The Vietnamese War escalated in 1969 after Kissinger and Nixon agreed on an important strategic decision. It was determined that the most viable way to alter the military balance in favor of South Vietnam was through the destruction of bases in Laos and Cambodia1. The US military held the notion that these bases were functioning as launching points for numerous communists’ attacks. Nixon commenced by bombing these bases and later sending ground troops to destroy these bases. In the beginning, the invasion was deemed a success, but the United States did not win the war. The essay will look into the reasons why the United States lost the Vietnam War.
Most Americans were against the War, as depicted by the restoration of the antiwar movement. The demonstrations started with vocal and widespread antiwar demonstrations. The crisis escalated after four college students were killed during the antiwar demonstrations and nine others were injured by the National Guard. Two more students were killed in Mississippi during another demonstration. The uproar against the War spread into the press and the government. Pentagon Papers were leaked, which were secret excerpts about the War2. The papers were published by the New York Times and other newspapers showing that the government was insincere in explaining the War’s intentions and the progress made in the War.
The discipline and morale among the American Troops were swiftly deteriorating in Vietnam in the fading years of the War. My Lai 1968 massacre was unearthed, which led to the trial and conviction of Lieutenant William Calley in 1971 over the murder of South Vietnamese civilians who were unarmed3. Nevertheless, he was pardoned and released, attracting widespread attention to the dehumanizing effect of the War on Americans as well as the far more catastrophic impact of the dehumanization of the Vietnamese. The American troops continued facing predicaments such as killing unpopular officers by enlisted men, refusal to obey orders, racism, drug addiction, and desertion, all of which led to the loss of the Vietnam War. “By 1971, polls indicated that nearly two-thirds of Americans supported withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam. President Nixon, however, believed that a defeat in Vietnam would cause unacceptable damage to the nation’s credibility”4. The White House, the CIA, the FBI, and other federal agents increased their stance on harassing and discrediting radical and antiwar groups via illegal means.
The US lost the War in Indochina after the Paris peace accords started collapsing. In March 1975, North Vietnamese launched a great attack against the now South Vietnam’s weakened forces. Thieu called for assistance from the Americans. Gerald Ford, the then President of America, requested additional funding from Congress, but Congress declined. In 1975, The communists’ forces marched into Saigon, soon after, the American embassy staff and the Thieu regime fled the country in humiliating dismay. The communists’ forces captured the capital, renamed it Ho Chi Minh City, and commenced the reuniting process under Hanoi’s government. Lon Nol’s regime in Cambodia was faced with numerous deaths at the hands of the Khmer Rouge5. Khmer’s brutal policies culminated in the death of over a third of the individual residents in the ensuing years.
The US failed in its operation Rolling Thunder, where they failed in their bombing campaign. The US bombs landed on an empty jungle, failing to hit the Vietnamese targets. The Vietnamese guerillas were conversant with the jungle and underground tunnels and bases, where they hid from the US bombs. They even re-used undetonated US bombs against US troops. In the My Lai Massacre, the search and destroy mission often relied upon poor military intelligence. Based on the brutal tactics applied by the US military, leading to the death of Vietnamese civilians, civilians joined the Vietcong guerrillas6. Hence, the US military launched a wide-scale attack, killing over 300 civilians in My Lai, including children. The massacre greatly tainted America’s reputation, losing support even further from US citizens. “The continuing war in Vietnam provided an unhappy backdrop to what Nixon considered his larger mission in world affairs: the construction of a new international order.”7 President Nixon was convinced that the archaic assumptions of two global superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States, were now obsolete8. The Middle East, Western Europe, Japan, and China were becoming independent, major forces. Hence, the American foreign policy was weakening, which was also a reason for their loss in the Vietnam War.
The Vietnam War was a great loss for America. The war did not have a definite agenda, and the US administration was dishonest about the war’s motives and the events unfolding during the war. The war was not supported by US civilians, the press, and some government officials. Hence, there were widespread antiwar demonstrations, which even led to the death of US civilians. Additionally, the war culminated in the death of numerous Vietnamese civilians, which tainted the reputation of the US. The US military also lost motivation and became indisciplined, which is why they lost the War.
Reference
Brinkley, Alan, John M. Giggie, Andrew Huebner. 2019. The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American people. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Footnotes
- Brinkley, Giggie, and Huebner. The unfinished nation: a concise history of the American people. 743-744.
- Brinkley, Giggie, and Huebner, The unfinished nation: a concise history of the American people,744.
- Brinkley, Giggie, and Huebner, The unfinished nation: a concise history of the American people,744.
- Brinkley, Giggie, and Huebner, The unfinished nation: a concise history of the American people, 744-745.
- Brinkley, Giggie, and Huebner, The unfinished nation: a concise history of the American people,744.
- Brinkley, Giggie, and Huebner, The unfinished nation: a concise history of the American people,719.
- Brinkley, Giggie, and Huebner, The unfinished nation: a concise history of the American people, 745.
- Brinkley, Giggie, and Huebner, The unfinished nation: a concise history of the American people, 745.