Transcript 31:i - Deepening American Involvement

The Vietnam War and
American Society: 1954-1975
Deepening American Involvement
- Chapter 31:i -
Vietnam has a history of resisting control
by other countries for 2000 years (China,
Japan, France, and the US).
[Image source: http://www.egeltje.org/archives/blah/trungsis.jpg]
During the
19th century,
France added
Cochin-china,
Cambodia,
Annam, Tonkin,
and Laos to
their empire.
Indochina at time of conquest in 1883.
[Image source: http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/history/core/pics/0254/img0054.jpg]
th
20
By the early
century, these
areas were
combined and
administered
collectively as
French IndoChina.
Vietnam supplied raw materials to
France and purchased manufactured
goods in-return (Mercantilism).
The empire
of Japan
temporarily
severed this
connection,
when they
occupied
Southeast Asia
during World
War II.
Vietnamese guerillas gained valuable
experience opposing the Japanese occupation.
After World War II, the French attempted
to reassert their control over Indochina.
Nationalist Ho Chi Minh lead communist cadres
in fighting to expel the French from Vietnam.
[Image source:
http://www.leksikon.org/images/vo_nguyen_giap.jpg]
The Viet Minh defeated the French at the
battle of Dien Bien Phu and forced to
surrender their position in Indo-China.
The Viet Minh employed the tactic of
“holding on to the belt of the enemy”.
In 1954 a conference was held in Geneva,
Switzerland, to determine the fate of Vietnam.
Vietnam was
temporarily
divided in half –
the northern part
controlled by the
Communists, and
the southern part
backed by the
United States.
Ngo Dinh Diem
complicated
matters when
he unilaterally
declared South
Vietnam an
independent
republic in 1955.
American
support for
South Vietnam
was based on
the fear that
communism
would spread
among
neighboring
nations (the
Domino
Theory).
The world by the early-1960s.
In 1960 President Eisenhower sent 675 military
advisers to train South Vietnamese troops.
By the end of 1963, there were
more than 16,000 Americans
advisers in Vietnam.
To win the ideological war, Secretary of
Defense Robert McNamara developed
the concept of “flexible response” –
fighting only as much as needed.
The Viet Cong and the NVA
(North Vietnamese Army) didn’t
practice “flexible response”.
This led to an escalation in the
Vietnam War, with no end in sight.
The Republic of
South Vietnam
attempted to
deprive Viet Cong
guerillas of the
support from
the people by
relocating them
into strategic
hamlets.
These strategic hamlets, which were little
better than prison camps, helped the
government extend control into rural areas.
Increasingly
South Vietnam
was seen as a
puppet of the
imperialist
Americans.
[Image source: http://history1900s.about.com/library/photos/blyviet105.htm]
Buddhist monks,
in protesting
President Diem’s
policies, brought
international
condemnation
of his actions.
President Kennedy communicated to the
South Vietnamese military that the United
States would not interfere with their efforts
to remove President Diem from power.
Three weeks following Diems’ demise, President
Kennedy was felled by an assassin’s bullet.
Lyndon Baines
Johnson
succeeded
Kennedy as
president,
inheriting his
commitments to
the Republic of
SouthVietnam.
[Image source: http://www.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/Vietimages/Cartoons/levine.htm]
In August 1964 North Vietnamese
torpedo boats allegedly attacked the
destroyer U.S.S. Maddox (DD 731).
Action report from
the U.S.S. Maddox
The Gulf of
Tonkin Resolution
voted by the
Congress gave
President Johnson
carte blanch to
whatever was
necessary to
defend America’s
interests.
President Johnson used the Gulf of
Tonkin incident to get Congressional
approval for escalating America’s
military rôle in Vietnam.
[Image source: http://faculty.smu.edu/dsimon/Change-Viet2.html]
Some people wish to see a similarity between
presidents Johnson and George W. Bush, but . . .
Originally, Americans had been advisors, training
the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN).
Now the United States took a more-active rôle in
propping-up the South Vietnamese government, . .
. . . especially since they proved unable to field an
army that could successfully defend their country.
By 1965, the
Viet Cong had
managed to
expand the
territory
under their
control in
South
Vietnam.
North
Vietnamese
troops and
supplies
flowed into
South
Vietnam via
the Ho Chi
Minh Trail.
[Image source: http://faculty.smu.edu/dsimon/Change-Viet2.html]
In spite of large
numbers and
advanced weaponry,
the United States
failed to drive the
Viet Cong out of
South Vietnam.
[Image source:
http://members.aol.com/veterans/warlib6v.htm]
[Image source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tet_Offensive]
In early-1968
Viet Cong forces
launched the Tet
Offensive,
striking civilian
and military
command
centres, hoping
to spark a a
general uprising.
Televised images of the brutally of
war began to shape public opinion.
General Luan summarily executes Viet Cong Officer Van
Lem,”codename” Bay Lop (photo by Eddie Adams A.P. 2/68)
President Johnson’s popularity suffered accordingly.
[Image source: http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-presapp0605-31.html]
What rôle has the media played in contributing to negative
public opinion regarding this and other conflicts?
How do the casualty-rates between the
Vietnam War and the Iraq War compare?
Today, the mainstream media and socialprogressive elites are working hard to make the
analogy that the War in Iraq is another Vietnam.
[Image source: http://www.neveryetmelted.com/?p=2907]