Q. Vietnam Escalation, Vietnamization, and Peace with Honor PDF

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Vietnam: Escalation, Vietnamization, and Peace with Honor

Johnson & Escalation of the Vietnam War Modification to JFKs

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Gulf of Tonkin Incident

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Escalation

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The generals who led the coup against Diem proved to be ineffective. North Vietnamese and Viet Cong growing in numbers. - Ground troops would be needed to suppress the Viet Cong. Chinese “volunteers” begin entering North Vietnam August 2, 1964. - North Vietnamese PT boats attack the U.S. destroyer Maddox. - Driven off by American fighter planes. - No damage or casualties reported by the Maddox, which was on “routine patrol in international waters.” August 4, 1964. - The Maddox is attacked again by North Vietnamese boats. - LBJ goes on TV, without consulting Congress or investigating the incident. - Announces America’s response. - The “repeated acts of violence against the Armed Forces of the United States” would be met with equal force. - American planes were now engaged in action “against gunboats and certain facilities in Vietnam.” - Response was to be “limited and fitting...we seek no wider war.” August 7, 1964. - Joint resolution of Congress, basically gave the President a blank check in the war against North Vietnam. - Only two senators fought against it: Wayne Morse of Oregon and Ernest Gruening of Alaska. - Morse thought the resolution was a subversion of the Constitution and would prove to be “a historic mistake.” - Cold War mentality overrides reason. - Pushed through the Senate by J. William Fulbright, Eugene McCarthy, and George McGovern, all of whom would be leading critics of the war. - Begins the immediate bombing of North Vietnamese military targets Operation Rolling Thunder. - Systematic bombing of North Vietnam. - Meant to demoralize the North Vietnamese, would have the opposite effect. Similar to what happened to Britain.

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CIA questioned the wisdom of the strategy, but LBJ did not listen. - Congress voted for increased funding, believing LBJ’s estimates of a six-month war. - “America wins the wars she undertakes.” Search-and-destroy missions. - By 1965, over 200,000 - American troops were tracking and fighting the Viet Cong. - For every one Viet Cong killed, six civilians were killed. - Some atrocities lead to growing discontent in the United States. Draft of 1965. - More troops needed, LBJ re-institutes the draft. - First public burning of draft cards in October 1965 and first peace march on Washington in November, 1965. “Pacifying” the Vietnamese countryside. - LBJ wants to rebuild the rural economy of South Vietnam while undercutting the political strength of the Viet Cong. - At the same time, calls the North Vietnamese (NVA) to the negotiating table. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, 1967. - Appalled by the number of civilian deaths. - South Vietnamese, to impress American officials, committed atrocities on its own civilians to increase the body count. McNamara’s response. - “The picture of the world’s greatest superpower killing or seriously injuring 1,000 noncombatants a week, while trying to pound a tiny backward nation into submission on an issue whose merits are hotly disputed, is not a pretty one.” - McNamara, 1967. - Believed that the war was too costly politically and the bombing campaign was not meeting the expected results. - Basically called LBJ an idiot prior to McNamara’s resignation in November 1967. LBJ’s reaction to McNamara and other dissenters. - Defended the right to protest, calling it “the life breath of democracy—even if it blows heavy.” - However, he had the FBI and CIA investigate and keep him informed about the leaders of the protest movement. Tragedy: the Tet Offensive, January 1968. - North Vietnamese and Viet Cong unleash an offensive on the Vietnamese New Year celebration. - Caught the American commanders by surprise, many of who were caught up in the festivities. - Inflicted heavy casualties on American and South Vietnamese forces. - U.S. regroups and it results in a military defeat for the NVA and Viet Cong. Tet Offensive: Impact - Although they lost militarily, the NVA scores a psychological victory. - American troop morale declines. - North Vietnam gains more support from South Vietnamese peasants.

