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re: Why did the US lose the Vietnam War?
Posted on 1/16/22 at 8:31 am to SaintlyTiger88
Posted on 1/16/22 at 8:31 am to SaintlyTiger88
Unpopular war, poor military strategy and leadership, the South Vietnamese government was abhorrently corrupt and the North Vietnamese were fanatics willing to fight to the last man. It was a war we probably had no business fighting. And in the end, it did very little if anything to stop the spread of Communism.
1
Posted on 1/16/22 at 8:35 am to Lutcher Lad
quote:
Go tell that to the families who have the names of their sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, husbands & wives etched on the wall in D.C. Their country called and they went... And tell it to the many who went and returned to a nation that showed no appreciation for their sacrifices. The many who are still haunted to this day by things they have seen or did. Politics aside, they are the true Heroe
I will never talk down on the people who answered the call and went to war to fight a war on our behalf, whether they wanted to or not. They are brave souls, and I will always be indebted to those who serve. But, it was a war that should not have happened, and they should have never been sent there. Criticizing the political leadership and questioning the mission is not being disrespectful towards the service members.
Posted on 1/16/22 at 8:38 am to Lutcher Lad
quote:
Go tell that to the families who have the names of their sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, husbands & wives etched on the wall in D.C.
What makes you think I am criticizing those people?
I applaud them, but the cause was worthless and they were set up for failure.
Posted on 1/16/22 at 11:11 am to RogerTheShrubber
Did you not intend to say don't blame the cowardly draft dodgers? Because if you did, my response was spot on in my opinion. Anyone who says a draft dodger was justified when thousands upon thousands of young patriots answered the call
regardless of the political climate, is wrong in my humble opinion. But that's just me!
regardless of the political climate, is wrong in my humble opinion. But that's just me!
Posted on 1/16/22 at 11:16 am to DeafJam73
quote:
the South Vietnamese government was abhorrently corrupt
I think this is the bottom line answer.
Posted on 1/16/22 at 11:18 am to SaintlyTiger88
Because Johnson was a piece of shite....
He put us into it and snaked his way out of it by not wanting to run for a second term, because he knew his arse would be destroyed...
He put us into it and snaked his way out of it by not wanting to run for a second term, because he knew his arse would be destroyed...
Posted on 1/16/22 at 11:28 am to TutHillTiger
quote:
War was just like afghanistan, it was lost when it was started
Yes, we had “goals” but no objectives. We mostly played defense and tried to hold onto S Vietnam without really trying to go after bases in so called neutral countries or in N Vietnam itself. Political reasons prevented the military from doing what was necessary to destroy the enemy on hand because we might create more enemies.
Posted on 1/16/22 at 12:05 pm to SaintlyTiger88
Politicians and the media fueling a false narrative that we were losing at every turn and also highlighting a relatively small number of misdeeds by our troops.
Posted on 1/16/22 at 12:54 pm to Darth_Vader
quote:
The lie that the US lost the Vietnam War needs to die. The US destroyed the Viet Cong during the Tet Offensive and left the NVA a hollowed out shell. We bombed the North until we literally ran out of targets. The Vietnam War Ended in January 1973 with the signing of the Paris Peace accords.
After the war was over the Soviets helped North Vietnam rebuild their military while Democrats in Congress here in the US cut off military aid to South Vietnam. It was not long before the North was once again fully rearmed and ready for war while South Vietnam’s military was basically immobilized. The North launched an offensive in Spring of 1975 which the South had little to no hope of stopping unless the US intervened. Congress, controlled by Democrats, refused to authorize assistance to South Vietnam, despite the fact we were treaty bound to do so. Thus the war that North Vietnam launched against South Vietnam, TWO YEARS AFTER THE END OF THE VIETNAM WAR, finally overran the South.
The most spot-on answer of the thread, and you have to add on this-- the loss of Nixon via Watergate.
All of the things Darth noted that were done, including the bombings of the north and the Paris Peace accords of 1973, were done under NIXON, not LBJ. Nixon scared the pants off of the North Vietnamese; they realized he wasn't going to fart around, primarily due to the message he sent via massive bombings of the North.
The North Vietnamese never had any long term intent to honor the 1973 accords, but their plan was to wait until early 1977-- essentially, when Nixon would be out of office. But when Nixon got hit with Watergate, and resigned in August 1974, they moved up their plans. Post-Watergate Congress and the Ford Administration didn't do squat, didn't honor their agreements, and by April 1975 it was all over.
If not for Watergate, it is interesting to think how it might have gone. The peace accords would have held until 1977-- maybe with Ford as President and no emboldened Congress (fresh after taking out a sitting president) any move by the NVA/VC against S. Vietnam would have been met by US support as called for by the 1973 Treaty.
Could have been a situation similar to N. Korea/ S. Korea even today.
This post was edited on 1/16/22 at 12:57 pm
Posted on 1/16/22 at 12:58 pm to SaintlyTiger88
Because there was no war in the truest sense. There was only a conflict.
Posted on 1/16/22 at 1:09 pm to BRich
The war was lost during the Tet offensive after we destroyed the Viet Cong. We lost control of the narrative and treated it as a loss. We had no control of the countryside before or after Tet. We did not want to be there in reality and we fought it that way.
Posted on 1/16/22 at 1:35 pm to Palmetto98
quote:
quote:
Every war is winnable, the issue was we weren’t willing to do what it took to “win” And haven’t been since 1945
This isn’t a high school football game
many football games are more unwinnable than that war.
if you think we couldn't have broken them and starved them you are mistaken.
Posted on 1/16/22 at 3:50 pm to SaintlyTiger88
Like Afghanistan, we just made folks richer. All about the business. Shame to waste our good young men/womens lives with no clear objective.
Posted on 1/16/22 at 3:51 pm to SaintlyTiger88
History is full of examples of an invading force losing to native people.
Posted on 1/16/22 at 5:32 pm to SaintlyTiger88
Politics
Posted on 1/16/22 at 6:41 pm to SaintlyTiger88
LBJ and Robert McNamara.
This post was edited on 1/16/22 at 6:42 pm
Posted on 1/16/22 at 6:47 pm to SaintlyTiger88
Because we forgot this:
Posted on 1/16/22 at 6:50 pm to SaintlyTiger88
Let’s start with the refusal to level Hanoi with relentless conventional bombing. We could have ended that war in 1965 had we fully committed to the bombing of North Vietnam. We didn’t need nukes, just reduce Hanoi and every other major city to rumble.
Posted on 1/16/22 at 7:10 pm to SaintlyTiger88
Not the only reason but John Kerry's treason played a role.
Posted on 1/16/22 at 7:16 pm to SaintlyTiger88
The best book you could ever read about the entirety of the American involvement in Vietnam.
On Strategy: The Vietnam War in Context Paperback – December 31, 2002
by Harry G. Jr. Summers
On Strategy: The Vietnam War in Context Paperback – December 31, 2002
by Harry G. Jr. Summers
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