Please feel free to post your own comment or question regarding Vietnam, the arms race, and U.S. national politics in the 1960s and early 1970s here.
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Was the Vietnam war destined to be the nightmare it was? What went wrong?
When I was younger, the origins of the Vietnam war were, naturally, always examined through the lens of domino theory. To me, it always seemed like a pretty shaky line of reasoning- I just didn’t understand the inevitability of communist conquest that would supposedly be a result of losing South Vietnam. Now, though, after reading the quote from President Johnson in the Herring article equating domino theory to appeasement, I think I understand the mindset better, particularly when the country still had World War 2 fresh in its mind. In fact, I think there is a chance I might have agreed with the president, in that we had to take a stand to avoid becoming the next Chamberlain. But even if we assume the theory behind the war was not flawed, there were still clearly major problems with the conflict. The veterans statement we had to read was sickening and disgusting. It is hard to imagine that degree of incompetence in any modern war, particularly one that was in the national spotlight for being a guard against the greatest threat to the country- communism. The torture, death, and rape sounds inhumane, and while I know the soldiers went through many brutal experiences regardless of the war crimes, something clearly went wrong here. I really want to know why Vietnam devolved into the hell it was. Was it doomed from the start? Were there serious personnel issues? A general lack of discipline? All three? Something else? I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts.