War is a very complicated issue, but it has always been part of human nature. Human beings have always turned to violence to get what they want. From the story of Kane and Able, The Revolutionary War, World War Two, and the modern day conflicts in the Middle East and the around of the world, people continue to use war to get what they want. War is complicated for multiple reasons, but one key problem is the rules of war. Civilian’s prosperity has been at the forefront of modern wars, but it hasn’t always been they case. Before the Geneva Conventions created the rules of war, which are guidelines that countries should abide by during conflict, parties would partake in incredible immoral acts upon their enemies and civilians. One example of this type of action, is the US carpet bombings in the Vietnam War. …show more content…
During this time, the Vietcong were using trails and other assets in these countries and their own, to fight the South Vietnamese and US forces in Vietnam. The US couldn’t properly identify these Vietcong targets from civilian targets. They also decided that destroying these targets outweighed the potential civilian loss, because they believed that it would protect their forces while also ending the war as soon as possible. The US would bomb areas of potential Vietcong assets and supplies, which killed thousands of civilians while also destroying civilian food and property. These bombing were immoral because they broke the rules of war, which states forces should never target civilians. You could just look at this one immoral issue of this war, or you can try to look at the bigger picture and ask why the US felt justified doing
With this morality in both conflicts plays a role in the bombing of cities and villages that contained a high concentration of civilians, where the United States believed the enemy to be stationed. It is here where the concept of body counts comes into play and supports the argument of an unjust, immoral war that defied the concepts held by American Exceptionalism. Tirman uses the example of Vietnam to point out argument, where the bombing strategy of “harassment and interdiction fire” was practiced, where there was no proof that enemy targets were destroyed and in the end did more harm than good as “killed a lot of innocents” to produce a number of supposed enemy casualties” (Tirman, The Real Cost of Vietnam). As in Vietnam the excessive bombings
Was US involvement in Vietnam Justified? US involvement in Vietnam was to large extent unjustified. Even though the United States. Even though the United States, and other western countries, alleged that American involvement in Vietnam was morally justified (Source B)
Since the beginning of time, war has been practiced for numerous reasons ultimately to benefit a group of people or nations. But, when war divides the world into two different sides with the capability to destroy faster than we can create, it makes us question, is war really worth it? With the aftermath of World War One, people we’re still divided, but for a different reason, after a war with a catastrophic amount of deaths we had militarists advocating to fight and pacifists demanding peace. The two sources I have used from this essay comes from a European militarist, Friedrich Von Bernhardi with his book “War a Biological Necessity” and United States pacifists, William James, in his book “Moral Equivalent of War”. Therefore this essay will review the
War is happening all over the world and is an important issue in society. Why would one nation fight another? Is it for power? Whatever the reason may be, war is definitely leaves an impact on one’s life. War is a pitiful cause that can invoke an inevitable negative change within one.
“I thought the Vietnam war was an utter, unmitigated disaster, so it was very hard for me to say anything good about it” - George McGovern. There are numerous controversial topics dispersed among the subject of American history due to the amount of unethical decisions that have been made in order to improve the lives of the people or keep America out of the clutches of war. Throughout American history, historians have debated the ethical impact that the Vietnam war had on the United States. Although some people may believe that the Vietnam War achieved the goal of avoiding communism and protecting the people, the overarching idea is that it was an unjust war because of the countless lives that were lost from the participating countries, the
The United States was involved in the Vietnam War in the 1960s in order to support South Vietnam’s fight for an economic and cultural ties to the West. On the other hand, North Vietnam supported the ideas of a communist economy. However, the United States’s involvement in the war caused a million of dollars and lives lost, lost of faith towards the country’s government, and divided the nation instead of uniting as one. More than three million people in the war died, and out of those three million, 58,000 were Americans. The Americans and the people in South Vietnam had fought for their beliefs of a modern Westernized country while North Vietnam had fought for a communist economy.
This massacre was where American troops killed 350 Vietnamese civilians. Eventually, Lieutenant William Calley was found guilty of ordering this act of cruelty. Other publications reached the public, such as the Pentagon Papers. This report traced American involvement in Vietnam back to World War II. In 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Act, which required the President to seek Congress's approval for the commitment of American troops overseas.
Taylor Price Tensions of Vietnam The Vietnam War was one of the most protested and hated wars ever fought by the United States. Though the end of previous wars were celebrated by civilians and soldiers alike, the Vietnam War never came to a victorious resolution. The soldiers of previous wars were loved and thanked for their service, while some Vietnam veterans felt ignored and even hated.
In an attempt to contain the reaction this decision will have between organizations of veterans and among the families of the more than 50,000 Americans killed in that war, Clinton said that lifting the embargo was “the best means of resolving doubts about the fate of those who are still missing.” More than 2,200 US soldiers involved in the war are still in the category of missing in combat. Clinton explained during a brief ceremony at the White House that this initiative does not mean full normalization of diplomatic relations. He said that to get to that point is necessary for the Government of Hanoi collaborate more actively in the investigation into the fate of missing persons. Vietnam’s communist regime has traditionally argued that there
North Vietnam was known for its harsh and effective fighting tactics over the course of the war, including guerilla warfare. Although some might say that the U.S. lost the war in Vietnam because of the tactics used by the North Vietnamese, they actually lost the war because of heavy protesting from citizens, a lack of strength
The Vietnam war was the only war that the United States lost. The United States tried to help South Vietnam become free from the communism of the North; however, North Vietnam's guerilla warfare proved to be too advanced. People's reactions to the war were definitely mixed; some liked the war and agreed that we should help the South, but many did not like the idea of helping the South and thought the United States should not get involved. The Vietnam War is the subject of a PBS 13 part mini-series released in 1983 titled Vietnam: A Television History. In the mini-series, directors Andrew Pearson and Elizabeth Deane effectively use ethos, pathos, and logos in the documentaries "Homefront USA" and "America Takes Charge," to show how the war negatively affected both the Vietnamese and the United States' citizens and their countries as a whole.
The War of Vietnam, one of America's deadliest battles that they never even finished. South Vietnam needed someone to aid and protect them from the South and America did help, but in the end certain decisions, people, and events made them pull out of it, leaving South Vietnam vulnerable. When they could, the North swarmed the South, taking villages, cities, and provinces while the United States stayed home and watched it all happen. American viewpoints on the situation turned once President Nixon resigned and a new party was hosting. The democrats were not happy with what has happening so they came to a conclusion and made of the most life changing decisions for everyone in the world.
War is immoral. War is cruel.” (Document B). This shows
To what extent did the United States involvement in the Vietnam War impact America socially, politically, and economically? In document 1, this shows the major bombing and fighting campaigns of the Vietnam War. The bombing and fighting started in north Vietnam and went down South Vietnam, which includes the Ho Chi Trail and the Sihanouk Trail. These trails and these bombing were an important part in the Vietnam War.
This essay will investigate to what extent did the Strategies and Tactics used by the United States, North and South Vietnam, and the Soviet Union influence the outcome of the Vietnam war? The Vietnam War was one of the most significant war in American History. It was a war that will not be forgotten in a long time due to its surprising outcome and length of the war. One of the key roles in the war that had affected the outcome of the war were the tactics and strategies that were used by different countries. To investigate this question you will need to know about the strategies and tactics that were used by different countries.