In the past two centuries The United States has
emerged as an undisputed global superpower. America’s military might has proved unrivaled. There is an exception to this notion. The Second Indochina War, otherwise
known as ‘Vietnam’. The conflict which waged from 1955- 1975 ended with what
many consider a victory to the North Vietnamese ‘Viet Cong’ army. Was the biggest enemy however the citizens of
the United States itself? A strong argument could be made that defeat also came
from the hands of its own people.
As with any conflict, there is no sole reason to a victory
or defeat. The effectiveness of the Viet
Cong’s ability to instigate ‘Guerrilla’ warfare tactics played a central part.
On the contrary, the lack of success of America’s ‘Search and Destroy’ missions demoralized its own troops and pushed people to Viet Cong sympathy. Despite
this as will become apparent, domestic discontent was just as greater threat to
success than the army the United States was fighting.
As a nation usually united at times of war, Vietnam
stands as anomaly. The reality of war was now impossible to conceal due to
media coverage. The siege of the US embassy was broadcast nationally.
Atrocities such as Ben Tre, which saw an entire city flattened, and the Mai Lai
massacre of 400 civilians were covered extensively. Rumours emerged from the
later incident that women and children were raped[1]. For many citizens this
undermined their belief of military intervention to uphold good. Disenchantment
grew from an already widespread view that the conflict held no geographical
importance or direct threat. Another reason for this was the rising death toll,
announced nationally daily. By 1967 10,000 men had died. People began to lose faith in a seemingly
pointless war of attrition at the cost of their loved ones. Economic affects
were also beginning to arise. Vietnam cost the American taxpayer an estimated
$150billion[2].
Furthermore, money was being retracted from proposed poverty programmes in
favour of war resources. It was even calculated that in 1968, an average of
$322,000 was spent on every dead Viet Cong. In comparison to $53 on people in
programmes[3]. Domestic discontent
snowballed. From many sectors of society
an organised anti-war movement began.
Businesses, the church and students began denouncing the continuation of
the conflict. One of the nation’s largest forms of information, The New York
Times refused to support its military. It instead proposed immediate
withdrawal. Students across the country occupied Universities in protest and
burned military draft cards. In fact the 30,000 who attended ‘Stop Draft’s
Week’ directly impacted President Nixon’s scrapping of ‘Operation Duck Neck’[4]. A campaign which would
have lead to an invasion of the Northern territories. Ultimately, high mortality rates and economic
repercussions formed a widespread anti-war movement. A movement materialized of
considerable magnitude impossible for the establishment to ignore.
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