Ashik Kabir
The Vietnam War is one of the most controversial wars of 20th century. The commonly used name for the war is the second Indochina War. The United States and the other members of SEATO joined the forces of Republic of South Vietnam against the South Vietnamese Guerrilla and regular forces which were generally known as the Viet Cong (VC) and the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). The war had seen the largest military presence from U.S. side. U.S actually directed the war from 1965-1968. Because of that in Vietnam the war is known as the American war.
The first Indochina War was fought between France and communist forces known as Viet Minh (1946-1954). France claimed Vietnam as one of its colonies and that initiated the war. The 3rd Indochina war happened in 1973, it was the continuation war between North and South Vietnam but without the USA involvement. The war ended with the communist victory in April 1975. South Vietnam was ultimately taken over by North Vietnam.
Vietnam had a very long history of being ruled by foreign powers. It was under the Chinese colonization from 111 BC till 1885. Authentically Vietnam ending at 17th parallel, later it conquered all the area southward along the coastline of South China Sea. The population in the North Vietnam has always greater number than the southern region. In South Vietnam the population scattered among few areas along the coast. The people of both the parts of Vietnam didn’t trust each other from the beginning. France first tried to invade Vietnam in 1847. It tried to extend support to the Christian from the oppressive rule of Emperor Gia Long. After 1880’s there was a rise in the Vietnam nationalism against the colonial French rule. Giap– who built the Vietnam army after the WWII, stated that the communists were the most organized and action oriented among the pro-independent groups.
During the WWII France could not defend the Japanese occupation of Vietnam. After the war France tried to re-occupy Vietnam, but faced resistance from Viet-Minh led by Ho Chi Minh and Giap. France suffered a major defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. It led to the Geneva Agreements on July 21 1954. According to the agreements the previous French colonies Cambodia and Laos were declared as independent. Vietnam was divided into two parts at the 17th Parallel. The North Vietnam government was formed by Ho Chi Minh, which was based on communist ideology. On the other hand a capitalist government was formed in Republic of South Vietnam, led by President Ngo Dinh Diem. In July 1959, North Vietnam’s leaders passed an ordinance and called for a socialist revolution in North Vietnam and simultaneously in South Vietnam. When Mao Zedong’s communist party had won the Chinese civil war in 1949, the western governments specially The USA feared the expansion of communism in the South East Asia. USA started backing Diem’s government in the South Vietnam. “The Domino Theory” which explains that if one country falls to communism the neighbors will fall too. This increased the tensions among the western governments. During President Eisenhower’s administration (1953-1961) huge financial aid was provided to South Vietnam and American experts were sent to train the South Vietnamese Army. By then already American soldiers were suffering from fatal injuries and even being killed in combat. Ho chi minh was educated in Paris. There is a doubt that initially he was a nationalist or a communist. During the WWII an American doctor cured him or probably saved his life. It is reported that Ho contacted Eisenhower and wanted to discuss Vietnam with him but he received no reply. Eisenhower was focusing on establishing NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) as a defensive measure to curb the communist expansion in Europe and he was trying to get France on board. So a meeting with Ho Chi Minh would have worsened the matter with France. If the meeting would have taken place, the history could have been different.
According to the reports, the U.S. suffered over 47,000 KIA plus another 11,000 noncombat deaths, over 150,000 were wounded and 10,000 missing. Vietnam’s communist government claimed that over 1.1 million combatants had died and another 6, 00,000 were wounded. American intervention increased during the administration of John F. Kennedy. Kennedy saw the involvement in South East Asia as a crusade and wanted to increase military program in South Vietnam. In February 1961 ‘the strategic hamlet’ program began, it forcibly relocated South Vietnamese peasants to fortified strategic hamlets. A peasant unrest began which a led a coup in South Vietnam. Diem was accused for suppressing the religious Sects in South Vietnam where the majority of the populations were Buddhists. The Buddhists accused him that he was helping the Catholics and Diem accused the Buddhists were being sympathizers of the communist sentiments. In April 1963, some of the monks immolate themselves which were highlighted by the Western media as “the Ultimate protest”. In reply Diem sent military to raid the pagodas which worsened the situation more. That year November there was another Coup and this time Diem was murdered. U.S. involvement kept increasing and in 1964 China declared that it will step in if U.S. army attacks North Vietnam like it did during the Korean War.
American troops were increasing by the end of 1967, there plan was to bring more 302,000 young soldiers by 1968. On April 28 1967, Gen. Westmoreland became the first battlefield commander ever to address a joint session of congress in wartime and he stated that U.S. and its allies had turned a corner in Vietnam. Protests were increasing both in home and all over the world against the Vietnam War. Americans were shocked when North Vietnam army launched a sudden attack in every important city of South Vietnam. Meanwhile the anti-race and Civil rights movement escalated in America. American administration was under pressure both at home and at abroad. On January 27, 1973 peace accords were signed between NV and U.S. North and South Vietnam were combined together in 1976 when NV invaded South Vietnam and there was no intervention by USA. In November 1995, Robert McNamara, US’s former state secretary for defense (1961-1968) went to Vietnam. He was the highest ranked officer to visit Vietnam after the war. Before attending a conference in Vietnam, he stated in a War time memoir that in continuing the Vietnam conflict US was very wrong. McNamara’s visiting Agendas of Vietnam were to promote a bilateral conference to exchange information regarding Vietnam War strategy and to learn that why the early initiative for peace wasn’t successful. General Vo Nguyen Giap who led the Viet Cong to successfully plot to defeat of US and its allies along with the Vietnam government officials welcomed the proposed conference but remained non-commital as to what extent Vietnam would participate.
The Pentagon Papers, a big collection of documents outlining the steps by which the US became involved in Vietnam , show clearly that after the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed, US foreign policy was focusing to curb the further expansion of communism in Asia. So, the US policy makers did not notice the Charisma that the personality of HO Chi Minh had for the Vietnamese People. However McNamara tried to be honest but couldn’t heal the wound that Vietnam War carried. The Vietnam War continued to remain as a deep and festering wound in the psyche of America.
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