Vietnam vs. United States
United States Strategy:
In the fall of 1964, the Tonkin Gulf Incident propelled the United States into the Vietnam War. The following spring President Lyndon B. Johnson sent 2 Marine and 7 Regular Army divisions into South Vietnam with logistics and air support with the plan to support the South Vietnamese forces and secure the borders. However, this was not different from the plans of President’s Eisenhower and Kennedy, to stop the spread of Communism by creating self-dependent countries, as many believe. This build-up of forces in Vietnam was in direct comparison to North Vietnam’s commitment to send North Vietnamese into South Vietnam. The number of forces kept increasing as the years went on, until finally in 1968 when the number went over 500,000 service members. President Johnson believed that the South Vietnamese should win this war for themselves. The U.S. troops were there to support and train the South Vietnamese, so they would be ready to survive on their own.
In the Tet Offensive of 1968 the American public saw things that disturbed them, and set them against the government. With Khe Sanh and the Hue Massacre following closely, public opinion for the war was at its lowest, with the main cause of this being the media’s misrepresentation of how things were going in Vietnam. Johnson spoke to the American people saying "I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office -- the presidency of your country. Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president." Johnson believed himself to be the cause of terrible things. President Johnson denied General William C. Westmoreland, Commander, U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, more troops and then started disengagement. At the end of 1969, Johnson was out of Office and America began its downhill slide to defeat.
Vietnamese Strategy:
During the war, Communist North Vietnamese strategy was very simple: follow Sun Tzu’s Art of War, which says “The supreme excellence in war is not to win 100 victories on 100 different battlefields, but the supreme excellence is to subdue the armies of your enemies without ever having to fight them”. The North Vietnamese aimed to pit the American people against the American government. The North Vietnamese won. The Tet Offensive was not a military victory for the Communists but a diplomatic and political victory. The American’s won the Tet Offensive but the American media displayed it as a victory for the North Vietnamese. The American journalists did not believe what the military officials reported and took it upon themselves to tell the “truth”. America played right into the hands of the Communist strategy. The media mixed up stories during the whole war and the public did turn against their government, causing the American disengagement in Vietnam. The North Vietnamese were willing to draw the war out as long as necessary, where the American's were not. The North Vietnamese would wait until enemy cities and towns were out of supplies, then overrun the city or town while the natives could not fight back.
In the fall of 1964, the Tonkin Gulf Incident propelled the United States into the Vietnam War. The following spring President Lyndon B. Johnson sent 2 Marine and 7 Regular Army divisions into South Vietnam with logistics and air support with the plan to support the South Vietnamese forces and secure the borders. However, this was not different from the plans of President’s Eisenhower and Kennedy, to stop the spread of Communism by creating self-dependent countries, as many believe. This build-up of forces in Vietnam was in direct comparison to North Vietnam’s commitment to send North Vietnamese into South Vietnam. The number of forces kept increasing as the years went on, until finally in 1968 when the number went over 500,000 service members. President Johnson believed that the South Vietnamese should win this war for themselves. The U.S. troops were there to support and train the South Vietnamese, so they would be ready to survive on their own.
In the Tet Offensive of 1968 the American public saw things that disturbed them, and set them against the government. With Khe Sanh and the Hue Massacre following closely, public opinion for the war was at its lowest, with the main cause of this being the media’s misrepresentation of how things were going in Vietnam. Johnson spoke to the American people saying "I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office -- the presidency of your country. Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president." Johnson believed himself to be the cause of terrible things. President Johnson denied General William C. Westmoreland, Commander, U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, more troops and then started disengagement. At the end of 1969, Johnson was out of Office and America began its downhill slide to defeat.
Vietnamese Strategy:
During the war, Communist North Vietnamese strategy was very simple: follow Sun Tzu’s Art of War, which says “The supreme excellence in war is not to win 100 victories on 100 different battlefields, but the supreme excellence is to subdue the armies of your enemies without ever having to fight them”. The North Vietnamese aimed to pit the American people against the American government. The North Vietnamese won. The Tet Offensive was not a military victory for the Communists but a diplomatic and political victory. The American’s won the Tet Offensive but the American media displayed it as a victory for the North Vietnamese. The American journalists did not believe what the military officials reported and took it upon themselves to tell the “truth”. America played right into the hands of the Communist strategy. The media mixed up stories during the whole war and the public did turn against their government, causing the American disengagement in Vietnam. The North Vietnamese were willing to draw the war out as long as necessary, where the American's were not. The North Vietnamese would wait until enemy cities and towns were out of supplies, then overrun the city or town while the natives could not fight back.
Compare and Contrast
Vietnam
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United States
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This video describes the accuracy of the media during the Vietnam War.
"Vietnam War - The Impact of Media"
"Vietnam War - The Impact of Media"
Follow the rest of the video at the link below.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3899087292142493432#