Should The Vietnam War Have Been Avoided
The Vietnam War is our country’s second longest military conflict ever, starting in 1961 and ending officially in 1975. In terms of total American casualties, it ranks fourth in our history, following the American Civil War and both World Wars, with over 58,000 brave lives sacrificed. But all of the blood, sweat, and tears our nation shed during those 14 years could have been avoided. I believe that the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War could have been easily prevented, and in turn, would have saved thousands of U.S. troop lives.
The Truman Doctrine was officially passed in March 1947, when the President at that time, Harry S. Truman, announced he would support any other nation under communist oppression. Eight years later, President …show more content…
naval ships for being too close to their coastal waters and attacked in fear of an invasion. However, the President saw this as an attack on our country, and signed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. which allowed him to take “any measures necessary” on fighting communist forces. The following bombing raids on Vietnam provoked their armies, and thus, the U.S. had officially entered the war. But I believe if the U.S. had first contacted the North Vietnamese and had a formal conversation with diplomats before engaging in war, it could have been prevented entirely. Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, who played a great role in the Vietnam War, also believes the war could have been avoided. He believes that the Domino Theory had been exaggerated and that he didn’t believe a unified Vietnam would have allowed a communist China or Soviet Union to set up military bases in their country. Our ships had no business in being so close to Vietnam coasts in the Gulf of Tonkin, so the North Vietnamese were justified in their actions. The U.S. had no place in a country’s own civil …show more content…
And if another country is in a war of which no side poses a threat to us, the U.S. should just leave the fighting to the people that want to fight. Going into a war with one side may leave the other side no choice but to officially declare war on us, even if the initial war ends. Even after the initial war, the opposing country we fought against may hold a grudge and attack the United States. Which could have been easily avoided if we simply didn’t enter in the first place. The government could also hold polls, that can easily tally up the civilian vote on whether or not the citizens of America would support a war that could
The Truman Doctrine was officially passed in March 1947, when the President at that time, Harry S. Truman, announced he would support any other nation under communist oppression. Eight years later, President …show more content…
naval ships for being too close to their coastal waters and attacked in fear of an invasion. However, the President saw this as an attack on our country, and signed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution. which allowed him to take “any measures necessary” on fighting communist forces. The following bombing raids on Vietnam provoked their armies, and thus, the U.S. had officially entered the war. But I believe if the U.S. had first contacted the North Vietnamese and had a formal conversation with diplomats before engaging in war, it could have been prevented entirely. Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, who played a great role in the Vietnam War, also believes the war could have been avoided. He believes that the Domino Theory had been exaggerated and that he didn’t believe a unified Vietnam would have allowed a communist China or Soviet Union to set up military bases in their country. Our ships had no business in being so close to Vietnam coasts in the Gulf of Tonkin, so the North Vietnamese were justified in their actions. The U.S. had no place in a country’s own civil …show more content…
And if another country is in a war of which no side poses a threat to us, the U.S. should just leave the fighting to the people that want to fight. Going into a war with one side may leave the other side no choice but to officially declare war on us, even if the initial war ends. Even after the initial war, the opposing country we fought against may hold a grudge and attack the United States. Which could have been easily avoided if we simply didn’t enter in the first place. The government could also hold polls, that can easily tally up the civilian vote on whether or not the citizens of America would support a war that could