Word count: Date: 17/05/2011

Li Chun Ho (Alvin) IB History HL

Essay Question: Both the reasons for and methods of participation in the Vietnam War were misguided. Discuss. Many reasons were given for American involvement in the Vietnam War against Communism. Of the numerous justifications given such as the promotion of democracy, the failure of Diems unpopular regime, the containment policy and the Domino theory, much of these reasons were made using misguided standards for reasoning. The theory was mainly based on outcomes of the Korea war. This was misinterpreted as generals went further than containing Communism; rolling back. By pushing the Communists into Chinese territory, this ignited their participation into assisting other Communists. The failure of Diems regime highlights American failures to assist him in becoming more popular. Failure to do so led to the Vietcong Communist uprising. Furthermore, the participation of the Vietnam War was impersonal as America was fighting solely based on the fight against Communism; they were misguided due to cultural and social-economic differences which America failed to take into account. Poor judgment was expressed in the use of methods. Bombing the Ho Chi Minh Trail portrayed US insensitivity of maintaining good relations with Vietnams neighbors, leading to Communist rising in these countries. Likewise, sending American troops to train South Vietnamese soldiers in a very different geographical environment portrayed their ignorance and fundamentals of guerilla warfare. To begin with, American intervention into the Vietnam War was mainly justified according to the Domino Theory, where they assumed the change of a countrys state into a communist one would influence their neighbors to follow suit. This theory, derived from the attempts of Chinas role during the Korea War seemed misguided due to the circumstances of what American troops did there. When the Communists were confined to their territory, US generals changed tactics to rolling back, where the enemies were pushed near the Chinese border, inciting military support for the Communists. Another reason for US participation was due to American failure to increase the Diems popularity. Before the Vietnam War, Ngo Dihn Diem led a corrupt and anti-Communist government of South Vietnam. Although supported by the US due to his ideology with economic and military aid, America failed to influence Diems government to adopt policies that would increase their popularity. Citizens disliked Diems rule, where heavy corruption, cronyism, nepotism and authoritarian rule repressed the freedom of religion and resisted against land reforms. It eventually became difficult for America to support Diem after numerous protests by highly respected monks involving self-immolation gained notoriety worldwide, leading to a coup organized by the South Vietnamese army. Therefore if America was able to reduce Diems ruthless actions in office a coup would not have taken place, the same said for the Vietnam War. Hence a misguided step contributed to further unsuitable forms of participation in the war. However, not all reasons to enter the Vietnam War were misguided. Americas participation into war was influenced by Kennans Long Telegram introducing the policy of containment along with NSC 68, a document highlighting American policy towards Cold War. Containment is justifiable when visiting past events. In the Korea War, the policy of containment towards North Korea appeared successful by preventing neighboring countries exposed to a growing ideology. It was only the new policy of Rolling Back that led to an extent of failure. This was influenced by NSC 68, who suggested a more aggressive tactic. Either way, both documents supported American involvement in Vietnam, 1

Word count: Date: 17/05/2011

Li Chun Ho (Alvin) IB History HL

Essay Question: Both the reasons for and methods of participation in the Vietnam War were misguided. Discuss. regardless of containing or rolling back. In this case, the Communists did retreat, however launched an extremely large scale attack on US and South Vietnamese forces known as the Tet Offensive, January 1968. This reasonably justifies US action in the Vietnam War. In terms of methods used, the actions taken by the American army was greatly insensitive towards neighboring countries of Vietnam that actually provoked the rise of Communism and reversed US goals of containing Communism. A path known as the Ho Chi Minh trail that connected South and North Vietnam together through an extensive route allowing virtually all forms of transport to carry military aid and soldiers was heavily bombed by US artillery in an effort to reduce Communist momentum. Because the route went through regions of Laos and Cambodia, collateral damage was extremely high in these two nations, spurting the uprising of Communism in these areas that supported the North Vietnamese cause. This step proved to be unsuitable action. Furthermore, the unsuitable step that led to devastating collateral damage that included the use of napalm, agents blue and orange increased local support for Communists. Their approach can further be said as highly unsuitable provided the Vietcong adopted Maos army code, a set of humane principles to follow by troops during times of war, such as fairly treating prisoners and paying what they took. There was a major difference between their approaches compared to the Americans, who damaged crops and jungles through Operation Ranch Hand. In an effort to force villagers into US dominated areas, it ultimately backfired and villagers further supported the Vietcong even more. The same can be said for the Strategic Hamlets. Another misguided step towards US participation involved lack of US army understanding of guerilla tactics. The vast geographical differences between America and Vietnam meant that US troops training South Vietnamese were incompatible when faced with Guerillas. Soldiers sent to Vietnam were notably young and inexperienced soldiers who did not have the benefit of years of experience and training of US marines. Therefore, having sustained many hit and run attacks by the Communists, morale correspondingly decreased. This is further made worse by the fact the war was primarily focused on defeating Communism with no true affection towards the South Vietnamese. The absence of passion and devotion in winning the war meant that US soldiers were not committed towards their cause, while the Communists were. Furthermore, the facts when President Johnson was given the oppournity to sign the Geneva Agreement (1954) of a temporary cease fire in the Vietnam War but didnt due to the influence of senior advisors also appeared to be a misguided attempt that was in favor of more than containment.