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Vietnam War

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Vietnam War
Why did the US enter the Vietnam War? The Vietnam War was fought during the cold war on 1 November 1955 - 30 April 1975. The Vietnam War was a war fought between the North and South Vietnam mainly, but in later year the US would join in to help South Vietnam ward off the communist mind of Ho Chi Minh and North Vietnam. The Vietnam today is no longer called a war in fact no war since World War I and II have been wars. Instances like Vietnam have merely been police interference or police actions. There are still some arguments on why and how the US won or loss in Vietnam. But never why they entered, yes everyone knows the basic reason why they entered was to stop the spread of communism because this was still a time were the cold war was still going on, but three other important ideas or reasons come to mind when I ask myself why the US entered the War. Those other reasons in my mind why the US entered the war are the fact that the US wanted to show their dominance and especially show Russia that they are not to be messed with. The third reason would be the US kind felt like they were forced or had a responsibility to help Vietnam. The fourth is the fact the US fought for money. First, the US wanted to show their dominance and prove to Russia that they were going to stop them every chance that was presented. The Vietnam War came at a time where the US and the USSR were still fighting for who and how much power and influence one had over the entire world. This meant that when countries like Vietnam who was not really known and was looking for to back them up or someone to support them not economically but in situations where fighting and bombing was needed. So this is a reason why the US entered the, it wasn’t to just go in and win and control the whole country. It was because the US wanted to demolish the thought and get rid of the idea of Communism. This is why I believe that the US did not go into Vietnam thinking they were going to win or lose. They even tried


Citations: Hook, Steven and John Spainer. American Foreign Policy Since World War II Eighteenth Edition. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2010. Holtz, Edward A. “TO Kill and be Killed: Viet Nam – 15 Feb. ’69, 2 Nov. ’68.” Unpublished; Instructor class handout
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