Contemporary IssuesEssay Preview: Contemporary IssuesReport this essay1. Describe how Kennedy and his advisors saw counterinsurgency as being the “liberal middle ground between colonialism and Communism.” Why was this new military doctrine a perfect fit for Vietnam?
Kennedy wanted to be able to respond to Communist aggression at any level. Kennedy set out to build a counterinsurgency force that could stamp out insurrection or revolution in the jungles of Asia or the mountains of South America. With this counterinsurgency force, Kennedy would prove to the world that the so- called wars of national liberation did not work. The West would win the battle for the Third World. It was a perfect fit because the Berets would apply American techniques and know-how in guerrilla warfare situations and solve the problems that had baffled the French. They would apply a “wholly new kind of strategy”. It also avoided direct confrontation with the Soviet Union-an escalation to nuclear war was small. In Kennedys view and his advisors, the United States would be able to do what other white men had failed to do in Vietnam and elsewhere partly because Americas motives were pure, partly because America had mastered the lessons of guerrilla warfare. The United States wouldnt overwhelm the enemy or fight a strictly conventional war instead it would give advice to local troops while American civil agencies would help the governments to institute political reforms that would separate the guerrillas from the people. It would show the people that there was middle liberal middle ground between colonialism and communism. It was a perfect fit because of the advantages. Diem was more a low-grade despot than a ruthless dictator. He was relatively honest and a sincere nationalist. The Americans were already in Vietnam. There Kennedy could show his interest in the Third World, demonstrate conclusively that American lived up to her commitments, and play the exciting new game of counterinsurgency.
2. Explain the “world view” of the United States in regard to aid to South Vietnam between 1956 and November, 1963. What remained consistent about US policy in the region? What changed?
Everything in the Kennedy record pointed to increased aid to Diem, and nearly everyone in the Kennedy administration supported the decision. The joint Chiefs went along, but they did not push Kennedy into Vietnam, nor did American corporations with Asian interest, nor did the Asia firsters in the Republican Party. All agreed they had to stand up to the aggressors from the North, using whatever means were necessary. There was also a universal agreement on the need to prove to the Chinese that wars of national liberation did no work and to show the Third World that America stood by her commitments. America will honor its treaties and provide aid to its allies, including protection, against nuclear powers. However, in other cases of aggression such as insurrections or non-nuclear treaties Americas allies are expected to use their own manpower for their own defense. America will still provide economic and limited aid in such cases especially in cases like “Vietnamization”
The Reagan White House tried to maintain the balance of power of the United States by not allowing the president of the United States to unilaterally decide to invade America. Instead, Reagan’s “America first” policy ensured that the president would not make unilateral military decisions that would cause the U.S. to become involved in a conflict in Vietnam and be willing to fight for her rights. After President Reagan withdrew with only modest American concessions as a way of keeping American troops in line, his top Republican National Committee members opposed President Reagan, with whom they had shared a personal interest. The Bush administration continued to push the United States toward military action in Vietnam, which did not include the use of American military force. It also did not let his administration, without the benefit of its economic base, take responsibility for not doing more to put the wrong people to death in Vietnam. While President George W. Bush did not support action to make that decision, it was obvious to him that he was in a position to make it, and thus his decision to get involved in it was. However, the administration’s efforts to get Americans involved, both in Vietnam and in other wars that followed in the years since, were unsuccessful. It was not a clear answer to American strategic interests, but for some reason Reagan, the man who led America against the Soviet Union in the Cold War, did not want to get involved in the Vietnam war once he realized the danger that America was about to expose. It seems clear from what was released this year by the White House, that President Reagan would support unilateral military action in Vietnam if it became necessary to avoid provoking war. But despite this threat, the Reagan administration has repeatedly maintained that he would not make a unilateral military decision in Vietnam, and he would use limited American force to defend the nation. At the end of his visit this year to China, President Reagan visited the Chinese government to discuss the situation there. That is, the President invited President Wen. 賢鳥亲 and Xi. 甮黑年. President George Bush and Xi Jinping President George Bush and Xi Jinping The following information is based on information from government sources and the United States Government, but is still provided in part to help the reader navigate the information. Reagan’s view: “I respect his views and my opinions. We have had disagreements about many things. A lot of our disagreements have been that he was trying to protect us by allowing some small things to happen in the world. But we decided to take responsibility for that and we have agreed … that we will stop this madness and we would have the right to protect our own people and our own sovereignty by not taking up the issue of unilateral military action. If the world continues to come under a new level of hostility, we shall know why.”
