Was The US Justified In First Committing Military Personnel And Later Escalating Involvement In Vietnam  Essay

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U.S. WAR IN VIETNAM UNJUSTIFIED US IN VIETNAM WAR UNJUSTIFIED

intervention in Vietnam was utterly unjustifiable and uncalled for action. It all began when an otherwise peaceful country resorted in civil war that was orchestrated by the spread of communism. Vietnam, which was a colony of French, had fallen into the offensive communist movement led by Ho Chi Minh and his communist rebels. This event occurred immediately after World War II in 1945. The Northern Vietnam had readily embraced communism, but greater resistance was from the South. In 1949, the Chinese communist forces successful triumphed in the war thus converting China into a communist state. America, under President Truman, and its western allies became wary of the advances of communism in Asia. They feared that this movement may gradually spread into south East Asia into countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia. Already the Northern part of Vietnam had fallen victim. The French army was overpowered and sought the help of America through NATO to stop the spread of communism (Gettleman, 1995). This was the beginning of the greatly criticized the war in the American history. This study seeks to show why the American choice to commit its military personnel in Vietnam and its later involvement in the war was unjustifiable.

America is a nation that was founded on certain values and principles that are clearly enshrined in the constitution. These values include the moral responsibility to treat all men with equality regardless of race, gender, religion,...

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Similarly, in pursuit of national interests, the American values advocate for justice and equality based on the internationally recognized laws (Davis & Shapiro, 2003). The spread of communism in Asia, and more so Vietnam, was more of a civil war. America choice to invade Vietnam was majorly anchored on the fear posed by communism as well as Domino Theory, which neither of them was legally justifiable. In my opinion, the aspect that communism was a threat to the globe was simply a scapegoat to conceal the imperialistic intentions of the then leaders. The Southern and the Northern Vietnamese engaged in a civil war seeking to determine the fate of the country's system of governance. The choice of America to intervene was clearly an obstruction to rule of the state of nature as presented by Hobbes of a country charting its mode of governance.
Secondly, U.S. invasion of Vietnam is unjustified as there was no any clear benefit of the war to United States of America. For instance, Vietnam was a colony of France before and after the World War II. Therefore, is there is a country that was supposed to contain the spread of communism in Vietnam is France as their interests were evidently at hand. The request by the French to the U.S. government seeking help to contain the spread of communism did not warrant the U.S. To commit is labor and military equipment on the war. The events that unfolded in the war was that French army stood at the back cheering up the U.S. military as they make the offensive attacks on the Vietnamese. From a critical perspective, it is very illogical for an individual to a fight a war whose victory does not guarantee any benefits. This is exactly what United States was doing in the Vietnamese war. It was simply helping the French, who had already been defeated, to protect their territories from the communist wave that was then sweeping south East Asia.

Thirdly, from a personal perspective, Vietnam and its people desired the same independence that America had already gained several years back. As such, it was the greatest duty of the America to assist the colonized nations gain their independence from the colonial masters rather than supporting the colonists. It is unfortunate that the United States chose to go the opposite way. It fully supported…

Sources Used in Documents:

References

Davis, L.E., & Shapiro, J. (2003). The U.S. Army and the new national security strategy. Santa Monica, CA: RAND

Gettleman, M.E. (1995). Vietnam and America. The most comprehensive documented history of the Vietnam War.

Hagopian, P. (2011). The Vietnam War in American Memory: Veterans, Memorials, and the Politics of Healing. New York, NY: Univ of Massachusetts Press.

Walzer, Michael. (2006). Just And Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument With Historical Illustrations. Texas, TX: Basic Books.


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