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American Public Outcry

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Revealed the involvement of the Soviet Union in planning and equipping the Tet Offensive. - Russia was not going to allow the NVA lose because it could only meet American weapon superiority with stolen or captured American weapons. - Supplied the NVA with machine guns, artillery, Soviet jets, and Soviet bombers in the Tet Offensive.

First televised war. - Images of atrocities and American troops destroying fields, homes, and machinery of peasants is firsthand and all too realistic. Riots and demonstrations on college campuses. - Counterculture (Hippies) emerge a sign of antiwar protest. - Seen in the music of the generation. Draft dodgers flee to Canada and Mexico. Congress begins to question the war and LBJ’s leadership abilities. Political impact. - At Democratic primary in New Hampshire, LBJ gets only 49% of the vote, antiwar advocate Eugene McCarthy receives 42%. - LBJ would pull out of the race, shocking the nation. Economic and human cost. - By 1968, would be the longest war in U.S. history and still had 5 years to go. - $25 billion a year spent on war material and more in weapons development since 1960. - Over 20,000 American troops had lost their lives by 1968.

Election of 1968 Democrats

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Johnson withdraws from the campaign. Leaves three men to fight it out. - Sen. Eugene McCarthy, anti war advocate. - V-P Hubert H. Humphrey, firm supporter of the war. - Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, middle-of-the-road candidate. - Entered following the New Hampshire primary. - Drew support from millions of young people, both black and white. - Looking for a return to Camelot. - Wanted RFK to continue the leadership tradition of his brother. - Won the California primary, was on his way to capturing the Democratic nomination. - The night of the primary, June 5, RFK is assassinated by Arab nationalist Sirhan Sirhan, who was resentful of RFK’s support of Israel. Democratic convention in Chicago - Humphrey receives the nomination. - Outside the convention is chaos. - The convention center resembles a fortress. - Police, federal agents, and five thousand National Guardsmen swarmed the convention center to keep antiwar demonstrators out. - Demonstration turns into a “police riot” with officers beating

demonstrators on national television Republicans

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Independents

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Second chance for Richard Nixon. Platform: - Law and order in the nation. “Lawlessness is crumbling the foundations of American society.” - New Vietnam policy. - No federal intervention in school decisions, unless they are in clear violation of the Constitution. - Intended to gain support from the South. Focus on the “silent majority.” - The millions of “forgotten Americans….the non-shouters, the non-demonstrators, that are not racist or sick, that are not guilty of the crimes that plague the land.” George Wallace of Alabama. - Segregationist who attacked the civil rights movement. - Supporter of the war. - Suspicious of the intellectual and financial elite. - Opposed the “coddling of criminals.

Nixon & Vietnamization Focus on Foreign Affairs

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Peace with Honor / Vietnamization

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Nixon believed that the role of the President should administer foreign policy. - Believed that if you picked a good Cabinet, the Nation can basically run itself domestically. Henry Kissinger. - Nixon’s Chief of Staff, most important man in Nixon’s White House. - Long history of international diplomacy, believed that the best diplomacy was secret diplomacy. - Do not leak anything to the public regarding negotiations or actions with other nations. - Weakens your hand at the negotiating table. - Infuriate your public all you want. - Overshadows Nixon’s Cabinet positions. Nixon & Kissinger’s foreign policy: REALPOLITIK. Recognized that the Communist world was no longer unified. - Wanted to exploit the split between Soviet Russia and Red China. - Believed that the world would be safer if there was a strong and healthy United States, Europe, Soviet Union, China, and Japan. - Would balance each other out, keeping everyone honest. - Backed their allies and commitments, but wanted to leave the “basic responsibility” for defense to their allies, especially concerning military action Respect for South Vietnamese self-determination. Bring home American troops as quickly as possible. Bring home American prisoners of war (P.O.W.s). The U.S. would maintain military pressure in the air. U.S. troops would increase the training of South Vietnamese

