A War America Could have Won
analytical Essay
1811 words
A War America Could have Won
North Vietnam was battling for ownership of South Vietnam, so they could be a unified communist nation. To prevent the domino effect and further spread of communism, the USA troops in 1965 went into action against the Viet Cong until 1975. Not only did the greatest superpower in the world get bested by a third world nation, but also lost badly. Perhaps this war could have been won, or prevented in the first place. The USA could have and should have won this war, with a combination of better weapons usage, better tactics and better support from their home country.
The First American combat troops in Vietnam landed at Da Nang in 8 March 1965 to defend the air base. With the exception of the nuclear weapon, every piece of equipment in America's mighty arsenal was used in the war. The USA President Lyndon Johnson said "Our goal was to deter and diminish the strength of the North Vietnamese aggressors and try to convince them to leave South Vietnam alone"#. Johnson limited the conflict to an air war at first, hoping to pound away and push the Viet Cong into giving in. He used planes such as the B-52 bomber to try to win the war as quickly as possible. So he unleashed a continuous bombing raid on North Vietnam. This was the raid known as 'Operation Rolling Thunder'. American scientist created an array of ultra-sensitive devices to detect the army. THE B-52 dropped bombs in large amounts of the defoliating gas, Agent Orange. Hundreds of millions of acres of jungle were destroyed and even fields of rice paddies were poisoned because of Agent Orange. Agent Orange was supposed to eliminate the Viet Cong's advantageous hiding places, but it only turned the people the American's were fighting for against them even more. Yet another type of bomb was used. Napalm was also another mistake. By using a flammable jelly to literally burn up all of North Vietnam, the USA not only killed more civilians than soldiers, but also raised several ethnical questions. Weighing the consequences of using weapons such as napalm and Agent Orange, the USA quite possibly could have won the Vietnam War completely through the use of air power. More tonnage of ordinance was dropped in any given week during Vietnam than during all other wars in the history of the world combined.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that north vietnam was battling for ownership of south vietnam, so they could be a unified communist nation. the usa could have won this war with better weapons usage, better tactics, and better support from their home country.
- Explains that the usa's goal was to deter and diminish the strength of the north vietnamese aggressors and try to convince them to leave south vietnam alone.
- Analyzes how nixon inherited an unpopular war. he reduced us ground troops, increased bombing, and sent henry kissinger to paris for secret negotiations with the north vietnamese.
- Analyzes the reasons why the united states lost the war in vietnam, stating that washington had sought to contain international communism, but this global strategic concern masked the reality that the appeal of the vietnamese derived from local economic, social, and historical conditions.
- Compares the tactics of the us and the viet cong in vietnam.
- Argues that the saddest chapter in american history could have been avoided with good leadership, planning, prearedness, and confidence.
Related
- explanatory
- analytical
- opinionated
- comparative
- History of The U.S. Militaryexplanatory essaySo the United Sates was given no other option but to greaten the U.S. influence in Vietnam. Although the U.S. had the more technology to use, the people of Vietnam had the upper hand at times. By the use of guerilla tactics, they had the ability to out maneuver the United States troops. These tactics made the United States rely on air attacks. By the pressure of the American citizens, President Nixon was forced to withdraw his troops from Vietnam. Then just 6 years later Northern Vietnam had completely taken over Vietnam (http//members.aol.com/snniper43/Vietnam.html).
In this essay, the author
- Explains the history of the united states military, starting with a simple musket that shot one bullet and needed to be reloaded after that. the only time that atom bombs were dropped on civilian areas were hiroshima and nagasaki.
- Explains that the manhattan project was the thinking of albert einstein, who believed that if you get a research team together they could create nuclear weapons.
- Explains that the korean war was a battle against the chinese and the americans.
- Explains that the korean war is known as the forgotten war, but the soldiers never forgot about it.
1195 wordsRead More - The War that Changed America Foreverexplanatory essayThe Vietnam War was a war that changed America forever. It was a long, costly war between Communist North Vietnam, with the aid of the Viet Cong, and Capitalist South Vietnam, aided by the United States. It was a controversial war at the time, but today, it remains embedded in America's history as a war to be remembered.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the vietnam war changed america forever. it was a long, costly war between communist north vietnam and capitalist south vietnam, aided by the united states.
- Explains the reasons for the vietnam war, which began long before the war began. the us committed to keeping the north vietnamese contained once the french withdrew from vietnam.
- Explains how the viet cong, a guerilla fighting group disguised as south vietnamese citizens, was difficult for the us to find, let alone fight, and developed napalm and agent orange.
- Explains that the war attracted negative attention from many americans, causing them to protest the idea of war. many songs protesting america's involvement in vietnam were written during this period.
