The fact that the Americans were not able to win the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people was the main reason that the Americans lost the war. However, there were multiple reasons as to why the Americans lost the war and the fact the Americans were unable to win the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people was but one of these reasons.
One of the main reasons that the Americans were unable to win the Vietnam War was because they were unable to adapt to the new form of warfare. In all of the previous wars that America took part of, they used conventional warfare. This meant that they could use tanks and air bombing effectively against the opponent. However, in Vietnam, this form of warfare was ineffective since much of Vietnam was dense …show more content…
In 1964, before the war had even started, Cabot Lodge, the US ambassador in Saigon stated that instead of killing the Vietnamese citizens and dropping bombs on their land, they should distribute food, thereby winning the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people (Source E). However, during the Vietnam War this crucial piece of information was ignored and America used fear rather than compassion and aid as a way to persuade the Vietnamese to join their cause. As the war progressed, it became more and more obvious that the only way to win the war, was to win the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people, however, the Americans “did not know how to do this and the rulers of South Vietnam did not want to do it” (Source A). This can be seen in Source B where and American man is trying to give a Vietnamese boy something that he clearly doesn’t want. Furthermore, American soldiers would often burn down the villages of South Vietnamese peasants (Source C) and commit other war crimes, thereby failing once more to win the hears and minds of the Vietnamese people. Although this may have been the case, the counter-argument is invalid because there were many reasons that the Americans lost the Vietnam War such as their incapability to respond to the Vietcong alternative guerrilla war tactics (Source
One of the main reasons that the Americans were unable to win the Vietnam War was because they were unable to adapt to the new form of warfare. In all of the previous wars that America took part of, they used conventional warfare. This meant that they could use tanks and air bombing effectively against the opponent. However, in Vietnam, this form of warfare was ineffective since much of Vietnam was dense …show more content…
In 1964, before the war had even started, Cabot Lodge, the US ambassador in Saigon stated that instead of killing the Vietnamese citizens and dropping bombs on their land, they should distribute food, thereby winning the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people (Source E). However, during the Vietnam War this crucial piece of information was ignored and America used fear rather than compassion and aid as a way to persuade the Vietnamese to join their cause. As the war progressed, it became more and more obvious that the only way to win the war, was to win the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people, however, the Americans “did not know how to do this and the rulers of South Vietnam did not want to do it” (Source A). This can be seen in Source B where and American man is trying to give a Vietnamese boy something that he clearly doesn’t want. Furthermore, American soldiers would often burn down the villages of South Vietnamese peasants (Source C) and commit other war crimes, thereby failing once more to win the hears and minds of the Vietnamese people. Although this may have been the case, the counter-argument is invalid because there were many reasons that the Americans lost the Vietnam War such as their incapability to respond to the Vietcong alternative guerrilla war tactics (Source