L/O – What caused Lyndon Johnson to Americanise the war in Vietnam?
Areas you need to know; Commitment trap is the idea that successive presidents were trapped by their predecessors actions. The Truman Doctrine of 1947 established that America would support “free peoples” around the globe and reverse their historical tradition of isolationism. Eisenhower was instrumental in creating the state of South Vietnam in 1954. This nation building created a situation which required US intervention in Vietnam. Kennedy criticised Eisenhower in 1958 for being “weak” in Vietnam and described Vietnam as “essential to the nations security”. Kennedy thereby was responsible for trapping himself into a commitment trap as a result of political opportunism. Kennedy could have withdrawn from Vietnam on two occasions; Diems failure to reform (19581969) and his persecution of Buddhists. The nationwide media coverage gave Kennedy the opportunity to withdraw but he failed to. Johnson never had this chance. Kennedy was responsible for the deeper intervention by sending 16,000 military advisors into South Vietnam. This was despite some advisors raising concerns. Kennedy instead relied on Robert McNamara who believed in a quantitative was possible. Kennedy’s involvement in the coup which killed Diem meant that he was now
Vietnamese nationalism – Foreign imperialist involvement from the Japanese and French creased an atmosphere of distrust. After the Geneva Accord it was clear that the US were pulling the strings of Diem. The CIA backed coup in 1963 confirmed this and made the Saigon government even more unpopular. Strategic Hamlet Policy – Villagers were uprooted from good agricultural land and given infertile soil. They were removed from their ancestral burial plots (key to their faith), and rich landowners were able to bribe officials and avoid hard work in building the defences. The ARVN failed to arrive in good time when called for, which meant the VC ruled at night. Villagers, who were anti-communist, simply gave the VC support out of fear. It was safer to support the VC. “I am not dying for a gun”. VC Heart and Mind policy – their code won over the villagers in contrast to aggressive US and ARVN policy (forced resettlement/search and destroy); “we had to destroy the village in order to save it”. Heavy bombing (rolling thunder) and the use of chemicals and napalm killed and destroyed lives and vegetation.; eg, My Lai – 1968. ARVN inefficiency. The Vietminh (now VC) defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu (1954) and seemed efficient in comparison to the weak ARVN (defeat at Ap Bac – 62) Religious Persecution – Buddhists were forbidden to have flags up to celebrate Buddha's birthday. A Buddhist burnt himself to death in protest at Diem’s Catholic persecution. Catholicism was a minority faith which did not endear him to the people. Corruption – The 1956 election (rigged) as well as the pocketing of money by officials in the SHP programme led to distrust of the Saigon government. The coup in 1962 merely exacerbated this. Communism – People in villagers lived a communal lifestyle anyway so the idea of shared wealth was not a radical departure from their everyday lives. Capitalism in the form of US intervention did not appear to offer anything better than the corrupt leadership of the landowners. Communism as least offered an alternative.
Lyndon Johnson’s War – 1964.
Johnson trusted Mcnamara to get the job done. General Westmoreland remarked that that Mcnamara was “statistically orientated. I have heard him say that he wanted to end the war without having a great surplus of materials as we had at the end of WW2.
L/O – What caused Lyndon Johnson to Americanise the war in Vietnam?
summary title: Gulf of Tonkin Incident
On August 4, a new DESOTO patrol to North Vietnam coast was launched by Maddox and the C. Turner Joy. The latter got radar signals that they believed to be another attack by the North Vietnamese. For some two hours the ships fired on radar targets and maneuvered vigorously amid electronic and visual reports of torpedoes. It is highly unlikely that any North Vietnamese forces were actually in the area during this gunfight. Captain John J. Herrick even admitted that it was nothing more than an "overeager sonarman" who "was hearing ship's own propeller beat." Also in 1995, General Vo Nguyen Giap, commander-in-chief of North Vietnamese forces at the time, disavowed any involvement with the August 4 incident, though he did confirm the August 2 attack
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident In the Gulf of Tonkin incident, North Vietnamese torpedo boats supposedly attacked the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin, off Vietnam, in a pair of assaults on August 2 and 4 of 1964. It was the basis for the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which committed major American forces to the war in Vietnam. The resolution passed the House of Representatives unanimously, and passed in the Senate with only two dissenting votes. In retrospect it is clear that the alleged attack was little more than a transparent pretext for war, delivered in a one-two punch. First, media descriptions of the August 2nd attack as an "unprovoked attack" against a U.S. destroyer on "routine patrol" hid the fact that the Maddox was providing support for South Vietnamese military operations against the North. Second, the alleged August 4th attack appears to be a fabrication, official accounts attributing the "error" to confusion.
Overview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWAmAOctuxI
Fog of War – the Entire Account
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8T OJy3eO1A
Task 1
• Ensure you watch the relevant section from Fog of War.
• Write your own account of what happened in the Gulf of Tonkin in August 1964 and what were its consequences.