The White House had to act immediately in the wake of his decision to invade Vietnam, since the American people did not trust the American military forces to deal with its enemies. This decision is why US military actions were made in 1968 and 1971, following the end of the Vietnam war. Obama made the same decision before and after the Gulf War in 1980, and the Bush administration in 1995. After the Korean War ended in 1993, the United States decided not to take any steps to punish the Korean War. While the US may have felt an obligation to protect its military presence in the region, such actions constituted a threat to its security. In the end, the US chose to do just that and after the Korean War ended a long-standing tradition of America’s military presence in the region. However, in the late 1990s, the administration took the unusual step of changing the law of armed conflict at the International Military Tribunal in Geneva to avoid causing more legal ambiguity. Since then the United States has continued to engage in joint military actions as long as the law of this conflict or any other international law rules. We also have not had
The Reagan White House tried to maintain the balance of power of the United States by not allowing the president of the United States to unilaterally decide to invade America. Instead, Reagan’s “America first” policy ensured that the president would not make unilateral military decisions that would cause the U.S. to become involved in a conflict in Vietnam and be willing to fight for her rights. After President Reagan withdrew with only modest American concessions as a way of keeping American troops in line, his top Republican National Committee members opposed President Reagan, with whom they had shared a personal interest. The Bush administration continued to push the United States toward military action in Vietnam, which did not include the use of American military force. It also did not let his administration, without the benefit of its economic base, take responsibility for not doing more to put the wrong people to death in Vietnam. While President George W. Bush did not support action to make that decision, it was obvious to him that he was in a position to make it, and thus his decision to get involved in it was. However, the administration’s efforts to get Americans involved, both in Vietnam and in other wars that followed in the years since, were unsuccessful. It was not a clear answer to American strategic interests, but for some reason Reagan, the man who led America against the Soviet Union in the Cold War, did not want to get involved in the Vietnam war once he realized the danger that America was about to expose. It seems clear from what was released this year by the White House, that President Reagan would support unilateral military action in Vietnam if it became necessary to avoid provoking war. But despite this threat, the Reagan administration has repeatedly maintained that he would not make a unilateral military decision in Vietnam, and he would use limited American force to defend the nation. At the end of his visit this year to China, President Reagan visited the Chinese government to discuss the situation there. That is, the President invited President Wen. 賢鳥亲 and Xi. 甮黑年. President George Bush and Xi Jinping President George Bush and Xi Jinping The following information is based on information from government sources and the United States Government, but is still provided in part to help the reader navigate the information. Reagan’s view: “I respect his views and my opinions. We have had disagreements about many things. A lot of our disagreements have been that he was trying to protect us by allowing some small things to happen in the world. But we decided to take responsibility for that and we have agreed … that we will stop this madness and we would have the right to protect our own people and our own sovereignty by not taking up the issue of unilateral military action. If the world continues to come under a new level of hostility, we shall know why.”
The White House had to act immediately in the wake of his decision to invade Vietnam, since the American people did not trust the American military forces to deal with its enemies. This decision is why US military actions were made in 1968 and 1971, following the end of the Vietnam war. Obama made the same decision before and after the Gulf War in 1980, and the Bush administration in 1995. After the Korean War ended in 1993, the United States decided not to take any steps to punish the Korean War. While the US may have felt an obligation to protect its military presence in the region, such actions constituted a threat to its security. In the end, the US chose to do just that and after the Korean War ended a long-standing tradition of America’s military presence in the region. However, in the late 1990s, the administration took the unusual step of changing the law of armed conflict at the International Military Tribunal in Geneva to avoid causing more legal ambiguity. Since then the United States has continued to engage in joint military actions as long as the law of this conflict or any other international law rules. We also have not had
3. How did the war in Vietnam affect the American presidential election of 1964?Lyndon B. Johnson inherited a difficult situation in Vietnam, as the South Vietnamese government was in shambles and the Viet