The Good Ones Do Win

The US troops were at least welcome in Korea, unlike Vietnam. The Vietnam War was one of the most embarrassing and useless wars in the history of this country. Eisenhower had a plan for a “new look” to roll back communism. By 1945 the French had taken over Vietnam again. The US started to aid the French in their takeover so that communism would not spread there. France was defeated at Dienbienphu and Vietnam split into the communist North and a democratic capitalist South just like Korea. America then contradicted itself when they assigned a dictator to South Vietnam. This man, Diem was not popular or supported. Vietnam was a danger zone at the time, so Kennedy sent the first ships to patrol the place. Meanwhile, the communist leader Ho Chi Minh who admired the US organized the Vietcong (communist Vietnam) to attack build underground tunnels. It was said that one of the ships sent by Kennedy was attacked by Vietnamese but it might have provoked them. Johnson took over after Kennedy’s death and sped up the war.

With the Golf of Tonkin resolution Johnson was able to spend as mush as he pleased on the war and the military. It was then when the Vietnam War got ugly for US citizens. There was a very bias draft where more blacks and poor people were sent to war. The protests started since the beginning but would not have an effect until the US got tired of the war. The South Vietnamese were innocent people who would be willing to be communist, they did not have a choice to ask for US involvement but they probably would not have asked. Unfortunately, people from Vietcong were living in South Vietnam so the soldiers started the search and destroy campaign to kill anyone who was suspected of being communist; many more innocent Vietnamese perished this way. This triggered the My Lai Massacre where many unarmed Vietnamese were killed, it is said that the responsible soldiers were never enlisted again. Johnson decided that to win the war America had to win the hearts and minds of the people, but this was very hard to do when they were destroying their houses. Destroying was a lot easier in a time when the soldiers did not have to see the people thanks to the technological advances in the military.

Vietnam then decided to make a trail through Laos, a country bordering the west of Vietnam. Johnson secretly bombs this place starting a legacy of lies and secret procedures. As a response to this, the Vietnamese attacked in what is known as the Tet Offensive which disproved all the promises Johnson had made about the North getting weaker. In the Tet Offensive the North attacked violently showing their power and willingness to win. By that point it was evident that the war was lost, and by Nixon’s election there was a solution. Nixon came up with Vietnamization which means to turn over the war to Vietnam and leave. This was very unfair since Vietnam did not want that violent war. Nixon also decided to attack Cambodia secretly just like Johnson had done to Laos. This called for the War Powers Act that required the president to give a 48 hour notice of the desire to send troops anywhere. People were evidently tired of the war and the trust in presidents was lost. The publication of the Pentagon Papers (which stated how much the presidents knew we were losing the war) by Daniel Ellsberg helped the public’s doubt grow. Students protesting were killed in the Kent Massacre marking the “enough” point of the war. Vietnam was an obvious loss and humiliation for the United States. People in that country were fighting for their own freedom and against all odds. Just like in the United State’s own revolution, there was no way to stop those who fought with the better moral.

By 1975 all of Vietnam became communist and Vietnamese were satisfied. The United States had a few good approaches to stop communism but the cold war was in itself a big shame. Korea was acceptable but Vietnam was just a waste of resources and time. In general the world’s police did a poor job proving to the whole world how obsessed they were with communism and how the “victims” do win most of the time. Communist or not, these citizens were people and America failed to see that. So much for the land of opportunity, the handling of Asia was overall very awful.