While the campaigns in Cambodia were immensely successful for the United States’ effort in the Vietnam War, it resulted in huge controversy and detrimental losses for the indigenous people. Bombings that would later escalate into an invasion served to destroy enemy sanctuaries hiding in Cambodia. In the tedious and fruitless conflict, Nixon described the invasion as “the most successful military operation of the entire Vietnam War" (qtd. In History.com Staff).
Using the domino theory to justify the conflict in Vietnam, much like in Korea, The U.S. waged war in Southeast Asia during the 1950s up until the 1970s, fearing the spread of Communism. Cambodia meanwhile, under Prince Sihanouk, remained neutral since the Geneva Agreement of 1954. Communist …show more content…
This covert mission was given the name “Breakfast”, the first of six series of missions in Operation Menu. Due to the success of Operation Breakfast 5 more operations were planned. They would be known as: Lunch, Snack, Dinner, Supper, and Dessert. Due to the nature of their names all 6 of the procedures would be under title the “Operation Menu”. In total 3,800 B-52 sorties were flown and 108,823 tons of bombs were dropped. Overall the series of missions were successful. These operations in Cambodia were pushed to be kept secret by President Nixon and Henry Kissinger. Not even Prince Sihanouk, Cambodia 's leader, and Congress knew of the operations. The bombing of a neutral country would not be seen in good light, especially during this tedious and opposed war. Unwanted criticism from the media and more anti-war protests on college campuses were avoided by keeping the missions under wraps. However, on May 9th, 1969, an article published in the New York Times exposed the bombing in Cambodia. The author disclosed that his source was from the Nixon Administration. The President was furious. Morton Halperin, Kissinger’s aide, was believed to be the source of the leak. For 21 months Halperin 's phone was illegally tapped, the first in a long series of illegal surveillances that would later bring Nixon …show more content…
The Southern forces were able to discover large caches of enemy weapons by mid-April 1970. The missions became further intensified on April 29th in Operation Toàn Thang 42. 8,700 Southern troops from the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), with the aid of U.S. advisors, crossed into the Cambodian region known as "Parrot 's Beak", just 33 miles from Saigon. On May 12th 15,000 American and Southern troops invaded the Cambodian region known as "Fishhook" in Operation Toàn Thang 43, also referred to as Operation Rockcrusher. Later missions would be Toàn Thang 44 and Binh
Using the domino theory to justify the conflict in Vietnam, much like in Korea, The U.S. waged war in Southeast Asia during the 1950s up until the 1970s, fearing the spread of Communism. Cambodia meanwhile, under Prince Sihanouk, remained neutral since the Geneva Agreement of 1954. Communist …show more content…
This covert mission was given the name “Breakfast”, the first of six series of missions in Operation Menu. Due to the success of Operation Breakfast 5 more operations were planned. They would be known as: Lunch, Snack, Dinner, Supper, and Dessert. Due to the nature of their names all 6 of the procedures would be under title the “Operation Menu”. In total 3,800 B-52 sorties were flown and 108,823 tons of bombs were dropped. Overall the series of missions were successful. These operations in Cambodia were pushed to be kept secret by President Nixon and Henry Kissinger. Not even Prince Sihanouk, Cambodia 's leader, and Congress knew of the operations. The bombing of a neutral country would not be seen in good light, especially during this tedious and opposed war. Unwanted criticism from the media and more anti-war protests on college campuses were avoided by keeping the missions under wraps. However, on May 9th, 1969, an article published in the New York Times exposed the bombing in Cambodia. The author disclosed that his source was from the Nixon Administration. The President was furious. Morton Halperin, Kissinger’s aide, was believed to be the source of the leak. For 21 months Halperin 's phone was illegally tapped, the first in a long series of illegal surveillances that would later bring Nixon …show more content…
The Southern forces were able to discover large caches of enemy weapons by mid-April 1970. The missions became further intensified on April 29th in Operation Toàn Thang 42. 8,700 Southern troops from the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), with the aid of U.S. advisors, crossed into the Cambodian region known as "Parrot 's Beak", just 33 miles from Saigon. On May 12th 15,000 American and Southern troops invaded the Cambodian region known as "Fishhook" in Operation Toàn Thang 43, also referred to as Operation Rockcrusher. Later missions would be Toàn Thang 44 and Binh