Vietnam’s history is quite rich and attractive than most nations in the world. The country has been through its worse and better times dealing with ranges of challenges that stem out of the prolonged periods of war that nearly crippled it. The American war in Vietnam has gone far and beyond in capturing the attention of the Western world. However, prior to the American attacks, the Vietnam country was already grappling with the challenge of the Chinese warfare. The Vietnam history of war is vast; it has fallen and raised a couple of times owing to the series and the consistency of attacks that have come its way in the build-up to its civilization.
From China attack straight to the French attacks, Vietnam went under unstill the 20 th century from when it began building itself to rise from the sashes. The Americans, being last in the chain of the long queue of invaders, had an impactful and long-lasting effect on the history of Vietnam. The country, having been a victim of serious attacks before had strong and reliable strategies on how to counter such attacks on its borders. According to Gettleman (1995), the planners in Washington ignored the history of the country, thus leading the loss of the war in Vietnam. The streets in Vietnam are having similar and more of the same names over and over, rising from the lasting history of the war that set it against the strongest militaries and economies of the world.
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American Strategy for Winning the War in Vietnam
America’s had a solid strategy for winning the war in Vietnam aside from the military invasions, The U.S backed the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) fell victims of the invading military, especially with the withdrawal of the U.S army as a result of the Paris peace accord signed in the year 1973. The pulling out of the American troops also followed by the withdrawal of the economic support and monetary aid that was aimed at running the economy. Such strategy was t weaken Vietnam’s army to the extent that they could not fight back anymore, thus leaving room for the external army to continue with their pursuit.
The conventional combat which followed days and prolonged periods of post-economic sabotage was devastating. The South Vietnam which was emboldened y the U.S support managed to crush North Vietnam in the conventional war attack, massively destroying their armory collections with massive destruction of their guns, artillery and the ultimate victory in just four months (Gettleman et al., 1995). The indirect involvement of the American army in North Vietnam’s defeat by South Vietnam is a testament to the extent to which the planning and the battle ideas were effective in driving the forces out to victory. This, however, followed prolonged periods of long junctures of military intervention that led to over58, 000 American deaths.
Several factors are attributed to the defeat of America in the Vietnam War. However, one of the leading factors includes the fact that the country lost the American political history over the duration of this war. The lost of strategies in the build-up to the war is the greatest contribution to the war in which America’s must-have overlooked. The American notion on “fighting the last war” contributed highly to the loss of the war in Vietnam.
The American army was determined to put in place a war strategy that would avoid the bloody affair that was a bloody affair that was reminiscent of the Korean War case. The principle mistake in the American case was perceived as a mistake in the strategies in the battle. The plan to refight the war was perceived as a strategy of failure in the American war with Vietnam.
How was pacification supposed to work?
The communist insurgency that aimed at sweeping across the Republic of Vietnam was quite compelling. The response by the Vietnamese government was through the “Pacification” strategy. The Pacification efforts were highly supported by the U.S as means of ensuring the resolution to the war series for almost a decade. President Lyndon advised for the formation of a resolution team composed of both the military and the civilians as means by which the government would have a peaceful end to the war (Appy, 2004). This team was to advise the American country on the strategies that would best accomplish the support to the pacification plan.
The pacification plan included such names as Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support (CORDS) that embraced in totality all American agencies in Vietnam dealing with the Pacification plans. The pacification plan was aimed at extending the influence of central government’s position and influence in the running of the Vietnamese political and economic factors (Appy, 2004). The pacification strategies were broadened into two elements including maintenance of adequate levels of physical security for the entire population. The second strategy was to increase the influence of communication and ties between the governments through series of aggressive government in the non-military programs.
The pacification programs were successful, though partially. The boosted level of security for the Vietnamese boosted by the Military support by the U.S was quite effective in ensuring that the level of cooperation between the Vietnamese and the U.S government was maintained. The pacification plan was, however, not entirely affected with many questions arising over the lack of sustained security level for the country. Ambassador Komer designed a means of ensuring lack of conflict between the civilians and the military during the war days.
America’s attempt at nation-building in Vietnam
America's attempt at rebuilding the Vietnam country began with the withdrawal of its army from the expansive country. However, the attempts also led to the modern day conflicts that are synonymous with the post-war era. The nation-building efforts aimed at the creation of relevant institutions that worked in the generation and creation of a stable economy that spelled prosperity for the war-torn country (Gettleman et al., 1995). Such institutions as highlighted by the American political formations for dispute resolution including military, police force and the overall police service. Such actions as the creation of CORDS were just some of the means of ensuring that the nation-building progress took effect. America’s vision in nation-building efforts was on the aspect of keeping in line with the peaceful coexistence in Vietnam.
America had to change several of its policies on the effects of nation building. They, for example, had to drop the combative approach in dealing with the creation of Vietnam. The nation-building process called for the withdrawal of the army and the military war against the Non-Communist Government f Vietnam (GVN). Instead, there was a call to support the GVN to legitimize its institutions and effective control over its subjects. The CORDS had to change its operations in effecting challenges in the control over the village governance and improvement of taxation and other fiscal policies.
The nation-building expedition was effective in re-engineering the social Vietnam fabrics. According to the analysis by Appy (2004), for example, there were needs to keep in line with the societal developments including the dissemination of knowledge such as Agricultural training, the establishment of security togetherness through boosting of the historical lenses.
References
Appy, C. G. (2004). Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered from All Sides. New York: Penguin.
Gettleman, M. et al., (1995). Vietnam and America: A Documented History. New York: Grove Press,
