The US Should Not Have Released a Draft for the Vietnam War
In the early 19th century, the height of European imperialism, France conquered Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, creating the French colony of Indochina. Vietnam was divided into three parts: Annam, Tonkin and Cochinchina. The French maintained colonial rule over the area until WWII when the area was occupied by the Japanese. At the end of the war, the communist-led Vietnam declared itself independent. The French, wanting their colony back, declared war on the new state. After an extended period of guerilla warfare, the Vietnamese emerged victorious over the French. It was agreed at the Geneva Accords that Vietnam would be split into two: a communist North Vietnam (allied with and supported by China and the USSR) and the presidential republic South Vietnam (aided by the USA). Tensions grew between the two nations with the North supporting uprisings against the South’s leader, Ngo Dinh Diem. Fearing communist victory, the United States began to send military aid …show more content…
Many opponents of American policy during the 1960s described Vietnam as a civil war unlike the North-South division in the American Civil War. Rather, it was considered a struggle between Communist-led forces of the South and North against the American supported government in South Vietnam. By 1966, this analysis was openly embraced by many more popular politicians including William Fulbright, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senator Eugene McCarthy who ran for president on an anti-war campaign in 1968. Robert McNamara, an advocate for military escalation in Vietnam, rejected or ignored any evidence that contradicted Cold War orthodoxy, but wrote three decades later that he regretted the decision and attributed the failure to lack of knowledge and judgement. (NY
In the early 19th century, the height of European imperialism, France conquered Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, creating the French colony of Indochina. Vietnam was divided into three parts: Annam, Tonkin and Cochinchina. The French maintained colonial rule over the area until WWII when the area was occupied by the Japanese. At the end of the war, the communist-led Vietnam declared itself independent. The French, wanting their colony back, declared war on the new state. After an extended period of guerilla warfare, the Vietnamese emerged victorious over the French. It was agreed at the Geneva Accords that Vietnam would be split into two: a communist North Vietnam (allied with and supported by China and the USSR) and the presidential republic South Vietnam (aided by the USA). Tensions grew between the two nations with the North supporting uprisings against the South’s leader, Ngo Dinh Diem. Fearing communist victory, the United States began to send military aid …show more content…
Many opponents of American policy during the 1960s described Vietnam as a civil war unlike the North-South division in the American Civil War. Rather, it was considered a struggle between Communist-led forces of the South and North against the American supported government in South Vietnam. By 1966, this analysis was openly embraced by many more popular politicians including William Fulbright, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senator Eugene McCarthy who ran for president on an anti-war campaign in 1968. Robert McNamara, an advocate for military escalation in Vietnam, rejected or ignored any evidence that contradicted Cold War orthodoxy, but wrote three decades later that he regretted the decision and attributed the failure to lack of knowledge and judgement. (NY