A Brief Description of the History of Vietnam War & Impacts (Essay Sample)

The Vietnam War
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Institution
The Vietnam War remains as one of the most controversial wars in the history of the United States. The controversy ranges from the purposes of the U.S involvement to the tactics used in the war. The communist Viet Cong from North Vietnam were increasingly growing their influence and more so towards the democratic South Vietnam that was under the support of the United States (Dudley, 1998). The war was controversial because the people of the United States saw it as interference with an ongoing civil war. They felt that it was unnecessary for the U.s troops to be sent on missions to Vietnam.President Lyndon B. Johnson decision to send combat troops did not go down well with most Americans (Westheider, 2007). The controversy spread as the war took its toll of American troops. There were many American casualties and innocent Vietnamese citizens. The death of many soldiers and innocent Vietnamese, as well as the use of chemical weapons (Agent Orange and napalm), caused massive controversy. Additionally, the use of the draft was opposed in America (Dudley, 1998). The use of draft mostly affected the poor and young African American population in the United States.
An intriguing question that remains a subject for debate is about the justification of the Vietnam War. Nevertheless, there are many reasons that incline to the negative side of America’s involvement in the civil war. Though its initial intentions were to protect the South Vietnam from the communist ideals, the war came at a great cost. It not only led to the loss of more than 58,000 America lives but imposed a negative economic effect on the United States. Additionally, the war led to destruction of Vietnam’s 6% of cultivatable areas. It appeared that the U.S was paying for the mistake of not supporting Ho Chi Minh when he needed help before turning to communist states such as Russia. Therefore, Vietnam was collateral damage in American Cold War against the Soviet Union.
The domino theory assumed that if a country fell to the communist ideals, then the other countries in a region would fall. It was assumed that if South Vietnam fell, then the whole region of South East Asia would fall. The whole region did not fall to communist rule. Thus the Dominos theory was not credible. America followed the Domino theory in the engagement decisions and consequently paid the price for an unproven theory.
The wartime tactics employed by the American troops in the Vietnam War were ruthless. There was use of chemical weapons such as the Agent Orange and napalm. Innocent Vietnamese civilians suffered adverse effects because of the use of chemical weapons as well as indiscriminate shootings. There were carpet bombings in civilian villages (Herman & Peterson, 2010). In the end, more than 4 million Vietnamese civilians died in the war. The nature of their deaths could have been avoided (Brenner, 2006). For instance, the U.S army could have exercised restraint from using chemical weapons. Evidence mostly suggest that there was a genocide in Vietnam. The c...