The tactics of the US were the main reason of its withdrawal of Vietnam. How far do you agree?

[10 marks] I think that the main reason of the American withdrawal from Vietnam was the ineffectiveness of the US tactics but there are other equally important reasons that deserve consideration. Some of these being: the tactics of the VC, lack of home support, lack of conviction for their causes and failure to win the hearts and minds of the natives although they failed to win the hearts and minds of the natives through their tactics. Some of the tactics of the US were the use of strategic hamlets and the use of chemical weapons. The strategic hamlets plan was to move the Vietnamese to small fortified villages that were fully equipped with medical and educational establishment so the Viet Cong would not be able to interact with the villagers but this tactic proved useless and further alienated the natives. The Vietnamese villagers were mostly Buddhist and they resented being moved way from the graves of their ancestors as veneration of the dead is an important part of the Buddhist faith. Most of the villagers were rice farmers and they resented being moved away from the their rice fields most of the money that was supposed to go to building the medical and educational establishments was stolen by corrupt south Vietnamese government officials. So the Vietnamese felt like they were being moved into prisons as a result they helped the VC gain entry to the very hamlets designed to keep them out. The next tactic will discus I the use if chemical weapons like Agent Orange. During the Vietnam war 18 million gallons of agent orange were dropped on Vietnam to destroy food sources and defoliate hiding places of the Viet Cong thirty years after the war three million Vietnamese are still suffering from the side effects of the poison, which can cause birth defects and cancer, has had a devastating impact of the environment and is now infecting a third generation of victims. Once again this further alienated the US from the natives and led many villagers to join the Vietcong. The next factor I will mention is the opposition of the American civilians against atrocities like the My Lai massacre and disasters like the Kent state shootings. The Kent state shootings occurred on May 4 1970 several students were staging a protest against the war in Vietnam. At midday the national guard were called in to deal with the situation but they panicked as the tear gas canisters they threw were hurled back at them and opened fire against civilians killing 4 students who had nothing to do with the protests and wounding many. After the incident Nixon called the protestors Bums which further pushed the anti war movements in the US at the time. Another horrific travesty was the My Lai massacre on March 1969 300 women and children were accused of being VC were rounded up and ruthlessly executed by undisciplined incompetent frustrated US soldiers. LT. Calley one of those in charge served 3 years of house arrest. This incident shows the public the inadequacy of the US troops it sparked more anti war protests. I think that the reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph were just as important as the failure of the US tactics as no country can sustain a war without the support of its people. Therefore I must come to the conclusion that the tactics of the US were only a part of the reason of US withdrawal from vietnam