The Vietnam War: How America Lost the War Against Communism

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The Vietnam War was a conflict, which the United States involved itself in unnecessarily and ultimately lost. The basis of the conflict was simple enough: Communism vs. Capitalism, yet the conduct of the Vietnam War was complex and strategic, and brought repercussions which had never been seen before. The struggle between North and South had an almost inevitable outcome, yet the Americans entered the War optimistic that they could aid the falling South and sustain democracy. The American intentions for entering the Vietnam conflict were good, yet when the conflict went horribly wrong, and the resilient North Vietnamese forces, or ‘Viet Cong' as they were known, refused to yield, the United States saw they were fighting a losing battle.

The United States initially backed the struggling democratic South Vietnam in an effort to prevent what is known as the ‘domino effect' from occurring. The idea that the South falling under the communist north's control and ideology and therefore the rest of South-East Asia falling under a communist regime was quite a legitimate theory at the time, and therefore America did go into Vietnam with good intentions. Their intentions being good is arguable now, but during the early 1960's under the presidency of John F. Kennedy the escalation of American involvement in Vietnam was greeted with enthusiasm by the American public. However, John F. Kennedy's own enthusiasm was dulled and as he contemplated withdrawal from Vietnam, he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, to be succeeded by the more militarized Lyndon Johnson.

As Lyndon Johnson came into power, he upped the number of military advisors in Vietnam to 27,000 . His more active military stance, and commitment to the fight against communism saw ...

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...atable enemy, the Agent Orange project, which is causing health problems in veterans to this day, the My Lai massacre and similar events which took place and the lack of support from the American public. U.S involvement in Vietnam, to aid the South from falling to communism, and to ultimately protect all of South-East Asia from communism was warranted, however the conflict in Vietnam went horribly wrong, and as a result, America lost the war against communism.

Bibliography:

Encarta Encyclopedia Article- The Vietnam War

http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?z=1&pg=2&ti=761552642

Visited on 30/10/2001

Vietnam War Overview

http://vietnam.vassar.edu/overview.html

Visited on 31/10/2001

Agent Orange Information

http://www.goiv.com/ao

Visited on 3/11/2001

My Lai Massacre

http://www.oz.net/~vvawai/sw/sw31/pgs_03-14/my_lai.html

Visited on 3/11/2001

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