The images beamed into every living room up and down the United States of the disaster of the Tet Offensive. Seeing a highly organised, unified opposition of Vietcong and North Vietnamese troops storm the American Embassy in Saigon, put pay to General Westmoreland’s claims that America were going to be victorious in the war, and that the American Army could see “light at the end of the tunnel9”. Isolated incidents like the Tet Offensive contributed to the loss in the war for America, in America, as well as 8568 miles away in Vietnam. Many American citizens, with many different political ideologies, came together in unison to form Anti-war movements across the country as a result of what they had seen, making it akin to a kind of twisted war on two fronts for the American government. These citizens ranged from students of “American Universities counting themselves among the opponents of war10”, (in particular at the University of Oklahoma) to Labour Unions such as the Labour Leadership Assembly For Peace (LLAP), who held “several marches and rallies11”. These anti- war movements only grew stronger when “The horrifying story of the My Lai massacre broke in November, 196912”, when in one horrific afternoon, around 300 Vietnamese villagers were raped, tortured and killed by American troops, hunting for allies to communism. After events such as these, it is of no surprise to me, that by 197, when asked about the war in Vietnam, 71% of the American populas voted against it. I have