Lessons Of The Vietnam War Essay, Research Paper

Lessons of the Vietnam War

? American imperialism has suffered a arresting licking in Indochina. But the same forces are engaged in another war, against a much less resilient enemy, the American people. Here, the chances for sucess are much greater. The battlefield is idealogical, non military. At interest are the lessons to be drawn from the American war in Indochina ; the result will find the class and character of new imperial ventures. ?

( Noam Chomsky, 1975 )

Quite frequently the lesson of history is that there & # 8217 ; s no lesson. & # 8211 ; when person, peculiarly a politician starts to state you a & # 8220 ; lesson & # 8221 ; of history, pay attending & # 8211 ; odds are you & # 8217 ; re about to hear a prevarication, or something stupid.

So, what are the? lessons? of Vietnam?

The premise here is that there is about something salvagable out of the whole muss, if merely we can pull the right lessons from it. The United States Military has drawn three of these lessons from the Vietnam war. First, the armed forces has drawn from Vietnam a reminder of the finite bounds of American public support for US engagement in drawn-out struggle. . . Second, the armed forces has taken from Vietnam a heightened consciousness that civilian functionaries are antiphonal to influences other than the nonsubjective conditions on the battleground. . . Finally, the military took from Vietnam a new acknowledgment of the bounds of military power in work outing certain types of jobs in universe personal businesss. In peculiar, Vietnam planted uncertainties in many military heads about the ability of US forces to carry on successful large-scale pacifications.

Was the war right for American involvements?

If we accept the logic of containment, it was right. But should we? It is clear in retrospect now that the Cold War is over, that American policymakers in the 1950ss and early 60s took that thought excessively literally, didn & # 8217 ; t separate between different types of Communists with adequate preciseness, didn & # 8217 ; t separate between indispensable and unessential American involvements, took the thought of & # 8220 ; national will & # 8221 ; to absurd decisions, proved to be wholly incapable of doing a determination to cut their losingss, and in the instance of Vietnam surely, failed to understand that a Communist could besides be a nationalist first. Ho Chi Minh & # 8217 ; s seemingly sincere esteem for the Declaration of Independence stands as a reminder of an undiscovered possibility.

Was the war winnable?

It may hold been, if the U.S. acted early and resolutely plenty. However, there were many grounds why the U.S. authorities didn? t act resolutely early- grounds like the deficiency of stable authorities in South Vietnam. Korea had alread

y been proven to be a catastrophe, and the U.S. was worried about the reprecussions of their actions, the internal dissension about whether Vietnam was truly deserving the attempt in the first topographic point, and of class the political considerations here in the United States. Think about the deepness of Vietnamese patriotism, and the sucess of the Communist party in directing that patriotism.

It seems as though the lessons mean nil

However, Vietnam changed a batch of things, and some of the & # 8220 ; lessons & # 8221 ;

are deserving larning. The lesson of idealology is a large 1. The great error of the anti-war motion was romanticising the enemy, an enemy & # 8220 ; who had small to learn us about how to carry on a modern democratic society. & # 8221 ; The lesson of political orientation is that it isn & # 8217 ; t worth the decease of 1000000s of people. Containment wasn & # 8217 ; t worth it. Make the spread of communism a political job, non a militay one. The U.S. was surely guilty of a sort of imperial haughtiness & # 8211 ; that we knew best what was best for what we saw as this dependant, rearward, 3rd universe people. And the U.S. was surely guilty of seeing the

Vietnamese non as themselves but as pawns in a larger game & # 8211 ; what did the Russians and Chinese believe? How was this playing in Europe? What did the latest canvass Numberss say? And U.S. leaders were surely guilty of misdirecting the American people.

& # 8220 ; This sort of moral corrosion has become all excessively familiar in the twentieth century: the know-alls explain off all radical abominations, seek to turn the corner on Utopian hereafters, and in the procedure become mirror-images of the absolutist authorization they detest? . Even today, we hear voices on the left conjuration rationalisations for offenses? . & # 8221 ;

( Todd Gitlin )

Unanswered Questions

As an person, read these inquiries carefully. The category will so be asked to react to them, and we will compare the? replies? or suggestions.

State a monolithic U.S. bombardment and an invasion of North Vietnam had won a peace pact in 1966- would it hold lasted? Could it hold?

Would U.S. policy have been different if Kennedy had lived? If Watergate had non crippled Nixon?

Would U.S. society be more equal today if LBJ & # 8217 ; s presidential term had non been destroyed by Vietnam? Would it be less misanthropic if Nixon & # 8217 ; s paranoia ( mostly due to protests against his war policies ) had non led him into illegal activities? Would it be more united today if the anti-war motion had been more supportive of soldiers earlier?

Finally, was the war morally right? This was possibly the most dissentious inquiry about the Vietnam War at the clip and likely continues to be the most dissentious.

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