“Defeat in Vietnam has left the United States deeply divided” (Hallin, 1986:3). The Vietnam War became a major Cold War conflict in the 1960s period. This essay will evaluate the following question; what are the main reasons for the United States (US) defeat in the Vietnam War? The research was done through the qualitative research method which included books, journals and articles. This essay will argue that the main reasons for the US defeat in the Vietnam War was because of their inefficient tactics, inexperienced soldiers, and both international and home pressure. This research is important because the question has not been answered to its fullest extent. Additionally, it provides evidence that countries with powerful nuclear weapons and military power will not always win a war they fight in. Also, the Vietnam War was evidence that fighting a war does not always need powerful military and nuclear weapon, the only thing needed is strategy. Therefore, this will start with providing the context of the Vietnam War, it will continue with three sub arguments which will discuss how inefficient tactics used by the US, inexperienced soldiers, international and home pressure led to their defeat; and conclude with the importance of this research question.
The Vietnam War was known as the Resistance War Against the US, because the US was scared that the “Domino Theory” would spread throughout Asia. The ‘domino theory’ was the US fear that a communist victory in one nation would quickly lead to a chain of reaction of communist takeover in neighbouring states. “The Vietnam War was fought by the Viet Cong and the US from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975” (. This war was fought for two decades and ended as victory for the North Vietnam while leaving the US defeated and humiliated.
Failure of the US army is due to their inefficient military tactics, because they used modern military tactics which would not have succeeded against guerrilla warfare tactics used by the Viet Cong. “The failure of the United States against North Vietnam was due to their inefficient use of military machines” (Gibbons, 2014:107). These tactics used by the US soldiers included bombs that the soldiers did not use efficiently, because if they used the military advantage that they had, this would have been a victorious war for the US. However, due to their use of these military machines inefficiently, they were left in humiliation. “The US threw bombs on Vietnam and was equipped with every existing kind of weapon, engaged in the longest and most brutal war” (Buttinger, 1978:169). The US army should not have bombed strategic routes of the Viet Cong because they wanted to get back at them, but they should have attacked with bombs and weapons on the battle once the Viet Cong had started attacking. Their lack when to use their tactics led to their failure. “One of the US’s mistakes which led to their defeat was the bombing of Laos when they launched the defoliant Agent Orange which destroyed homes” (Kaiser, 1973:412). Due to this action, the US lost not only the support of Laos citizens but also the rest of the Vietnamese people, because this was evidence that the only important factor for the US soldiers was to win the war against the Viet Cong and not the lives of the Vietnamese people. They destroyed the land, killed women and children, also their soldiers got injured during the launch of this defoliant. Their aim was to win the support and trust of the Vietnamese people but they failed due to their lack of use of the defoliant. “Rolling Thunder attacked strategic targets such as electric plants and fuel storage facilities” (Bottaro, 2012:49). Despite destroying these targets, Operation Rolling Thunder did not destroy the Viet Cong’s supply route because they still received weapons and resources from China and the Soviet Union. Therefore, the use of this bomb was inefficient, because the Viet Cong still had resources to fight this war. This paragraph has thus showed that one of the reasons for the US defeat in the Vietnam War was due to their inefficient use of tactics. This thus leading to the next paragraph discussing how their inefficient use of tactics led to their soldiers being inexperienced.
The US had inexperienced young soldiers who did not know how to fight in a guerrilla war and were drafted to fight in this war. “The experience of the Viet Cong and the inexperience of the American soldiers led to their defeat” (Kaiser, 1973; 420). The US soldiers who fought in this war were young soldiers who did not want to fight in the war but because of conscription they had to. These soldiers were not trained on how to use the bombs and the defoliants which led to the destruction of the Vietnamese land and suffering of the Vietnamese people. This is evidence that the US’s inexperienced soldiers was one of the reasons for their defeat. “Many of them didn’t want to be fighting, and were not motivated at all” (Roper2007:144). The US ‘s soldiers lacked motivation not only since they were conscripted to fight in this war but due to lack of motivation which was that they had no reason to fight in this war like the Viet Cong did. These soldiers were fighting because they had to but not because they want to. On the other hand, the Viet Cong was fighting for the Independence of Vietnam and they were motivated to win this war because the US’s soldiers were destroying their land and killing their people. “Much of Vietnam was forest; this made finding the Viet Cong very difficult they could move about virtually undetected” (Roper, 2007: 147). Fighting in the jingle was a difficulty for the US’s soldiers because they were inexperienced and were very increasingly unwilling to fight due to them being young. Their inexperienced soldiers were another reason for the US’s defeat in the Vietnam War.
In addition, their inefficient tactics and inexperienced soldiers led to heavy resistance against the US’s involvement in the Vietnam War. “The American people were pro war due to Cold War propaganda against the US; however, due to conscription of young men the support decreased” (Bottaro, 2012:52). Americans supported the involvement of the US in the Vietnam War because of the propaganda which was against the US due to the Soviet Union. Also, they supported the fact their country was preventing communism take over in Vietnam. However, things changed after conscription of young men to fight and media coverage of the war. “The Vietnam War was complicated by factors that had never before occurred in America of a war, because the American media had come to dominate domestic opinion about its purpose and conduct” (Hallin, 1986:3). Since the Vietnam War was the first ever televised war, Americans and the world were able to see the destruction caused by the US soldiers on Vietnamese land and people. Americans did not understand why the US government allowed soldiers to continue a war America was clearly losing. “Along with the Civil Rights movement campaigns of the 1960s, the anti-war movement was one of the most diverse forces in the 20th- century in US history” (Halstead, 1973:22). Despite the increase in anti-war protest, poverty decline in the economy and the Civil Rights movement situation were happening in the US during this period in America, the government still did not see the need to bring soldiers back home and stop the war. Americans failed to understand why the government did not give up on the war and instead of spending so much money on the war, they should have taken care of much more important issues at home. “People around the world followed print broadcast news reports on the Vietnam War with considerable interest which made them shape anti-war sentiments across the globe” (Halstead, 1973:104). Media coverage increased international pressure against US’s involvement in the Vietnam war, because the media was evidence that the US soldiers were killing Vietnamese people and destroying their land. International countries and governments did not understand why the US government did not withdraw soldiers from the war because it was evident that they were losing against guerrilla Viet Cong. “The anti-war movement became more powerful between 1965 and 1970” (Halstead, 1073:107). This leading to Americans increasing resistance and international countries threatening to cut ties with the US if they did not withdraw from the war which they were clearly losing. Home and international pressure shed a bad light for the US soldiers during the Vietnam War. Thus leading to their failure because if they did not have support from home then they had no reason to continue fighting.
In conclusion, this essay has argued and showed that the reasons for the US defeat in the Vietnam War was due to their inefficient tactics that could have worked in other wars, inexperienced soldiers who did not know how to fight a guerrilla war and due to international and home pressure that was against the US involvement in the Vietnam War. This research essay will contribute to the political studies field by showing that the military superiority of a country does not always mean it will win every war.