- Explains that the end of the vietnam war was marked by the fall of saigon. the gulf of tonkin resolution caused americans to distrust their government.
931 wordsRead More - History Of The Vietnam Waranalytical essayThe war in Vietnam began as a civil war which dated back long into Vietnamese history. Although it was a communist revolution, it was first and foremost a people’s war, in which the people of South Vietnam were revolting against the right-wing dictatorship of their government. The Vietnam War was the second of the two Indochina Wars, where the first was fought and lost by France. American intervention, because of the policy of containing communism, had already begun during the First Indochina War, under President Eisenhower. Although Eisenhower had refused to commit US troops to the war, he supplied military support to the French. And when they lost the war, he continued to supply aid to the anti-communist government in Saigon, the capital of the South Vietnam. The end of the First Indochina War resulted in the Geneva Conference of 1954 between France and the Viet Minh, who decided to split Vietnam in to the communist North and the pro-western South. This therefore recognised North Vietnam, known as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV), as an independent state. However, an insurgency in the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), led by the National Liberation Front (...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that many analysts attribute the vietnam war to lyndon b. johnson, who was president of america from 1963 until 1969, because the american army became involved in combat in vietnam.
- Explains that the vietnam war was the second of the two indochina wars, where the first was fought and lost by france.
- Explains that american exceptionalism is the theory that america is a unique and superior nation, and has the obligation to promote and extend american ideals around the world.
- Explains that johnson launched a sustained bombing campaign against the drv after the tonkin gulf incident, which won him an overwhelming victory against barry goldwater in the elections.
- Explains that the us secretary of defense proposed an increase of us troops to 175 000 by mid-1965, but the communist leaders decided to win a quick victory.
- Explains that the tet offensive was a military disaster for the viet cong, but it was still 'political and psychological defeat' for america.
- Argues that the failure of the us in vietnam stems from johnson's cautious approach to military campaigns because of his logical fears of chinese or soviet involvement or an uncontrollable conflict.
- Analyzes how johnson and nixon failed to factor in vietnam's bitter history of opposition to chinese domination and the growing rift in sino-soviet relations.
- Explains that the vietnam war was a difficult experience for the us military as well as its foreign policy. johnson's decision to go to war was made from hard thought-out reasoning but he did not factor in the environment in vietnam or the opinion of the american public.
1977 wordsRead More - American Wars Abroadopinionated essayDuring the Cold War the United States was involved in numerous conflicts overseas. As the Cold War progressed there were occasions where the US extended its participation beyond what was necessary by not acting in a quick and decisive manner. When dealing with crisis or conflict, America must not prolong foreign involvement. The Vietnam War and the Arms Race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union are two instances where America prolonged involvement past what was necessary. Certain aspects of both events could have been avoided if the United States expedited their actions. An occurrence where America succeeded in taking concise and expedited actions was the Cuban Missile Crisis, which was resolved after only thirteen days of direct negotiation with the Soviet Union. This lesson of not prolonging foreign involvement can and should be used today, especially in dealing with the war in Iraq.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that the lesson of not prolonging foreign involvement can and should be used today in dealing with the war in iraq.
- Analyzes how the u.s. involvement in the vietnam war spanned from 1964-1975, and was drawn out to an unnecessary extent.
- Explains that the nuclear arms race between the united states and the soviet union is another example of america prolonging foreign involvement unnecessarily.
- Explains that the start treaty was signed with the intention of eliminating fifty percent of the nuclear weapons that each country held.
- Compares the cuban missile crisis to the vietnam war and nuclear arms race.
- Explains that the lesson that america should not prolong foreign involvement should be acknowledged with the war in iraq.
- Opines that the cuban missile crisis illustrates the benefits of acting in an expedited and decisive manner to succeed in a short period of time.
1552 wordsRead More - U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam Warexplanatory essayAlthough it was called the Vietnam War, the U.S. was primarily involved and participated in most of the warfare to defend democracy. South Vietnam's government and army were not well organized. The U.S. fought most of the war, then when it turned the war over to the South Vietnamese, they couldn't fight the North.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the u.s. participated in most of the war to defend democracy. south vietnam's government and army were not well organized.
- Explains that ngo dinh diem, prime minister of south vietnam, was opposed by buddhists in hue, and his brother, nguyen nhu, imprisoned or killed virtually anyone who opposed him.
- Explains that the u.s. didn't fight for vietnam right away, sending military advisors and goods to vietnam. the army of the republic of vietnam (arvn) was mostly helicopters, and armored personnel carriers.
- Describes how the u.s. was running two operations in the tonkin gulf: oplan 34a, desoto, and the maddox.
