Why The United States Withdrew Its Forces From Vietnamin 1973

Why The United States Withdrew Its Forces From Vietnamin 1973

The impact of the Vietnam War upon the USAwas as great as the attack

upon the Twin Towers in 2001.Previously the USAwas reluctant to fight

aboard as in World Wars One and Two but in Vietnam it had fully

committed itself to fight abroad with its own troops. It was to avoid

such involvements again until 2001. There are various reasons why the

USA withdrew its forces such as changes in public opinion, the tactics

of the different armies and a change in US foreign policy. These were

all contributory factors which when they coincided lead to the

withdrawal of the US from Vietnam.

The US became slowly embroiled in war in Vietnam by firstly trying to

support the South Vietnamese fight the Communists of the North. As

this became more entrenched, the US became more involved. The policies

of the South Vietnamese and Americans were unpopular with the South

Vietnamese. At first President Kennedy merely supported the South

Vietnamese government The South Vietnamese President Diem, was

catholic and the Buddhists resented this influence. President Kennedy

approved a coupe d'etait and Diem was to be replaced by his brother

Nhu. They were both killed.

When President Johnson came to power he began pursuing the war and

allotted more funds to it. He was also reluctant to inform the US

government about the full operations in Vietnam. The war was costing

the United States too much money and too many lives. The American

citizens had to pay for the war from their taxes. The US government

spent $141 billion on the war. This meant that the domestic policies

were abandoned for what was increa...

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... had been humiliated in the eyes

of the world and it had to extract itself from the mess. Nixon opened

secret talks with the North Vietnamese and in 1975 Saigon eventually

fell to the North Vietnamese because they lacked the support of the

USA.

It was the combination and the interaction between the different

tactics of the armies, the media coverage, and the questioning of the

war in the USAthat led the USA to withdraw its troops from Vietnam.

The change in approach to foreign policies and war by the USA meant

that it no longer wished to become embroiled in such a war. This was

to last until after September eleventh when it began an aggressive

foreign policy but it has been careful not to become fully engaged in

foreign countries for long periods because of the humiliation it

suffered in withdrawing from Vietnam.