Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1954–75), also known as the Second Indo-China War, was a conflict between Communist North Vietnam and its allies (including the Viet-kong insurgency in South Vietnam) against South Vietnam and its allies (notably the United States). It was effectively a continuation of the communist military insurgency against French Indo-China. France, defeated on several occasions, eventually abandoned their colony.[1]
The Vietnam War ended dismally also for the Western USA-led Allies, with the communist conquest of South Vietnam. The Black Book of Communism states that Communist Vietnam killed around one million people, not counting battle casualties. Despite the once influential domino theory, more recently Vietnam has increasingly distanced itself from Communist economic ideas and its former ally Communist China, improving relations with the United States.
Contents
History
The "Vietnam Conflict" is often used normally to include what occurred from 1959 to April 1975. The last American troops left Vietnam on 30 April 1975. The war was fought between the so-called Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and the United States-supported Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). It concluded with the North Vietnamese military victory after more than 15 years and a shame defeat for the United States and her allies mainly Australia and South Korea. The end of the war resulted in the unification of Vietnam under the communist government of the North.
Over 1.4 million military personnel were killed in the war (approximately 6% were members of the United States armed forces), while estimates of civilian fatalities range from 2 to 5.1 million. On 30 April 1975, the capital of South Vietnam, Saigon fell to the communist forces of North Vietnam, effectively ending the Vietnam War.
The fake attack that drove Americans into Vietnam War
On 4 August 1964, in the Gulf of Tonkin's International Waters, the USS Maddox is attacked by North Vietnamese Torpedo Boats. President Lyndon Johnson orders a Retaliatory Air Strike on North Vietnam. Lyndon Johnson uses intercepted Vietnamese Transmissions to convince Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which allows him to use military force in southeast asia without a declaration of war. It leads to America's full-scale military involvement in the Vietnam war.
In 2001, Historian Robert Hanyok analyzed the intercepted vietnamese reports and found that none of them confirmed an attack on the maddox. These reports were classified and withheld from congress. Instead, congress was presented with a doctored enemy transmission which actually referred to a skirmish on August 2nd. This sea skirmish happened when the Maddox fired warning shots at North Vietnamese Boats fending off a south Vietnamese attack nearby. USS Maddox was in fact on an intelligence mission co-ordinated with South Vietnam.
In 2005, NSA declassified nearly 200 documents. They reveal that USS Maddox fired at random radar targets on a stormy night and a navy investigation and witnesses proved there were never any enemy boats there. In 2003, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara admitted the attack never happened. White House Tapes show that President Lyndon Johnson also knew the attack was not real. Lyndon Johnson was reelected to the presidency on November 3rd, 1964.
It must be noted that "the fake attack" was also used in order to deceitfully drive USA into war against Germany during World War 1[2].
Leftist mobilization
American leftists who were promoting a US defeat during the war achieved a propaganda advantage in mobilizing millions of American youth in protests with the hope of achieving a Marxist victory at home. One of their slogans at the time was, "Bring the war home!"
Casualties and losses
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Anti-Communist forces
- Republic of Vietnam
- Ccvilian dead: ~2,000,000; military dead: 220,357 (lowest est.) – 316,000 dead (highest est.); 1,170,000 wounded
- United States of America
- 58,220 dead; 303,635 wounded
- Republic of Korea
- 5,099 dead; 10,962 wounded; 4 missing
- Commonwealth of Australia
- 521 dead; 3,000 wounded
- New Zealand
- 37 dead; 187 wounded
- Kingdom of Thailand
- 1,351 dead
- Kingdom of Laos
- 30,000 killed, wounded unknown
Total dead: 315,384 – 2,220,357 (~2,000,000 South civilians) Total wounded: ~1,490,000+
Communist forces
- North Vietnam & NLF
- ~2,000,000 civilian dead;
- 1,176,000 military dead or missing; 600,000+ wounded
- People's Republic of China
- 1,446 dead; 4,200 wounded
- Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
- 16 dead
Total dead: ~3,177,462 (~2,000,000 North civilians) Military dead: ~1,177,462) Total wounded: ~604,200+
Civilians
- Vietnamese civilian dead: ~200,000 – 4,000,000[3]
- Cambodian civilian dead: 200,000 – 300,000
- Laotian civilian dead: ~20,000 – 200,000
Total civilian dead: ~420,000 – 2,500,000 Total dead: ~1,912,846 – 3,992,846
See also
Further reding
- Bator, Victor, Vietnam - A Diplomatic Tragedy: origins of U.S. Involvement, Faber & Faber, London, 1965.
- Karnow, Stanley, Vietnam - A History, The First Complete Account of Vietnam at War, Guild Publishing, London, 1987.
- Dorr, Robert F., Air War Hanoi, Blandford (Cassell), U.K., 1988, ISBN: 0-7137-1783-1
- McNamara, Robert S., & van de Mark, Brian, In Retrospect - The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam, Random House, NY, 1995, ISBN: 0-712-67682-1
External links
Encyclopedias
References
- ↑ Werth, Alexander, France 1940-1955, Robert Hale, London, 1957, chapters III & IV.
- ↑ Jewish role behind World War 1
- ↑ For 2 million estimate see, Shenon, Philip (23 April 1995). "20 Years After Victory, Vietnamese Communists Ponder How to Celebrate". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/23/world/20-years-after-victory-vietnamese-communists-ponder-how-to-celebrate.html. Retrieved 24 February 2011. for 4 million see Agence France Presse 4 April 1995