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My Lai Massacre

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Cambodia

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Antiwar Movements

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recruits. South Vietnamese troops would replace U.S. troops who would then be sent home. Wanted the South Vietnamese to fight their own fight. The United States needed to maintain an “honorable peace” for itself. - Needed to back its allies while at the same time preserving its own people. First year, over 25,000 American troops sent home, with no new draftees sent to Vietnam. Very popular on the homefront. - 77% of Americans agreed with this policy shift. Worst act of atrocity by American troops, will come out after the election of 1968. March 1968, U.S. troops led by Lt. William L. Calley, Jr. - Leads an operation based on faulty intelligence reports concerning the village of My Lai and its connection to the Viet Cong. - In response of the Tet Offensive, in which Calley’s unit suffered heavy casualties. - Upon arrival, troops report being shot at from the huts. - U.S. troops massacre at least 175 and up to 500 Vietnamese, mostly old men, women, and children. Official army inquiry and court martial found the troops guilty of “individual and group acts of murder, rape, sodomy, maiming, and assault on noncombatants and the mistreatment and killing of detainees.” - Calley, in his own trial, declared “every unit of brigade size had its My Lai hidden someplace.” Shocked Americans. - Realized that the war had deteriorated into the bloodbath that American troops were sent to prevent, but are now participating in. - Nation was accustomed to seeing itself as decent and civilized, not barbaric NVA troops and Viet Cong guerrillas had been using Cambodia as a safe haven for years. Included the use of the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail, a supply route. April 30, 1970. - U.S. troops sent into Cambodia to clear out enemy sanctuaries, cut NVA supply lines, and destroy the Ho Chi Minh Trail. - Cambodia itself was not involved in the war on either side. - Was not an invasion, but a “brief incursion,” into an independent nation, who by the way, was harboring the Viet Cong and NVA troops and providing them with food, shelter, and supplies “Teach-ins.” - Begin on March 24, 1965 at the University of Michigan. - Organized by professors across the nation for their students, were peaceful protests. Summer of Love, 1967. - Thousands of “flower children” flock to San Francisco and

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Monterey for peace demonstrations. Columbia University, 1968. - Demonstrators occupy the administration building of Columbia and shut the university down. - Would spread to other campuses. Woodstock, 1969. - 400,000 demonstrators gather on a small farm in upstate New York for a peace concert. - Performers included the Animals, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Neil Young, Crosby Stills & Nash, the Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and the Fish, Bob Dylan, and others. - The defining event of hippie culture. November 1969, Second Peace March on Washington. - Over 250,000 participants, including Vietnam veterans. Kent State Tragedy , May 4, 1970. - Ohio governor calls out the National Guard during campus demonstrations. - Demonstrators had overturned cars, destroyed property, and were threatening to burn buildings on the campus. Kent State Tragedy , May 4, 1970. - A few of the demonstrators began throwing rocks and pushing the Guardsmen. - Guardsmen fire into the crowd, killing four and injuring nine. - Nixon deplored the incident, but reminded Americans “when dissent turns to violence, it invites tragedy.” Jackson State University, 1970. - Same situation as in Kent State, police and Guardsmen fire into the crowd, killing two students. The Pentagon Papers, 1971. - Released by Daniel Ellsberg in The New York Times. - Former Defense Department employee and aide to Secretary of State Robert McNamara. - In 1967-68, McNamara had Ellsberg conduct a study of the war and search documents found at the Pentagon, including communications from the President, minutes of meetings, and “unofficial” memorandums. The Pentagon Papers, 1971. - What he discovered. - The true nature of American involvement. - Included deceit, cover-ups, and assassinations, as well as the reasoning concerning certain policy decisions made behind closed doors. The Pentagon Papers: Impact. - Completes the shift in public opinion as Americans are infuriated. - Feel they have been lied to by the federal government for years. - Want the war to end immediately. - Extends into American foreign policy as Nixon, already committed to bringing the troops home, has to make major progress on peace negotiations. - The United States is in a weakened position at the negotiating table. - NVA sense that and will take advantage at a later

