The United States and the Vietnam War

Paper Summary:

This paper provides a comprehensive look at how the United States failed in Vietnam. Its main focus is that the U.S. didn't understand the nature of the war. The paper provides a summary of the war, intertwined with evidence about why American leadership did not have a full understanding of the war.

From the Paper:

"The Vietcong instead utilized guerilla warfare, which was effective against the French, and fared well against the U.S. too. This was a strategy that was also coined total war, because it was the destruction of the adversary at all calls. In addition, it included a myriad of small-group surprise attacks with the Vietcong then retreating back into the jungle. But also, the United States did not realize how powerful the Vietcong could be, thanks to the Soviet Union and China. "American technology was well matched by defensive fighter aircraft and radar-directed antiaircraft weaponry put in the hands of the Vietcong by the Soviet Union". One such example was the widely used Soviet-built surface-to-air missle (SAM). "The SAM was a kind of highly sophisticated aerial torpedo launched from the ground" (Larson 52). Along with the SAM, the Soviets supplied AK-47s and MiG interceptor aircraft among other items."

More papers on The United States and the Vietnam War:

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