Although the U.S. and South Vietnamese forces inflicted heavy losses, Westmoreland had a different view on the situation and even saw it as the start of their victory in his war. He justified it as defeat on the enemy side as they could not possibly replace the men they had lost. But the ambitious Tet Offensive, a coordinated series of fierce attacks on more than 100 cities and towns in South Vietnam that in 31, 1968 disproved Westmoreland’s claims of triumph. Though U.S. and South Vietnamese forces were able to repel the Tet attacks, it was a very clear indication that the Victory for the American was far from
The Tiananmen Square rebellion had an immediate effect on China’s foreign relations. “Together with its allies, the United States quickly imposed a series of diplomatic and economic sanctions against China” (The National Bureau of Asian Research). With declined tourism and withdrawing foreign investments, China’s GDP growth rate dropped from 11 to 3%. As a result, China wanted to over come the to international isolation, and to rebuild relationship with foreign countries and regain access to international markets and investments. Over time, China has gradually regained the relationship through communication, compromisation, and restored affairs.
The Vietnam War was a long war that was devastating to the United States as well as Vietnam. The war was a total disaster for the South Vietnamese and was also a political and social disaster for the United States. During this time, chemicals were used during times of war and were detrimental to the people on the receiving end. One instance of this was the United States’ use of Agent Orange in Vietnam. Agent Orange’s use by the United States affected Vietnam in a negative way economically, demographically, and ecologically.
In the eyes of many folks the U.S. began a pointless war that claimed many innocent lives. Though the goal was to contain communism, the U.S. exerted far too much effort and resources for such a disappointing result. Before the anti-war movement picked up steam, artists would use their music to spread a message, in fact “Some of the first organized activities against the Vietnam War centered on the singing of songs at concerts, in clubs, and on campuses,” (Franklin 204). This trend would only grow as the war progressed and soon enough a full-fledge movement had emerged. One of the earlier protest songs of the era, Tom Paxton’s “Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation” directly targeted both Lyndon B. Johnson as well as the action going on overseas.
The My Lai massacre was a point of changing views and perspectives of the American public on the Vietnam War (Source A). The violence of the actions taken were too extreme for many Americans to ignore. The massacre came to represent the war as a whole and the soldiers that were supposed to represent America’s heroes for a number of citizens no longer maintained this hero status but rather were seen as criminals (Source B). The massacre started nation-wide questioning about America’s involvement in the war and even people who were extremely pro-Vietnam war had to reanalyse their rationalisation for the American military presence in Vietnam (Source B). There was an increasing divide in the opinions about the war that only increased after the news of the massacre (Source D); a divide that was splitting the nation into two schools of thought.
How did Ho Chi Minh's army defeat the USA in the Vietnam war? In March 1965, US President Lyndon Baines Johnson gave order to send 3,500 marines to South Vietnam and consequently started America's involvement in the Vietnam war. In short, the main reason that Johnson, Nixon and Kennedy continued to involve the USA in the Vietnam war, was to stop the spread of communism. Also, since the USSR and China had also become communist states, 'losing' more countries to communism would cause America to forfeit its powerful position as 'the leader of the free world'. America assumed it would be easy for them to win the war against North Vietnam, they were a huge military machine against a peasant army, yet this huge underestimating of the Viet Cong
For example, with LGBT, many people opposed to it believe it is “a choice you make,” while others believe it is about who one loves. The issue of gun control is a big problem in today’s society. Many people believe guns should be harder to obtain or even illegal, while others believe that they are a way of life for Americans. Many people believe foreign people should not be able to move to the United States illegally, where others say that it is a free country and they should be able to live here if they want. Every year, the president gives a “State of the Union” speech, discussing these social issues the country has.
Many Americans did not want to get involved within the war. They thought whatever happens over there does not affect the United States. However, with Hitler planning on attacking and taking over more countries, the U.S. helped the rest of Europe and stopped him. In Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” speech, he expresses freedom as something that needs military use and power to be earned. According to Roosevelt, “We must all prepare to make the sacrifices that the emergency- almost as serious as war itself- demands…” (43).
One being that they lead to the retirement of President Johnson and also drove President Nixon to attempt to cover up the harsher realities of the war in an attempt to ease the protests. But the anti-war movement also had far more direct effects on the Vietnam War. The cost of the war was far greater than they otherwise would’ve have been since the Congress felt anxious about providing the necessary funding for the war due to the extreme outrage within America Through the threat of internal terrorism as well as the international eye cast on the US government due to dramatic actions taken by the American public the government and military became increasingly cautious in decision made with regard to the Vietnam War. An example of this type of thought process was President Nixon’s decision to withdraw 100 000 troops on the 7th of April 1971 after threats of a ‘spring offensive’ anti-war movement. The anti-war movement also shaped the war policy in numerous ways.
Football players should not be punished for their opinion and issue in which they protest in the United States because it brings awareness to society issues, use social status, and even though people disagree that the protest should not happen during the National Anthem. However, it the best time to show the fans what issues they are protesting. This act of protest is nothing new to America, but it has only just become an outrage due, to the involvement of the president and many other average citizens that claim it to be an unfit way to protest. The first instance of this act dates all the way back to World War II, when the Supreme Court voted down a demand that the flag should be saluted during the Pledge of Allegiance (Sachs 1). Then time goes by until 1996 when basketball star Abdul-Rauf was suspended for the length of one game, due to him refusing to stand for the national anthem for a religious purpose.