date Paris Peace Talks

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Peace. - Between 1970-72, peace negotiations make more progress than they did in the first ten years of the war. - Nearly ends with a ceasefire in 1971. - NVA takes advantage of a temporary ceasefire to launch an offensive on the South. American response: Counteroffensive. - February 1971, incursions into Laos by South Vietnamese forces. - Same mission as in Cambodia, this one done by the SVA. - SVA routed by Viet Cong guerrillas. March 1972, new offensive by the NVA after peace negotiations break down again. - U.S. response: “saturation” air raids in NVA territory. - Includes the use of napalm (gasoline bombs) and the defoliant known as “Agent Orange.” - Total sea and air blockade of North Vietnam. - Actions supported 5-to-1 by mail. - Learned later that the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP) sent bogus telegrams without Nixon’s knowledge. December, 1972. - Taking the earlier support as a mandate for more action, Nixon begins the heaviest bombing of the war at a crucial point for peace negotiations. - Targeted major Northern cities and factories, destroying everything, including schools, hospitals, and residential areas. Kissinger and Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam finally reach an agreement. - U.S. in a better negotiating situation following the bombings of 1972. Terms. - American troops would be withdrawn, bases dismantled, and the U.S. would refrain from future military intervention. - North Vietnam would release American prisoners of war. - South Vietnam will be guaranteed to determine its own future, without outside interference from the United States, North Vietnam, or any other nation. Terms. - North Vietnam is to search for information on American and South Vietnamese missing in action (M.I.A.s) and turn the results over to the United States. - The two South Vietnamese parties (Democratic and Viet Cong) will hold to the Geneva Agreements of 1954. Nixon refers to the treaty as “peace with honor” in an address to the nation. NVA and Viet Cong forces would continually violate the treaty (like before), but the U.S. would do little to enforce the treaty except for funding the South Vietnamese government. U.S. public opinion would no longer support American intervention.

Impact of the Vietnam War

On America

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Americans lose trust in the government. Economic costs are enormous, sending the American economy into a tailspin during the 1970s. Physical costs. - Over 56,000 American troops killed in action and over 300,000 wounded. - 90% of the overall casualty numbers in the Vietnam War were civilians. - Would leave deep emotional and psychological scars on many Vietnam veterans. - Unknown number of soldiers identified as missing in action. - Some may still be alive today. America is not “invincible.” - First war we ever lost. - Revealed flaws in our military strategy. War Powers Act. - Passed by Congress in late-1973. - Provided that if the President should send troops to a foreign country, he must fully explain his actions to Congress within 48 hours. - He must also halt the operation and recall the troops within sixty days unless supported by an act from Congress. - Angrily vetoed by Nixon, but overridden by both houses of Congress by an overwhelming majority

On Vietnam

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Casualty numbers high for both civilians and the military. Infrastructure of both the North and the South is destroyed. Economy is in shambles. Health effects from the use of napalm and Agent Orange.

Fighting Continues until 1975

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Casualty numbers high for both civilians and the military. Infrastructure of both the North and the South is destroyed. Economy is in shambles. Health effects from the use of napalm and Agent Orange. March 1975, President Nguyen Van Thieu of South Vietnam orders his forces to abandon the northern provinces (1/4 of the nation). - Called it a “strategic withdrawal.” - Turns into a headlong retreat as NVA troops are on the outskirts of Saigon within weeks. Thieu and thousands of refugees flee the country. - The South Vietnamese army begins surrendering, Congress cuts off funds. April 30, 1975, official end of the Second Indochina War. - Saigon falls as the American ambassador escapes from the embassy roof via helicopter minutes before NVA forces storm the embassy. Cambodia and Laos also fall under Communist control. - Cambodian Communist party, the Khmer Rouge, would kill over 2.5 million of its nation’s 10 million people in one year. - Became the basis of the book and movie The Killing Fields. - Proves once again that Communist insurgency brings only three things: terror, death, and a totalitarian regime.

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