American Wars Abroad

During 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. The U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War spanned from 1964-1975, and is an example of U.S. foreign involvement drawn out to an unnecessary extent. Throughout The War there were many decisions that the American citizens, and eventually the South Vietnamese, began to resent. Much of the Vietnam controversy could have been avoided if America had acted in a quick manner. America’s involvement in the Vietnam War lasted a total of eleven years from beginning to end making it, “the longest war in which the United States took part in” (Vietnam War). America went into the war to protect South Vietnam from the North Vietnamese Communists. The U.S. entered the war because of the Truman Doctrine, “Truman had declared that the United States must help any nation challenged by Communism” (Vietnam War). The Domino Theory, the idea that if one country fell to Com... ... middle of paper ... ...and the Iraq War with strategies and plans to back out, there would be more success. The Iraq War is slowly calming down and America is starting to reduce troop numbers, but it has already been extended past what would be considered necessary involvement. Thus, the Iraq War was unnecessarily prolonged just like the war in Vietnam was. Both the Arms Race, between the Soviet Union and the United States, and the Vietnam War are examples of events during the Cold War where foreign involvement was extended drawn out past what was necessary. The Cuban Missile Crisis shows illustrates the benefits of acting in an expedited and decisive manner to succeed in a short period of time. America must realize that when dealing with a crisis or conflict, foreign involvement must not be prolonged. This is a lesson that should be acknowledged when dealing with the current Iraq War.