- Describes how the 1st infantry division prepared the arvn for the eventual departure of u.s. combat troops. the 199th brigade instituted training programs for regional and popular force units.
- Analyzes how the junta wrestled with one another in saigon and in the provinces, resulting in political turmoil.
- Explains that the tonkin gulf resolution pulled the u.s. further into the vietnam war.
- Narrates how nixon signed the paris accords with le duc tho, nguyen van thieu, and nixon. the north attacked the south but gerald ford and congress did not want to get involved in vietnam.
- Cites butterfield, fox, casey, michael, and michael. the vietnam experience: the army at war.
- Cites dougan, clark, and lipsman's the vietnam experience: a nation divided. doyle, edward, maitland and kendrick, alexander.
1139 wordsRead More - Vietnam And The Vietnam Waranalytical essayThe United States involved themselves in Vietnam for four main reasons: they wanted to contain communism, prevent the domino effect, support a very weak South Vietnam, and get retaliation for being attacked. After seeing China fall to communism in 1949, Lyndon Johnson did not want to watch the same thing happen in Vietnam. He decided that the United States must fight to contain communism in Vietnam and prevent the domino theory. The domino theory simply stated that if one country fell to communism, neighboring countries would soon follow suit, falling like a set of dominos. Essentially, Americans believed that if South Vietnam fell, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand would follow. Also, South Vietnam could not stand against the Vietcong alone because they were too weak and ill-equipped to fight. The United States believed that with good government, a large scale and ...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the longest war in the history of the united states took place in vietnam during the cold war.
- Analyzes how the united states fought to contain communism, prevent the domino effect, support a weak south vietnam, and get retaliation for being attacked.
- Explains that the united states did not lose the war as much as they failed to win it. they lost their support back home because the public didn't like what they were seeing in the media.
- Explains that the vietcong fought what is known as a guerilla war, in which they ambushed american vehicles in small groups of three to ten troops.
- Explains that the united states was not prepared to fight in the type of war they had gotten themselves involved in. the vietcong used the ho chi minh trail to transport supplies to their armies.
- Explains that the vietcong were fighting for their freedom and independence, which gave them the will and determination to fight, something the united states lacked.
- Explains that the vietcong were protecting their way of life and their choice of government from an aggressor that was trying to keep them from gaining independence.
1099 wordsRead More - The Vietnam Waropinionated essayThe Vietnam War was a war between the Capitalist United States and the Communist North Vietnamese army. This war started in 1964 and it ended in 1975, when the US withdrew its soldiers. The US joined the war to stop the spreading of Communism, because they didn't want Russia to gain more allies, as they had been in a cold war with them for years.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the vietnam war was a war between the capitalist united states and the communist north vietnamese army.
- Opines that an event is significant if it is still remembered today, meaning that it could raise issues in their mind. significance describes the impact of the event on other countries involved and the world as a whole.
- Opines that the vietnam war was significant in the short term and had an impact on a number of different people in many countries.
- Explains that 58,000 us soldiers died in the vietnam war and about 300,000 were injured. in the short term this meant that people had their families broken up and some of the returning soldiers with serious injuries could no longer serve.
- Analyzes how the anti-war protests in washington and the white house had a huge impact in the short term as the government and president didn't want to be unpopular.
- Opines that the war with vietnam cost the us about 130 billion dollars. this money was taken from tax payers who worked hard for their money but then taken away for a war that most people didn't want to be involved in.
- Opines that 4 million people died during the war, including civilians, which affected vietnam massively in the short term as a lot of farmers had been killed and vietnam was short on food and other resources.
- Analyzes how vietnam lost a lot of money because of the destruction of crops and farmland. the north vietnamese prime minister's speech proves that the war was significant in the short term.
- Analyzes how the us used napalm and other weapons on vietnam, which destroyed cities, villages, forests, hospitals, and schools, causing millions of dollars of damage.
- Explains that the usa left vietnam in a mess when they left, which meant that they couldn't defend themselves from invaders like cambodia and china.
- Analyzes how the vietnam war had a lot of impact on the world. it caused the us to be unpopular and lose support for their government.
- Opines that the vietnam war was significant in the us because they still make films and songs about the war and talk about it, even though it's hardly anything compared to the 4 million dead soldiers of vietnam.
- Analyzes how the vietnam war had a negative impact on the usa in the long term as they realized that they were no longer an unbeatable military force.
- Explains that the vietnam war was significant in the long term in vietnam. the us used weapons like napalm and agent orange during the war which destroyed crop fields and jungles.
- Opines that the vietnam war had a little significance to the world in the long term.
