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U.S. Policies in Vietnam

This research paper examines the policies and strategies pursued by the United States during the Vietnam War, the reasons why they failed and possible alternatives.

Directly or indirectly, the United States was militarily involved in Vietnam for roughly a quarter century (1949-1975). American policy was to contain worldwide communist expansion and in particular to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam by communist North Vietnam and Vietcong in the South. After concluding that indirect forms of economic and military assistance could not achieve that goal, the United States moved in 1965 from indirect to direct military involvement in combat operations in Vietnam. The basic military strategy of the United States was to conduct a war of attrition in South Vietnam by deploying large combat units against communist forces and by bombing North Vietnam. Only secondary attention was paid to pacification of the South Vietnamese countryside. After the Tet Offensive (January 1968), American policy shifted to reliance on Vietnamization, helping the South Vietnamese to defend themselves. Although lip service was paid to permitting South Vietnam a decent interval to save itself, America's primary objective evolved into staging its withdrawal in such a way as to preserve the integrity of America's global commitments and thereby, its credibility as a great power.

In the context of its role in the Cold War the United States had little choice but to attempt to defend South Vietnam. However, the military strategies which it employed only delayed but did not ultimately prevent the absorption of South Vietnam by the Hanoi regime. The principal reasons for that failure were: 1. the political instability, corruption and narrow popular appeal of successive South Vietnamese governments; 2. the ineffectiveness of American military strategy, especially its excessive reliance on American firepower, and its neglect of pacification; 3. America's un...

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U.S. Policies in Vietnam. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 01:09, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1703228.html