- Opines that the vietnam war was not significant in the long term. the war was significant to the usa as a lot of their soldiers died or got injured.
2350 wordsRead More - Wars of National Liberation and the End of Colonialismexplanatory essayIn the beginning of the Vietnam war, the United States troops were only sent in to keep the South Vietnamese government from collapsing, but with the fall of Diem, the new ruler who had deposed Bao Dai, the former emperor, a more active involvement was required of the U.S. So under president Johnson, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) was formed, but was proven to be less and less effective against the National Liberation Front, the NLF. The NLF was assumed to be the communist in South Vietnam therefore the US took drastic measures to subdue this group.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that national liberation is a concept that has been justly and unjustly idealized for many generations. freedom and independence are rights that every person deserves.
- Explains that the vietnamese people have been struggling for independence from france since the first indochina war, which resulted in a temporary division of vietnam into northern and southern sections.
- Explains that the army of the republic of vietnam (arvn) was formed, but was less effective against the national liberation front, the nlf.
- Explains that president j.f. kennedy believed that the arvn would be effective because the nlf fought for their families and nation existence.
- Explains that nixon tried to make peace with his "vietnamization" plan, but with this came failed peace negations and bloodshed.
- Opines that national liberation movements have been dubbed terrorists, but this is for the uninformed to use. the us has tried and continues to "help" the oppressed, and the result has been blood shed plus hatred towards us.
615 wordsRead More - The USA Should NOT Have Entered the Vietnam Waropinionated essayThe Vietnam War took place in between 1947- 1975. It consisted of North Vietnam trying to make South Vietnam a communism government. The United States later joined this conflict because of the stress North Vietnam was putting to South Vietnam to become a government that America did not want. The main reason why America joined was because of a theory called the Domino Effect. America and Russia were going through what has been dubbed the Cold War. The Domino Effect is the theory that communism will spread form one country to another. United states does not want this because our government is a democracy and communism opposes everything we stand for. America fearing communism was growing, stepped into Vietnam with America’s interest in mind, instead of Vietnam’s. There are several reason why American should have not gotten involved with this war. The most important reason was that America government officials made to much of a big deal about communism. This might sound cynical, but America to a certain degree did over react. Let it be said that it is much easier to say this after the fact. By looking back at McCarthyism, we can see the silliness of this fear. There is a serious side though. Thousands of people dies for a government that has no impact of their daily life. What regime Vietnam was going to change over to had no effect on the every day cycle of the United States. So truly, one can say, this can not one thing to do with America, its government and people.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the united states' involvement in the vietnam war is a gigantic change from prior wars.
- Explains that america joined the vietnam war because of the domino effect, which is the theory that communism will spread from one country to another.
- Opines that vietnam never should have involved the united states because of the death toll.
- Explains that the u.s. government recognized their mistakes in the first place and made laws that "fixed" or prevented chaos from happening again.
- Opines that there have been fair arguments against the theories presented here. they might disagree with the way of just ignored the conflicts going on aboard.
- Opines that the question of why we did not fight in vietnam was a necessity.
945 wordsRead More - Comparing the Vietnam War vs. Iraq Warcomparative essayThe Americans entered the war in 1964 because they believed in the domino theory, that if one nation fell into communism then other nations would follow. Soon America found it almost impossible to fight against people who were so determined to win, so America pulled its troops out of Vietnam in 1973. Withdrawing the American troops resulted in the South Vietnamese forces being defeated by the communists who then took over the country.
In this essay, the author
- Compares the vietnam war with the war in iraq by describing the reasons for war, us support, cost, number of deaths, and time and place.
- Explains that the vietnam war was a war over communism that started in 1950, when ho chi minh, the national leader of vietnam, introduced an communist government into north vietnam.
- Explains that the americans entered the war in 1964 because they believed in the domino theory, that if one nation fell into communism then other nations would follow.
- Explains that the war in iraq was declared in march 2003 for many reasons, including to free iraq, the oil, and because saddam hussein did not allow weapons inspectors search for nuclear weapons.
- Explains that the vietnam war was america's longest war, lasting about 8 years. the number of deaths in the war was one of the highest compared to previous wars.
- Estimates that 5,234 american soldiers lost their lives fighting for this country and 14,344 were injured in the war in iraq.
- Explains that the vietnam war cost america billions of dollars, much more than previous wars.
- Explains that the on-going war in iraq is the most expensive war america has been through. president obama continues to ask congress for additional billions for u.s. operations next year.
- Compares the reasons for the war in iraq and vietnam, including the number of soldiers who lost their lives, and the financial cost. saddam hussein did not allow weapons inspectors to search for nuclear weapons.
671 wordsRead More